Mountaineering

At 5,642 meters, Mount Elbrus is the roof of Europe, and not our beloved Mont Blanc, as many people think. To complete the Seven Summits challenge, climbing Elbrus is a must. In this article, we look back at the origins of the ascent to the highest peak in the Caucasus and Europe.

In the 60s, the USSR was at the height of its glory. But borders were hermetic, and Soviet mountaineers expressed their (immense) talent on the many peaks that stretched from one end of the former Empire of the Tsars to the other. The Himalayas are off-limits to them. On October 12 1967, the Bureau of the Central Council of Sports Societies and Organizations of the USSR decided to award a prize to those who succeeded in climbing the five highest Soviet summits.

Drowned in the equatorial mist, the Carstensz Pyramid, 4,884 meters high, located in Indonesian New Guinea (Irian Jaya), was only climbed in 1962. The highest peak in Oceania, its ascent completes the challenge of the Seven Summits, the seven highest peaks on the continents. A look back at the history of the exploration and conquest of Puncak Jaya.

The highest peak in North America, Mount Denali at 6,190 m is a mountain with few equals in terms of challenge and scenic beauty, halfway between the very high attitude and the polar, reserved for experienced mountaineers. Its completely autonomous climbing conditions and extreme weather make it one of the most difficult of the Seven Summits.

Among the ‘Seven Summits’, the seven highest peaks on the continents, Mount Kilimanjaro occupies a special place: Hans Meyer, a man of science rather than a mountaineer, climbed it for the first time in 1889. Above all, he did it for the honour of his country and its Emperor: the Germany of Frederick William II. This first ascent remains unknown to the French. And with good reason, as Bismarck's Germany was our sworn enemy at the time, there was no question of highlighting this masterly achievement.

At an altitude of 6,500 meters in the winter of 1954, the six young French climbers on the south face of Aconcagua were playing for their lives. They could not survive another bivouac. In the indifference typical of those years when news still travelled slowly, a drama was unfolding up there. The roof of the Americas attracts many pretenders every year. And with good reason: it is one of the most accessible summits in the Seven Summits challenge.

At 5.15pm on Tuesday 31 May 2022, a group of four, including Éric Bonnem, founder of Secret Planet and Expeditions Unlimited, reached the summit of Mount Denali at 6,190 meters. A wild and beautiful expedition, which we'll be reporting on shortly, and which gave us the urge to delve back into the history of the first mountaineers to have trodden this superb mountain almost 110 years earlier, in far more heroic conditions! Mount McKinley... Denali.

Ever since man first set out to conquer the mountains in the mid-19th century, he has continued to push back the limits of what is considered possible. Of the fourteen peaks over 8,000 meters high on our planet, all are in the Himalayas, between Nepal, Pakistan and China. We take a look at the history of the world's highest mountains.

3 June 1950, 2pm, 8,091m. Maurice Herzog and Louis Lachenal photographed themselves at the summit of the first 8,000-metre peak ever climbed by man. A few minutes of glory, but at what price? While Maurice Herzog survived the terrible tragedy of the descent relatively unscathed, gaining fame and honours, the same cannot be said for Lachenal, who was condemned to silence in the name of the honour of the Republic. To disentangle the true from the false, it is necessary to take the time to look seriously at the writings of each person in order to go beyond the myth.