The Story Of Seven Summits

By Author: Lei Wang
Total Articles: 10
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Every history has got a story. Of course stories are the instruments that narrate history. Likewise the history behind the origin of seven summits has also got several stories to speak up. This article will summarize those stories and reveals you with the real reasons for naming these mountains so.

Before to enter with the matter one should have a clear idea about the members of the Seven summits. Well the Seven summits really denotes the seven highest peaks each one representing one of the seven continents in the world. We all knew that the seven continents that are existing right now can be listed out in the descending order on basis of their area as: ASIA, AFRICA, NORTH AMERICA, SOUT AMERICA, ANTARCTICA, EUROPE and AUSTRALIA

Belonging to any one of the continents listed above, Seven summits can be listed as:

- Aconcagua

- Carstensz Pyramid

- Kilimanjaro

- Elbrus

- Denali

- Vinson

- Mount Everest

Starting with Aconcagua which represents the continent South America, the story of it seems to be quite confusing as records say there are three reasons behind ...
... it's naming. On linguistic grounds it is believed that the name of this peak is derived from Quechuan language which is the combination of two words Ackhon Cahuak and Anco Cahuac. The words are not of fancy and they really mean Sentinel of stone and White Sentinel. Mean while the ancient people of Andes called the Mapuches, named as Aconca- Hue which means Comes from the other side.

Carstensz Pyramid which is probably now known as Puncak Jaya, this mountain is located on the island of New Guinea and stands as the highest peak in Indonesia. This mountain was named Carstensz Pyramid by a Dutch explorer Jan Carstensz in the year 1623 who, when he returned to Europe, was almost punished for claiming that there was a mountain near the equator with snow on it. The present name of the mountain is Puncak Jaya which came about in the 1960s when Indonesia took over control. The name was first changed to Puncak Soekarno after the president of Indonesia, but was later changed to Puncak Jaya, Jaya meaning 'victorious' or 'glorious'.

In the North East Tanzania lies the Mount Kilimanjaro which is the highest free-standing mountain in the world. The exact meaning of the word Kilimanjaro is unknown as it is thought to be a mixture of the Swahili and Kichagga languages.

Elbrus which represents the continent of Europe has the pride to be the highest peak of Europe. The mere translation of Elbrus in the Arabic language is Surprise; surprise; White mountain.

The Denali range is the highest peak of North America which is exactly located in Alaska. The name is discovered by the natives of Alaska called the Athabaskans which means The Great one.

The Vinson range is located in the freezing Antarctica. It is officially given this name by the US advisory committee on Arctic names due to great financial support of the congressman Carl Vinson.

The Everest needs no introductions as we all know it seems to be one of nature's wonders. Many interesting stories swirl around when we put ourselves in discovering the origin of it's name. of all the valuable fact is that this highest range acquires it's name from Colonel George Everest who was the chief of the surveyor who actually measured the real height of this peak to this world.

Lei Wang is the first Chinese woman and Asian-American woman to achieve the 'Seven Summits'. An unique mountaineering challenge consisting of climbing the highest mountain on each of the seven continents.