Unclimbed peaks are often referred to as Virgin peaks. Many of these peaks are considered to be tougher and more difficult to climb than Everest.

Furthermore, the mountains in this list are also some of the least visited places on earth.

In many cases there are several possible routes to a peak. Note that some of the peaks in the list have been summited, but not from the face or ridge mentioned. I have included these peaks in the list because of their prominence.

As a final note, I will try my best to update the list as new ascents are made in the future. However feel free to make a comment if you find any inaccuracies and I will do my best to see them corrected.

Here’s a list of the world’s 11 highest unclimbed mountains:

1. Masherbrum (Northeast Face)

• Height: 7821 meters (25,659 ft) (North peak), 7806 meters (S/W peak)

• Location: Baltistan, Pakistan

• Nickname(s): ‘’The Impossible Wall’’, ‘’K1’’ and ‘’Queen of Peaks’’

• Trivia: The toughest climb in the world above 7500 meters

• Elevation ranking: 22^nd highest mountain in the world

• Status: Climbing Not prohibited

The name is suggested to mean ‘’Queen of Peaks’’ but was first denoted ‘’K1’’ in 1856 when it was first recognized by Thomas Montgomerie. Montgomerie also famously named ‘’K2’’, the K standing for Karakoram, the famous mountain range.

In 2014 David Lama described the N/E face as ‘‘A rock face that never ends. Like the north face of Eiger with Cerro Torres on top it.’’ Lama, who’s incredible feats are mentioned a lot in this article, unfortunately had to abort the attempted ascent because of avalanche conditions. There have been no more recent tries to climb it.

Masherbrum has only had four ascents to date, but none from the N/E face. The first attempt at the peak was in 1938 by a British expedition. The first ascent was in 1960 via the S/E face. The first ascent of the S/W peak was made in 1981 by a Polish team, who had two fatalities on the descent.

The third and fourth (and last) ascents were made in 1985 by a Japanese and an Austrian team respectively via the North and N/W face. Since then no one has reached the summit.

2. Gangkhar Puensum

• Height: 7570 meters (24,836 ft)

• Location: Bhutan-China border

• Nickname(s): ‘’White Peak of the Three Spiritual Broders’’

• Trivia: The first team to attempt the summit was unable to find the mountain due to inadequate mapping of the area. It is still debated over in which country the mountain resides

• Elevation ranking: 40^th highest mountain in the world

• Status: Climbing Prohibited

Because of the border disputes, It is not clear whether Gangkhar Puensum lies in Bhutan or in China. However most recognize the mountain as the highest mountain in Bhutan.

The closest anyone has been to climb it is the Japanese Expedition who in 1999 climbed the 7535 m subsidiary peak Liangkang Kangri.

Because of political disputes between the Chinese and Bhutan authorities, the permission to climb Gangkhar Puensum was withdrawn, and since 2003 it has been completely forbidden.

3. Annapurna III (Southeast Ridge)

• Height: 7555 meters (24,787 ft)

• Location: Nepal

• Nickname(s): –

• Trivia: Annapurna I is considered the most deadly mountain in the world with a 33 % death rate

• Elevation ranking: 43^rd highest mountain in the world

• Status: Climbing Not prohibited

The unclimbed southeast ridge of Annapurna III has for several decades been considered to be one of the most extreme challenges in mountaineering. 

Kenton Cool, the famous mountaineer who summited Everest fourteen times 2004-2019, was part of the first group to climb the southwest ridge of Annapurna III in 2003. Their ascent was described as ‘’terrifying already before reaching base camp.’’

Cool was nominated for a Piolet d’Or (given to the best mountaineering performance every year) for climbing the S/E ridge.

The most notable attempt on the S/E ridge was made by David Lama and his climbing partners in 2016. Unfortunately the weather conditions forced them to turn around before reaching the summit. The award-winning documentation of their attempt can be watched here.

4. Muchu Chhish

• Height: 7453 meters (24,452 ft)

• Location: Pakistan

• Nickname(s): ‘’Batura V’’

• Trivia: The base camp of the latest expedition was exposed to rock falls, stampeding yaks, ibex and snow leopards

• Elevation ranking: 60^th highest mountain in the world

• Status: Climbing Not prohibited

Muchu Chhish is one of the tallest mountains to remain unclimbed that is not prohibited because of religious or political reasons.

The mountain lies in the Karakoram range, just nearby the Batura glacier, one of the longest glaciers in the world.

There have only been two known attempts at climbing Muchu Chhish. The first one was In 1999 by a Spanish expedition, but they were not successful.

The most recent and notable attempt to climb the mountain was made in 2014 by Pete Thompson and his climbing partners. Although they ultimately had to return before reaching the summit, their story is fascinating.

In his recollection of their climb, Thompson among other things describes how they were nearly crushed by a stampeding herd of yaks, only just escaping by climbing onto large boulders. Their base camp also had nightly visits from ibex and a snow leopard. You can read the fascinating full story of the climb here.

5. Kabru

• Height: 7412 meters (24,318 ft)

• Location: Nepal

• Nickname(s): ‘’Kabru IV’’

• Trivia: The southernmost mountain above 7000 meters (23,000 ft)

• Elevation ranking: 65^th highest mountain in the world

• Status: Climbing Not prohibited

Located on the border of Nepal and India, the ridge of Kabru consists of at least seven peaks with only a couple hundred meters in height differential.

The fact that there many peaks on Kabru have confused climbers and media alike. Kabru IV however is officially unclimbed, and it also happens to be the highest of the peaks.

6. Labuche Kang III

• Height: 7250 meters (23,786 ft)

• Location: Tibet (Himalayas), China

• Nickname(s): ‘’Labuche Kang East’’

• Trivia: A weather forecast influenced a team to retreat only 400 meters from the summit, however the predicted storms never arrived

• Elevation ranking: 93^rd highest mountain in the world

• Status: Climbing Not prohibited

Now this mountain may only remain shortly on this list because of an expedition planned for Autumn 2019 lead by Andrew Lock.

Notable attempt was made by Luke Smithwick in 2018, who had to turn around because of harsh weather conditions.

Their team reportedly recorded 17 crevasse falls and 24 falls into water on the glacier, but had to retreat at 6900 meters (22,600 ft). If I am not mistaken he will soon give it another try, so perhaps we have a race on our hands.

7. Karjiang South

• Height: 7221 meters (23,691 ft)

• Location: Tibet (Himalayas), China

• Nickname(s): ‘’Karjiang I’’

• Trivia: Only two known attempts made, one in 1986 by a Japanese team and one in 2001 by a Dutch team

• Elevation ranking: 99^th highest mountain in the world

• Status: Climbing Not prohibited

In Sep-Oct 2001 a Dutch expedition made an attempt for the summit of Karjiang I from the east side but found that to be too extreme. They described the northeast side to look ‘’at least 800 meters in height and even steeper and more difficult than the south face of Chacraraju in Peru.’’

Instead the team retreated to make an attempt on the west side of Kajiang South. After causing a 25 meter wide avalanche at 6550 meters they decided to retreat.

Later they also explored the south ridge but determined that it would be too dangerous to climb. The full retelling of the Dutch expedition can be found here.

8. Tongshanjiabu

• Height: 7207 meters (23,645 ft)

• Location: Bhutan (Himalayas)

• Nickname(s): –

• Trivia: Hardly any information available about the mountain

• Elevation ranking: 103^rd highest mountain in the world

• Status: Climbing prohibited

Similar to and only 24 kilometers away from Gangkhar Puensum, Tongshanjiabu sits on the disputed border of Bhutan and China.

Not much is known about Tongshanjiabu, and because of the deadly nature of the mountain it is mostly restricted.

9. Latok I (North Ridge)

• Height: 7145 meters (23,442 ft)

• Location: Pakistan

• Nickname(s): –

• Trivia: An attempt to climb it in 1978 is widely regarded as ‘’The Most Remarkable Failure in Climbing History’’

• Elevation ranking: 100^th +

• Status: Climbing Not prohibited

Latok has four summits and all are considered to be some of the toughest and most extreme climbs in the world. Although all summits have now been ascended, the north ridge to Latok I is still unclimbed after 40+ years of tries.

The most notable attempt was made in 1978 by the famous alpinists Jeff Lowe, George Lowe, Jim Donini and Michael Kennedy. They spent 26 (!) days on the mountain, half of those in cover of stormy weather, but finally had to turn around only 400-500 ft from the summit.

Famously, only a 339 word essay was written by Kennedy after the failure of the expedition, saying ‘’To describe each pitch, each day would be so tedious, and the experience was so overwhelming and so ultimately disappointing that I’m not sure I could, even six months later.’’

One of the most notorious descriptions of the climb was of the descent when Jeff Lowe became very ill at the highest camp, a snow cave at 22,800 ft: ‘’We spent four nights above 21,000 ft on tiny ledges hacked out of the ice, including one in a storm on the descent, the most horrible night I have ever spent in the mountains.’’

The second ever successful ascent since 1979 was made in August 2018 by a Slovenian/British team of three. The took the north ridge 2/3 of the way up, but the last 1/3 of the north ridge still remains unclimbed.

10. Machapuchare

• Height: 6993 meters (22,943 ft)

• Location: Himalayas, Nepal

• Nickname(s): ‘’Fishtail’’ & ‘’Matterhorn of Nepal’’

• Trivia: Rumored to have been illegally climbed in the 1980s

• Elevation ranking: 100^th +

• Status: Climbing prohibited

Because of its association with the Hindu god Shiva the mountain peak is restricted from all climbing.

It is said that only one expedition made a climb for the summit before the mountain was completely prohibited. In 1957, Wilfrid Noyce reached 150 m (492 ft) (some say 50 m) below the summit. Noyce had however promised the king of Nepal not to climb the peak, so they never summited.

After Noyce’s expedition, climbing the mountain was completely forbidden. Officially the mountain has never been climbed after that, however rumors say otherwise.

In the early 1980s, New Zealander Bill Denz reportedly made an illegal ascent of Machapuchare. Denz is said to have made the climb alone, but the climb was never made official.

Denz tragically died in an avalanche on Makalu in 1983, before being able to go on the record about the climb. Almost 40 years later, we still don’t know the complete truth, and we probably never will.

11. Mount Kailash

• Height: 6638 meters (21,778 ft)

• Location: Tibet, China

• Nickname(s): ‘’Kailasa’’, ‘’Kangrinboqê’’, ‘’Tisé’’, ‘’Crystal’’ & ‘’Precious Jewel of Snows’’,

• Trivia: The air on the mountain is said to make one age faster. Apparently, a group of Siberian climbers once reached ahead of a certain point and immediately aged by a few decades. All the climbers died only a year after!

• Elevation ranking: 100^th +

• Status: Climbing prohibited

The mountain is considered sacred in Bon, Buddhism, Hinduism and Jainism. Because of this the mountain is strictly prohibited.

Going back thousands of years, every year a pilgrimage is made to the mountain. Thousands of people circumambulate the mountain to gain good fortune.

In 1936, Herbert Tichy asked a local if climbing Mount Kailash was possible. The local famously answered: “Only a man entirely free of sin could climb Kailash. And he wouldn’t have to actually scale the sheer walls of ice to do it – he’d just turn himself into a bird and fly to the summit.”

Renowned mountaineer Reinhold Meissner was given permission by the Chinese to climb the mountain in the 1980s but declined the offer.

Later Meissner was quoted when talk of an expedition to claim the mountain became public: ‘’If we conquer this mountain, then we conquer something in people’s souls. I would suggest they go and climb something a little harder. Kailas is not so high and not so hard.’’

Bonus 1: Mount Siple

• Height: 3110 meters (10203 ft)

• Location: Siple island, Antarctica

• Nickname(s): –

• Trivia: May or may not be an active volcano

• Elevation ranking: 100^th +

• Status: Climbing Not prohibited

Taking up most of Siple island in Antarctica, Mount Siple is perhaps the most remotely located mountain on this list.

The distant location is perhaps the most clear explanation for why it hasn’t been climbed. In fact, many of the surrounding volcanos have had recent visits. So why has not Mount Siple been climbed yet?

5 Reasons Mount Siple has not yet been climbed

Well, one explanation could be that there simply is no good motivation to climb it. Given it’s relatively low height (elite mountaineering wise) of only 3110 meters, there are many more higher and perhaps more prestigious climbs out there.

People go to great lengths (quite literally) to climb the eight-thousanders (peaks above 8000 m) for example.

Another reason might be accessibility (or lack thereof). First off, the Mount Siple lies on an island. Secondly, that island is in one of the most hostile and remote places on earth, Antarctica.

Doing an expedition to Antarctica may seem straightforward but it actually involves about a thousand problems that would not need to be considered, even travelling to something as remote as the Himalayas.

Finally, the cost alone of making such a trip, which would involve hiring crew, specialized boat and equipment would be staggering and enough to keep 99 percent of people to not even consider doing it.

Bonus 2: Devils Thumb (Northwest face)

• Height: 2767 meters (9,077 ft)

• Location: Alaska, North America

• Nickname(s): ‘’Boundary Peak 71’’, ‘’Taalkhunaxhkʼu Shaa’’ & ‘’The mountain that never flooded’’

• Trivia: Considered to be the most dangerous climbing challenge in North America

• Elevation ranking: 100^th +

• Status: Climbing Not prohibited

Known for its iconic figure, Devils Thumb is definitely one of the coolest looking peaks on this list. And even if it lacks in height in comparison to many others on this list, I think it needs a mention.

Since 1977 there have been 13 expeditions with the mission of climbing the northwest face of Devils Thumb. All have failed for various reasons.

Dieter Klose who reached halfway up, higher than anybody else, said that ‘’It is a dangerous and difficult face that rarely, if ever, comes into condition’’

The northwest face of Devils Thumb has never been climbed. However, the peak was reached for the first time in 1946 and was a landmark in American mountaineering.

Bonus 3: Namcha Barwa

• Height: 7782 meters (25,531 ft)

• Location: Tibet (Himalayas), China

• Nickname(s): ‘’Namchabarwa’’ & ‘’Namjagbarwa Feng’’

• Trivia: It was the highest unclimbed peak in the world 1976- 1992.

• Elevation ranking: 28^th highest mountain in the world

• Status: Climbing Not prohibited

Although first discovered in 1912 by Brits, the mountain was untouched until Chinese alpinists began climbing it in the 1980s.

It took at least a decade of expeditions and recognizance before the mountain could finally be ascended in 1992 by a party of eleven Japanese and Chinese climbers.

There has only been one ascent in 1992 and since then the summit has stood unvisited.

Bonus 4: Lunag Ri

• Height: 6895 meters (22,621 ft)

• Location: Nepal

• Nickname(s):

• Trivia: Only one recorded ascent (by David Lama in Oct 2018)

• Elevation ranking: 100^th +

• Status: Climbing Not prohibited

I included this as a tribute to David Lama if nothing else. This incredible feat was accomplished just in 2018 and it is definitely up there as one of the most extreme climbs of recent years.

Lama attempted the climb in 2015 and again in 2016, but failed both times. In 2016 his climbing partner Conrad Anchor suffered a heart attack while climbing. Lama continued the climb shortly afterwards but couldn’t reach higher than 6700 meters (22,000 ft).

David Lamas documented solo ascent of Lunag Ri in 2018 can be seen on YouTube here.

Bonus 5: Janhukut

• Height: 6805 meters (22,326 ft)

• Location: Uttarakhand (Himalayas), India

• Nickname(s): ‘’Janhukot’’, ‘’Jannuhut’’ & ‘’Jankut’’

• Trivia: Only one recorded ascent (by a British expedition in June 2018)

• Elevation ranking: 100^th +

• Status: Climbing Not prohibited

The first ascent was made in 2018 by British mountaineers Malcolm Bass, Paul Figg and Guy Buckingham. Until June 2018 there had been 5-6 attempts to reach the summit and all had failed.