Which of the 7 summits is the easiest to climb?

Kosciuszko, if you count it: a marked walk from the Thredbo chairlift that takes a morning. On the Carstensz Pyramid list, where Kosciuszko is replaced by a rock climb, the easiest is Kilimanjaro. It needs no rope, no crampons and no ice axe, just a week of walking that ends at 5,895 m19,341 ft. Elbrus comes next, a glacier walk that needs crampons and an ice axe but no real climbing. Everything above those three is an expedition.

Easiest is not the same as safest

Kilimanjaro's only difficulty is the thin air, and that is exactly what hurts people: the park allows five-day itineraries, and climbers who take them go from 1,800 m5,906 ft to nearly 6,000 m19,685 ft faster than a body can adjust. A longer route and a slow pace turn it into the gentle climb it looks like. Elbrus has the easiest ground of the big peaks and one of the worst death tolls, because its whiteouts arrive in minutes and the slopes on either side of the normal route are crevassed. The order of difficulty and the signature danger of each peak are in The 7 summits in order of difficulty.

The easiest by the numbers

By summit rates, the gentlest climbs are Kosciuszko and Vinson, where nearly everyone who reaches the mountain reaches the top; Vinson is only hard to afford. Kilimanjaro's rate depends on the route, from well under half on the five-day Marangu itineraries to over 90 per cent on eight-day climbs. Elbrus and Denali turn back about half of their climbers, mostly for weather.

Which one to climb first

Kilimanjaro. It teaches you how your body handles altitude, it needs no skills you do not already have, and it costs a fraction of the others. Most finishers started there or on Elbrus, took Aconcagua next for the expedition routine, and left Denali, Vinson, Carstensz Pyramid and Everest for when the skills were in place. In what order should I climb the 7 summits? sets out the sequence, and Which skills do the 7 summits need? what to learn before each one. The Kilimanjaro guide has the routes.