Climbing the Seven Summits (the highest peak on each of the world’s seven continents) is becoming an increasingly popular objective for climbers. Some people are starting to look for new challenges with a similar theme. One alternative is to climb the highest volcano on each of the seven continents, a project known as the Volcanic Seven Summits.

Some of these peaks are popular with both international and local climbers. The climbing routes are well established and information is easy to find. Others are more obscure: information is harder to find and access harder to arrange. For several of these peaks different heights are quoted by different sources and there is little consensus as to what the most accurate figure is. There is even some dispute about the Asian summit. Most sources are happy to identify Damavand in Iran as the highest volcano in Asia, however there are questions about whether some volcanic vents on the Tibetean plateau should be considered instead

As more people become interested in climbing these peaks it is likely that a consensus will emerge on all the summit heights. However only time will tell if the seven peaks listed above will continue to be regarded as the highest summit of volcanic origin on each continent. Read more…