Shortest total ascent time for the Seven Summits, alone and without oxygen

What to remember

Between 2002 and 2007, Austrian climber Christian Stangl climbed the Seven Summits alone and without supplemental oxygen. Adding up his ascent times, from base camp to summit on each mountain, he reported a total of 58 hours and 45 minutes, or 2 d 10 h 45 min.

The Seven Summits are the highest mountains on each of the seven traditional continents. Two lists exist because continental boundaries are read differently. The one used by Richard Bass, who first reached all seven on 30 April 1985, includes Mount Kosciuszko for Australia; Reinhold Messner's list swaps it for Puncak Jaya in New Guinea. Stangl followed the Messner list.

In January 2023, the magazine Climbing described the Seven Summits as a relatively common tour of each continent's highest peak. Stangl's record is about something else: the combined time of his ascents, made alone and without supplemental oxygen.