Eight-thousander facts for kids

Locations of the world's 14 eight-thousanders.

The eight-thousanders are 14 amazing mountains that are super tall. They are all over 8,000 meters (about 26,247 feet) high! The International Mountaineering and Climbing Federation (UIAA) officially recognizes these peaks. They are also far enough away from other mountains to be counted as separate peaks.

All these giant mountains are found in Asia. They are in the Himalayan and Karakoram mountain ranges. The very top parts of these mountains are called the "death zone". This means there isn't enough oxygen for people to breathe normally.

Many brave climbers dream of reaching the top of all 14 eight-thousanders. The first person to do this was Reinhold Messner from Italy in 1986. He did it without extra oxygen! Later, in 2010, Edurne Pasaban from Spain became the first woman to climb all 14. She used extra oxygen to help her. Then, in 2011, Gerlinde Kaltenbrunner from Austria became the first woman to climb all 14 without any extra oxygen. That's super impressive!

It took many years for climbers to reach the top of all 14 eight-thousanders for the first time. This happened between 1950 and 1964. But climbing them in winter is even harder! It wasn't until January 2021 that all 14 peaks had been climbed in winter. This last winter climb was on K2 by a team from Nepal.

A climber from Nepal named Nirmal Purja set a new record in 2019. He climbed all 14 eight-thousanders in an amazing 6 months and 6 days!

Climbing History

Flight over the Khumbu region. You can see six eight-thousanders and some seven-thousanders.

The first time someone tried to climb an eight-thousander was in 1895. Albert F. Mummery and his team tried to climb Nanga Parbat in Pakistan. Sadly, Mummery and two helpers, Ragobir Thapa and Goman Singh, died in an avalanche.

The first successful climb of an eight-thousander happened on June 3, 1950. French climbers Maurice Herzog and Louis Lachenal reached the top of Annapurna.

Climbing in winter is much tougher. The first winter climb of an eight-thousander was on Mount Everest. A Polish team led by Andrzej Zawada made this happen. Two climbers, Leszek Cichy and Krzysztof Wielicki, reached the top on February 17, 1980.

Reinhold Messner was the first person to climb all 14 eight-thousanders. He finished this amazing feat on October 16, 1986. He did it without using extra oxygen. This was a huge achievement! Nine years later, in 1995, Erhard Loretan from Switzerland also climbed all 14 without extra oxygen.

The person who has climbed eight-thousanders the most times is Phurba Tashi from Nepal. He has reached the top 30 times between 1998 and 2011. Juanito Oiarzabal from Spain is second with 25 climbs.

Simone Moro from Italy has made the most first winter climbs of eight-thousanders, with four. Jerzy Kukuczka also made four winter climbs. The last eight-thousander to be climbed in winter was K2. A team of 10 Nepalese climbers, led by Nirmal Purja, reached its summit on January 16, 2021.

The 30 highest peaks with more than 500 meters (1,640 feet) of topographic prominence.

In 2010, Edurne Pasaban became the first woman to climb all 14 eight-thousanders. Then, in August 2011, Gerlinde Kaltenbrunner from Austria became the first woman to do it without extra oxygen.

The first husband and wife team to climb all 14 together were Nives Meroi and her husband Romano Benet [it] from Italy. They finished in 2017. Nives Meroi was also the second woman to climb all 14 without extra oxygen. They climbed in a special way called "alpine style." This means they climbed without fixed ropes or extra oxygen.

As of November 2018, Italy has the most climbers who have completed all 14 peaks, with seven. Spain is next with six, and South Korea has five. Kazakhstan and Poland each have three climbers who have finished this "Crown of the Himalaya."

On October 29, 2019, Nirmal Purja from Nepal set a new speed record. He climbed all 14 eight-thousanders in just 6 months and 6 days! This was much faster than the old record, which was almost 8 years.

List of 14 Eight-Thousanders

Here is a list of the 14 eight-thousanders with some interesting facts about them.

Facts about the 14 eight-thousanders

Mountain					First Climb		First Winter Climb		From 1950 to March 2012			Climber Death Rate
Peak	Height	Prominence	Isolation	Location	Date	Climber(s)	Date	Climber(s)	Total Ascents	Total Deaths	Deaths / Ascents
Everest	8848 m (29,029 ft)	8848 m (29,029 ft)	undefined or infinite	Nepal China	29 May 1953	Edmund Hillary Tenzing Norgay on British expedition	17 February 1980	Krzysztof Wielicki Leszek Cichy	5656	223	3.9%	1.52%
K2	8611 m (28,251 ft)	4020 m (13,189 ft)	1315.6 km (817.5 mi)	Pakistan China	31 July 1954	Achille Compagnoni Lino Lacedelli on Italian expedition	16 January 2021	Nirmal Purja Gelje Sherpa Mingma David Sherpa Mingma G Sona Sherpa Mingma Tenzi Sherpa Pem Chhiri Sherpa Dawa Temba Sherpa Kili Pemba Sherpa Dawa Tenjing Sherpa	306	81	26.5%	–
Kangchenjunga	8586 m (28,169 ft)	3922 m (12,867 ft)	124.2 km (77.2 mi)	Nepal India	25 May 1955	George Band Joe Brown on British expedition	11 January 1986	Krzysztof Wielicki Jerzy Kukuczka	283	40	14.1%	3.00%
Lhotse	8516 m (27,940 ft)	610 m (2,001 ft)	2.4 km (1.5 mi)	Nepal China	18 May 1956	Fritz Luchsinger Ernst Reiss	31 December 1988	Krzysztof Wielicki	461	13	2.8%	1.03%
Makalu	8485 m (27,838 ft)	2378 m (7,802 ft)	17.2 km (10.7 mi)	Nepal China	15 May 1955	Jean Couzy Lionel Terray on French expedition	9 February 2009	Simone Moro Denis Urubko	361	31	8.6%	1.63%
Cho Oyu	8188 m (26,864 ft)	2344 m (7,690 ft)	27.7 km (17.2 mi)	Nepal China	19 October 1954	Joseph Joechler Pasang Dawa Lama Herbert Tichy	12 February 1985	Maciej Berbeka Maciej Pawlikowski	3138	44	1.4%	0.64%
Dhaulagiri I	8167 m (26,795 ft)	3357 m (11,014 ft)	317.4 km (197.2 mi)	Nepal	13 May 1960	Kurt Diemberger Peter Diener Nawang Dorje Nima Dorje Ernst Forrer Albin Schelbert	21 January 1985	Andrzej Czok Jerzy Kukuczka	448	69	15.4%	2.94%
Manaslu	8163 m (26,781 ft)	3092 m (10,144 ft)	105.5 km (65.6 mi)	Nepal	9 May 1956	Toshio Imanishi Gyalzen Norbu	12 January 1984	Maciej Berbeka Ryszard Gajewski	661	65	9.8%	2.77%
Nanga Parbat	8125 m (26,657 ft)	4608 m (15,118 ft)	187.9 km (116.8 mi)	Pakistan	3 July 1953	Hermann Buhl on German–Austrian expedition	26 February 2016	Muhammad Ali Sadpara Simone Moro Alex Txikon	335	68	20.3%	–
Annapurna I	8091 m (26,545 ft)	2984 m (9,790 ft)	33.7 km (20.9 mi)	Nepal	3 June 1950	Maurice Herzog Louis Lachenal on French expedition	3 February 1987	Jerzy Kukuczka Artur Hajzer	191	61	31.9%	4.05%
Gasherbrum I (Hidden Peak)	8080 m (26,509 ft)	2155 m (7,070 ft)	23.4 km (14.5 mi)	Pakistan China	5 July 1958	Andrew Kauffman Pete Schoening	9 March 2012	Adam Bielecki Janusz Gołąb	334	29	8.7%	–
Broad Peak	8051 m (26,414 ft)	1701 m (5,581 ft)	8.6 km (5.3 mi)	Pakistan China	9 June 1957	Fritz Wintersteller Marcus Schmuck Kurt Diemberger Hermann Buhl	5 March 2013	Maciej Berbeka Adam Bielecki Tomasz Kowalski Artur Małek	404	21	5.2%	–
Gasherbrum II	8034 m (26,358 ft)	1524 m (5,000 ft)	5.3 km (3.3 mi)	Pakistan China	7 July 1956	Fritz Moravec Josef Larch Hans Willenpart	2 February 2011	Simone Moro Denis Urubko Cory Richards	930	21	2.3%	–
Shishapangma	8027 m (26,335 ft)	2897 m (9,505 ft)	90.8 km (56.4 mi)	China	2 May 1964	Xu Jing Chang Chun-yen Wang Fuzhou Chen San Cheng Tien-liang Wu Tsung-yue Sodnam Doji Migmar Trashi Doji Yonten	14 January 2005	Piotr Morawski Simone Moro	302	25	8.3%

Could There Be More Eight-Thousanders?

In 2012, there were so many climbers on Mount Everest that it became crowded. To help with this, the government of Nepal thought about opening up other tall peaks for climbing. They asked the International Climbing and Mountaineering Federation (UIAA) to consider adding five more peaks to the list of eight-thousanders. These peaks are part of Lhotse and Kanchenjunga. Pakistan also asked for one more peak on Broad Peak to be added.

The UIAA started a project called the AGURA Project to look into these ideas. These six new peaks are actually smaller tops of the existing eight-thousanders. But they are also over 8,000 meters (26,247 feet) tall. They also stick out enough from the main mountain to be considered. This "sticking out" is called topographic prominence. For these new peaks, they need to have a prominence of at least 60 meters (197 feet).

     These peaks were suggested to the UIAA in 2012 to be counted as new eight-thousanders.

These new peaks don't meet the UIAA's usual rule for major mountains. That rule says a mountain needs to rise at least 600 meters (1,969 feet) from the lowest point connecting it to a higher mountain. The lowest prominence of the current 14 eight-thousanders is Lhotse, at 610 meters (2,001 feet). However, the UIAA once used a smaller prominence rule (30 meters) for 4,000-meter peaks in the Alps. So, they thought 60 meters might be fair for 8,000-meter peaks.

As of November 2018, the UIAA has not made a final decision. It seems these ideas have been put aside for now.

Climbers of All 14 Eight-Thousanders

It can be tricky to confirm every climb in the Himalayas. But a special book called The Himalayan Database by Elizabeth Hawley is very important. It's used as a main source for climbs in the Nepalese Himalayas. Other websites also use her information.

Verified Climbs

Reinhold Messner, the first person to climb all 14 eight-thousanders. He also did it without extra oxygen.

Edurne Pasaban, the first woman to climb all 14 eight-thousanders.

Gerlinde Kaltenbrunner, the first woman to climb all 14 eight-thousanders without extra oxygen.

     First man to climb all 14 eight-thousanders, and first without extra oxygen      First woman to climb all 14 eight-thousanders (with extra oxygen)      First woman to climb all 14 eight-thousanders (no extra oxygen)      Fastest climb of all 14 eight-thousanders      Youngest person to climb all 14 eight-thousanders      First disabled person to climb all 14 eight-thousanders

The "No O₂" column shows climbers who did not use extra oxygen.

List of climbers who have reached the top of all 14 eight-thousanders.

Order	Order (No O2)	Name	Years Climbed	Born	Age	Nationality
1	1	Reinhold Messner	1972–1986	1944	42	Italian
2		Jerzy Kukuczka	1979–1987	1948	39	Polish
3	2	Erhard Loretan	1982–1995	1959	36	Swiss
4		Carlos Carsolio	1985–1996	1962	33	Mexican
5		Krzysztof Wielicki	1980–1996	1950	46	Polish
6	3	Juanito Oiarzabal	1985–1999	1956	43	Spanish
7		Sergio Martini	1983–2000	1949	51	Italian
8		Park Young-seok	1993–2001	1963	38	Korean
9		Um Hong-gil	1988–2001	1960	40	Korean
10	4	Alberto Iñurrategi	1991–2002	1968	33	Spanish
11		Han Wang-yong	1994–2003	1966	37	Korean
12	5	Ed Viesturs	1989–2005	1959	46	American
13	6	Silvio Mondinelli	1993–2007	1958	49	Italian
14	7	Ivan Vallejo	1997–2008	1959	49	Ecuadorian
15	8	Denis Urubko	2000–2009	1973	35	Kazakhstani
16		Ralf Dujmovits	1990–2009	1961	47	German
17	9	Veikka Gustafsson	1993–2009	1968	41	Finnish
18		Andrew Lock	1993–2009	1961	48	Australian
19	10	João Garcia	1993–2010	1967	43	Portuguese
20		Piotr Pustelnik	1990–2010	1951	58	Polish
21		Edurne Pasaban	2001–2010	1973	36	Spanish
22		Abele Blanc	1992–2011	1954	56	Italian
23		Mingma Sherpa	2000–2011	1978	33	Nepali
24	11	Gerlinde Kaltenbrunner	1998–2011	1970	40	Austrian
25		Vassily Pivtsov	2001–2011	1975	36	Kazakhstani
26	12	Maxut Zhumayev	2001–2011	1977	34	Kazakhstani
27		Kim Jae-soo	2000–2011	1961	50	Korean
28	13	Mario Panzeri	1988–2012	1964	48	Italian
29		Hirotaka Takeuchi	1995–2012	1971	41	Japanese
30		Chhang Dawa Sherpa	2001–2013	1982	30	Nepali
31	14	Kim Chang-ho	2005–2013	1970	43	Korean
32		Jorge Egocheaga	2002–2014	1968	45	Spanish
33	15	Radek Jaroš	1998–2014	1964	50	Czech
34/35	16/17	Nives Meroi	1998–2017	1961	55	Italian
34/35	16/17	Romano Benet [it]	1998–2017	1962	55	Italian Slovenian
36	18	Peter Hámor	1998–2017	1964	52	Slovak
37	19	Azim Gheychisaz	2008–2017	1981	37	Iranian
38		Ferran Latorre	1999–2017	1970	46	Spanish
39	20	Òscar Cadiach	1984–2017	1952	64	Spanish
40		Kim Mi-gon	2000–2018	1973	45	Korean
41		Sanu Sherpa	2006–2019	1975	44	Nepali
42		Nirmal Purja	2014–2019	1983	36	Nepali
43		Mingma Gyabu Sherpa	2010–2019	1989	30	Nepali
44		Kim Hong-bin	2006–2021	1964	57	Korean

Disputed Climbs

Sometimes, there isn't enough proof to confirm a climb. These are called "disputed ascents." The person who keeps the best records for Himalayan climbs is Elizabeth Hawley. Her The Himalayan Database is usually the main source for checking these climbs.

Cho Oyu can be a tricky mountain. Its true top is a small hump about 30 minutes from the main plateau. You need clear weather to see Mount Everest from the real summit. Shishapangma is another tricky one because it has two tops that are very close in height but can take up to two hours to climb between them. For example, Elizabeth Hawley thought that Ed Viesturs didn't reach the true summit of Shishapangma. So, he climbed it again to make sure his ascent was clear.

Name	Years Climbed	Born	Age	Nationality
(Lhotse 1997) (His climbing partner Sergio Martini climbed Lhotse again in 2000 to confirm his 14 peaks.)	1983–1998	1952	46	Italian
Alan Hinkes (Cho Oyu 1990) (Hinkes disagrees with Hawley's decision to "unrecognize" his Cho Oyu climb.)	1987–2005	1954	53	British
Vladislav Terzyul (Shishapangma (West) Summit 2000, Broad Peak 1995) (He didn't claim the main summit of Shishapangma, so his status is unlikely to change.)	1993–2004 (deceased)	1953	49	Ukrainian
Oh Eun-sun (Kangchenjunga 2009) (This was a big discussion because she might have been the first woman to climb all 14.)	1997–2010	1966	44	Korean
(Shishapangma 2012) (Pauner wasn't sure if he reached the true summit because it was dark. He might climb it again.)	2001–2013	1963	50	Spanish
Zhang Liang (Shishapangma 2018) (Chinese news said Zhang finished all 14, but some think they only reached the central summit.)	2000–2018	1964	54	Chinese

Gallery

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  No. 1 – Everest

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  No. 2 – K2

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  No. 3 – Kangchenjunga

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  No. 4 – Lhotse

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  No. 5 – Makalu

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  No. 6 – Cho Oyu

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  No. 7 – Dhaulagiri

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  No. 8 – Manaslu

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  No. 9 – Nanga Parbat

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  No. 10 – Annapurna

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  No. 11 – Gasherbrum I

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  No. 12 – Broad Peak

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  No. 13 – Gasherbrum II

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  No. 14 – Shishapangma

This image compares the heights of the Eight-thousanders (red triangles) with the Seven Summits and Seven Second Summits.

Images for kids

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  The south face of Lhotse, as seen from Chukhung Ri.

See also

In Spanish: Ochomil para niños