The world's 'tallest mountain' might not be where you think: Mount Mauna Kea, Hawaii. Photo / Enrique Alvarez, Caladan Oceanic
The world's 'tallest mountain' might not be where you think: Mount Mauna Kea, Hawaii. Photo / Enrique Alvarez, Caladan Oceanic
The tallest mountain on Earth has been conquered at last.
"You're 69 years late," I hear you cry? "Tenzing & co. bagged that summit ages ago."
Mt Everest might be the highest mountain at 8,849m above sea level but, beneath the surface, there's a rival summit whose base starts at 5,116m below the Pacific ocean
Hawaii's Mauna Kea volcano stands a towering 9,330m tall - from foot to summit.
With the majority of the already significant 4,207m volcano beneath the water, it is arguably the tallest "mountain" on the planet.
It was a fact that fascinated climber and submariner Victor Vescovo.
The American explorer first came across the idea in 2020 while sailing around Hawaii's big island. Mountaineers have been climbing the maunga for centuries, but it occurred to Vescovo that nobody had ever started from the sea bed.
Explorer Victor Vescovo, left, with climb partner Dr Cliff Kapono. Photo / Enrique Alvarez, Caladan Oceanic
Having climbed the highest points in all seven continents and dived to the deepest points in five oceans, the task seemed perfectly suited to the explorer.
Victor teamed up with Hawaiian marine biologist Dr Cliff Kapono for the strenuous three-day expedition, which took place last year.
"As with any true mountaineering expedition, it was a round trip made using only human power – with the exception of minimal electrical power for the submersibles that allows for the ascent and descent," said the expedition team of Caladan Oceanic.
Victor and Cliff's climb began with a 5km deep dive. Photo / Enrique Alvarez, Caladan Oceanic
Via submarine, waka ama, cycle and treacherous ice-hike, the duo covered a route of 115km.
Victor described it "like a very difficult triathlon," in an interview for San Francisco Gate. In spite of its prominence the Volcano is not regularly climbed.
Cliff and Victor paddled a section of the ascent in a waka ama. Photo / Enrique Alvarez, Caladan Oceanic
Hawaiian culture considers the summit "Kapu" - not unlike the concept of "Tapu" from te ao Māori.
"I think we did it with the proper respect," says Victor, when asked about the trip.
"There are some sensitivities. People are not encouraged to go to the summit. We got clearance from the local elder."
Hawaiian academic and sportsman Tom "Pohaku" Stone helped guide the route. Photo / Enrique Alvarez, Caladan Oceanic
The pair were advised by the Hawaiian sportsman Tom "Pohaku" Stone on the sensitivities of climbing the sacred mountain.
The climb which was completed in February last year was accepted by the Guinness Book of Records as the 'First Full Ascent of Mauna Kea".
From the tallest mountain to the deepest oceans
The explorer Victor recently completed an historic dive mission to the deepest points in the South Pacific Ocean.
Over Christmas he dived to the bottom of the Kermadec Trench, north of New Zealand's Kermadec Islands.
One of only four known trenches deeper than 10,000 metres, on 14 December he completed the race to become the first person to dive all four.
A successful dive to the bottom of the Chilean Atacama Trench. Photo / Caladan Oceanic
"Given that we are diving into places that have never had a human visit, we are always a bit surprised by what we find," said Victor.
The expeditions are part of a larger project to map the world's sea bed by 2030.
The view from the Kermaek Trench, North of New Zealand. Photo / Caladan Oceanic
Deep waters don't always run smooth
Victor Vescovo's deepwater missions have won him fame but not always popularity. In 2019 New Zealand-based filmmaker and explorer James Cameron wrote an open letter to the New York Times questioning 'who dove deepest?'
The two multi-millionaires with a passion for mini submarines got engaged in a public spat as to which of them claims the deepest solo dive on record.
In April 2019 Victor spent 10 hours solo at the bottom of the Mariana Trench, in the Western Pacific. It was an expedition with a blockbuster cost of $73 million.
Victor claimed to have reached part of the trench with a depth of 11,034 metres - 15 metres deeper than Cameron's previous 2012 record.
However, Cameron's charts suggested that there was no deeper point in the trench to be reached.
"I question that result," Cameron later told Wired magazine. "I also question why nobody else has questioned that result."
Victor Vescovo praised Cameron's 2012 dive as "great and historic" achievement. However, the submariner says that much more is known about the topography now.
Having spent over 24 hours on dozens of dives into the Challenger Deep Trench, Victor says it is not the flat and featureless bottom that was reported on a decade ago.
