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Photographer’s Note

Although the summit of Mount Everest reaches a higher elevation above sea level, the summit of Chimborazo is widely reported to be the farthest point from Earth's center (Senne 2000, [5]), although this could be challenged by Huascarán.[3] Chimborazo is just one degree south of the equator and the earth's diameter at the equator is greater than at Everest's latitude (nearly 28° north), with sea level also being elevated. So, despite being 2,581 m (8,568 ft) lower in elevation above sea level, it is 6,384.4 km (3,968 mi) from the Earth's center, 2.1 km farther than the summit of Everest.[4]

Until the beginning of the nineteenth century it was thought that Chimborazo was the highest mountain on Earth (measured from sea level), and such reputation led to many attempts on its summit during the seventeenth and eighteenth centuries. In 1802 during his expedition to South America, Baron Alexander von Humboldt, accompanied by Aimé Bonpland and the Ecuadorian Carlos Montúfar attempted to reach the summit. From his description of the mountain it seems he reached a point at 5,875 m, from where he and his companions returned suffering from altitude sickness. At that point they had reached the highest point attained by any European in recorded history.[5] Chimborazo's summit was then first climbed by Briton Edward Whymper and the brothers Louis and Jean-Antoine Carrel in 1880. As there were many critics who doubted that Whymper had reached the summit, later in the same year he climbed to the summit again choosing a different route (Pogyos) with the Ecuadorians David Beltrán and Francisco Campaña (Whymper 1892).

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Photo Information
  • Copyright: JOAN I NATALIA (PARDAL) Gold Star Critiquer/Gold Note Writer [C: 115 W: 0 N: 151] (680)
  • Genre: Places
  • Medium: Color
  • Date Taken: 1991-09-13
  • Categories: Nature
  • Photo Version: Original Version
  • Date Submitted: 2007-05-07 12:49
Viewed: 2274
Points: 38
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Additional Photos by JOAN I NATALIA (PARDAL) Gold Star Critiquer/Gold Note Writer [C: 115 W: 0 N: 151] (680)
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