Highest mountain in mainland Australia

What to remember

At 2,228 m, or 7,310 ft, Mount Kosciuszko is no giant, yet nothing in mainland Australia stands taller.

It appears in the Seven Summits, the challenge of climbing the highest peak of every continent. The idea came from the American Richard Bass, whose list used Kosciuszko for Australia. Bass completed the set on 30 April 1985, on Everest.

The Italian mountaineer Reinhold Messner proposed a different list in which Puncak Jaya, on New Guinea, takes Kosciuszko's place. It all depends on how the continent is drawn. By saying "mainland Australia", the title sidesteps the debate: on the Australian landmass itself, Kosciuszko is the top.