Climbing
9 of the world's hardest mountains to climb
Mountaineer Kenton Cool’s guide to the peaks that will take your climbing career to new heights.
When it comes to climbing, Kenton Cool knows a thing or two. The British mountaineer has climbed all of the world’s highest peaks and was the first man to scale the horseshoe of Everest, Nuptse and Lhotse in a single push. He has also reached the 8,848m summit of Everest 12 times – more than any other Briton.
But it’s not only the famously high Himalayan mountains that he classes as the most difficult to climb. Here Kenton reveals nine of the trickiest climbs to conquer – ideal for pros looking to hone their mountain skills.
1. Denali, Alaska, USA
I had a love affair with Alaska – particularly the Cassin Ridge, which splits the south face of Denali (also known as Mount McKinley). It’s really gnarly, all snow and ice, with six or so routes to take, from easier routes to the truly challenging. The rock quality is unbelievable – climbing in Alaska is some of the best in the world.
2. Mount Hunter, Alaska, USA
You’ll need your crampons for Mount Hunter’s north buttress, known as ‘Moonflower Buttress’. The route was first climbed in 1983 by Todd Bibler and Doug Klewin and snakes up a line of ice. It’s quite a hard route – but it’s without doubt the best mountain alpine route I have ever climbed.
3. El Capitan, California, USA
Yosemite National Park has some of the hardest free climbing on the planet. El Capitan is a 900m-high vertical rock formation and is one of the most amazing sweeps of rock. The Nose is its most famous route – it’s the Holy Grail of climbing, the one that everyone wants to do.
4. Mount Asgard, Baffin Island, Canada
Where do you start with this incredible island above the Arctic Circle? It’s like Yosemite on steroids! The location of Mount Asgard is unbelievable – you have frozen seas and there’s no easy way up. It’s so impressive they even filmed a James Bond scene here [the opening sequence of The Spy Who Loved Me, where Bond is seen skiing off the mountain with a Union Jack parachute].
5. The Eiger, Bernese Alps, Switzerland
This mountain is one of the biggest Alpine climbs in Europe. It has a very famous north face route – but it’s also notoriously dangerous. It was one of the last great parts of the Alps to be unlocked (first climbed in 1938). I have climbed it a couple of times – it’s wonderful in good conditions, but it has its own weather system and it can become very dangerous very quickly.
6. Ben Nevis, Lochaber, Scotland
The highest point in the UK, this mountain transforms itself as the seasons change. In winter it’s covered in snow and is an amazing venue for ice climbing, and in summer it has fantastic rock climbing. Our mountains may be smaller than some of the others in the world but they have character and pack a punch far above their stature. Ben Nevis will test any climber – and it’s right on our doorstep.
7. Annapurna, Himalayas, Nepal
The world’s tenth highest peak, in 1950 Annapurna also became the world’s first 8,000m peak to be climbed – three years before Everest was successfully scaled. The Alpine-style ascent of its south face is on all super high-altitude climbers’ bucket-lists.
8. Mount Arapiles, Victoria, Australia
This is one of the best venues in the world for pure rock climbing. It’s got everything there – both hard and easy sport and trad climbing [unlike sport and indoor climbing, trad routes don't have fixed bolts and the climber places the gear as they climb]. There’s everything from one pitch to multiple pitches, and there’s also a great scene in Natimuk village, which is nearby.
9. Fontainebleau, Île-de-France, France
Just south of Paris, there is an ancient forest in Fontainebleau that is full of rock boulders. You don’t need a rope as they are only around 12 to 15ft-high – it’s so far removed from the cold, extreme conditions of the big mountains, it’s the polar opposite of Annapurna. But you can still find difficult routes that will test you. You can lose yourself there, never climbing the same boulder twice. It’s a beautiful place to climb.