Seven Summits

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.

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.

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.

At a time when Nepal has just lifted its quarantine for vaccinated people, we take a look back at our ascent of Everest last spring: a five-strong Franco-Swiss team attempted to climb the roof of the world at 8,848 metres via its southern Nepalese side during an expedition led by Bernard Muller.

In the spring of 2021, Expeditions Unlimited is organising an ascent of Mount Everest (8,848 m) via the South Face, on the Nepal side. François Trouillet, one of the participants, gives us a poignant first-hand account of the main stages of this expedition. In this post, François describes the team of Sherpas accompanying us on this expedition.

In the spring of 2021, Expeditions Unlimited is organising an ascent of Mount Everest (8,848 m) via the South Face, on the Nepal side. François Trouillet, one of the participants, gives us a poignant first-hand account of the main stages of this expedition. In this article, François describes life at the Everest base camp, with all the teams and the Covid atmosphere of 2021.

In the spring of 2021, Expeditions Unlimited is organising an ascent of Mount Everest (8,848 m) via the South Face, on the Nepal side. François Trouillet, one of the participants, gives us a poignant first-hand account of the main stages of this expedition. In this post, François recounts his emotional discovery of the icefall on the Khumbu glacier between the base camp and camp 1: the famous Icefall.