Europe's Highpoints

Europe's Highpoints

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Introduction

From Gibraltar to the Bosphorus, from Iceland to the Ural Mountains, from North Cap of Norway to the watershed of the Greater Caucasusian range, Europe: fourty eight countries with fourty eight mountains. Some are just grassy hills, some are high alpine peaks, all hold a special place in the hearts of the states whose highest ground they mark. All of them the target of many ‘mountain collectors’. Here comes a list with all of them, the "daddy" of all ticklists.

This compilation has used some criteria:

- The list goes about summits, not about a country’s high terrain that does not summit (for example, the slopes of a bigger mountain which summit stands in the neighbouring country). Only summits are counted here.

- The list includes ‘shared’ summits. Therefore a summit shared between two countries can be considered the summit of both countries. Example: Mont Blanc, shared between Italy and France. Although, like Mont Blanc, disputes over which country claims a summit can and do arise. For a full and detailed analysis of these disputes I recommend the guidebook , Europe's High Points: Reaching the Summit of Every Country in Europe (Cicerone) which also includes maps and route descriptions.

- Only highest summits within geographical Europe count. Some countries have territory outside geographical Europe (Russia, Turkey, Spain etc). Summits on these territories are not considered in this list, however, they are referred to beneath the list under disputed and alternative peaks. For example: Mt. Ararat in Turkey which is actually in Asia and Mount Teide in the Canary Islands, which although Spanish geographicvally belongs to the African tectonic plate.

- This list does not intend to fall into political discussions, again these are well covered in the available Guide Book. The important thing to remember if you are ticking mountains off is to enjoy it, look at the facts about what constitutes a high point or a European country and use your own judgement to fulfil your ambition. This list includes European countries as recognised by the United Nations. It aims to avoid dominions and break-away republics (such as the Isle of Man, Dagestan and Transistria), although some although by no means all of these are listed in the Disputed Peaks and Alternative High Points table beneath the main table.A special exception is made for Kosovo which is, for all intents and purposes, just about recognised as a state by the UN (with only Russia using its veto to bar full ratification).

The European Highpoints

CountrySummitHeight mtrs/feetPhotoComments
AlbaniaMaja e Korabit2.764/9.068shared with Macedonia
AndorraComa Pedrosa2.946/9.655-
AustriaGrossglockner3.798/12.460-
BelgiumSignal de Botrange694/2.276Actually, it is a high plateau without prominence, but still the highest point of Belgium
BelarusDzerzhinsky346/1.135no photo yet-
Bosnia-HerzegovinaMaglic2.387/7.831no photo yet-
BulgariaMusala2.925/9.596-
CroatiaDinara1.830/6.003-
CyprusOlympos1.951/6.404-
Czech RepublicSnezka1.602m/5.255Sniezka. This mountain shares its slopes with Poland
DenmarkSlaettaratindur (Faeroe Islands - dominion) or Mollohoj (mainland)882m or 170m/2.894no photo yet-
EstoniaSuur Munamagi318m/1.042no photo yet-
FinlandHalti1.328/4.356Halti (named 'Halditsohkka' in the Sami language of Lapland) is, actually a spur at 1.328 m/4.356 ft of a higher mountain, called Haldefjäll (1.361 m) which summit is 50 meters away, just in Norway. The highest mountain on its own in Finland is "Ridnitsohkka" (1.316 m), about 10 km ESE from Halti.
FranceMont Blanc4.808/15.774Definitely the highest point of France. There is a dispute over the borderline between France and Italy at this point. Some maps draw this line over the main summit. In this case the summit of Mont Blanc would be shared with Italy. Some other maps bring the line of the French-Italian border till the Mont Blanc de Courmayeur (4.748 m/15.577 ft) and the main summit falls, at this case, completely in France. In this case the Mont Blanc de Courmayeur would be the Italian highest point, being a subsidiary summit 800 meters to the SSE of the Mont Blanc main.
GermanyZugspitze2.962/9.717-
GreeceOlymbos2.917/9.570-
HungaryKékes1.015/3.330-
IcelandHvannadalshukur2.199/6.952-
IrelandCarrauntoohil1.039/3.409-
ItalyMont Blanc4.808/15.774shared with France
LatviaGaizinkalns311/1.020no photo yet-
LiechtensteinVorder Grauspitz2.599/8.527--
LithuaniaAukstojas294/964--
LuxembourgBuurgplaatz559/1.833-
MacedoniaGolem Korab2.764/9.066shared with Albania
MaltaTa 'Dmejrek253/830no photo yet-
MoldovaDealul Balanesti429/1.407no photo yetpart of a range of hills known as Kodry
Monaco24, Chemin des Révoires140/459-it seems that Mont Agel falls in french territory. The highest point of Monaco seems to be in a private terrein at the 24, Chemin des Révoires
MontenegroZla Kolata2.523?-The 'youngest' of the European summits after independence from Servia
NetherlandsVaalserberg322/1.056It is a 'drielandenpunt' or point of three countries: Netherlands, Germany and Belgium
NorwayGaldhøpiggen2.469/8.100-
PolandRysy2.499/8.187The NW summit is Poland's highest summit. The main summit (2.503/8.207) falls in Slovakia
PortugalTorre1.993/6.539-Picos, in Azores Islands, is 2.351 m high and the highest mountain of Portugal
RomaniaMoldoveanu2.544/8.346-
RussiaElbrus5.633/18.481Europe's highest mountain. One of the 'Seven Summits'
San MarinoMonte Titano739/2.423--
SerbiaDjeravica2.656/8.712-
SlovakiaGerlach2.655/8.709-
SloveniaTriglav2.864/9.395-
SpainMulhacén3.482/11.408Spain's highest summit: Teide (3.718/12.198) in Islas Canarias
SwedenKebnekaise2.117/6.946-
SwitzerlandDufourspitze4.634/15.203-
TurkeyMahya Dagi1.018/3.338no photo yetTurkey's highest summit: Ararat (5.137/16.854) in Anatolia (Asia minor)
UkraineHora Hoverla2.061/6.762-
United KingdomBen Nevis1.343/4.406-
Vatican CityVatican Hill75/246-
Disputed CountriesPeaks outside of Europe but sometimes considered as Eurasian<><>-
ArmeniaAragats4.090/13.419 -
AzerbaijanBazardüzü4.480/14.698lies on the border with RussiaBazardjuzju in Russian
GeorgiaShkhara5.158/16.912Half in Europe by sharing summit wiht Russia, therefore Europe's fourth in height
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European Highpoints Completists

Here follows a list of those who have summitted all of Europe's Highpoints:



Known Completists .

The first completist .
A very adventurous British gentlemen who likes to be known as Ginge Fullen . It took him 7 years to achieve this mighty ticklist. He did so in 1999.

You may notice that his climbs do not have, necessarily, to correspond with the summits suggested in this list. For example, Mount Ararat is the highest point of Turkey (a country which is both European and Asian - like Russia). Ararat lies over 2000km inside of Asia and therefore according to the criteria of this list, it is only included in the list above as a disputed/alternative peak. Also, while a couple of new countries have appeared since his bagging days, no one could begrudge him the honour of being the "first": you can only get to the high points of countries that exist at the time of you doing it! (That said, I think he even went off to bag Montenegro when it separated from Serbia all the same). He also has attained the incredible feat of reaching the highest point of every country in Africa! A good old fashioned adventurer!

For more information you can visit his page:

Ginge Fullen


First Female Completist and Third Male.

An intrepid lady called Rachel Crolla completed the list in August 2007 along with her boyfriend Carl McKeating. For Europe's High Point enthusiasts, they have have done us all a favour and written a very detailed and comprehensive guidebook to the pursuit called Europe's High Points: Reaching the Summit in Every Country in Europe published by Cicerone.

More info about the guidebook: Guide Book, Europe's High Points by Rachel Crolla and Carl McKeating




Roderick David Baber climbed all the available 47 European summits in a record time of 835 days, making him the second Britain to do so and the present record holder. He was done with it on August 25th 2000. And is rumoured to have the ambition of getting to the top of each country in the world. He has the dubious honour of being the first person to make a mobile phone call from the summit of Everest!

More info at Rod Baber

First Norwegians

A Norwegian team set out to complete the list above: Sindre Sørhus,Christian Wallin Eek and Sindre Knutsen. Each did so in July 2008. Although one member is intent on adding some of the disputed peaks and has, so far been stuck on the dangerous Mt Skhara. You can follow his progress on summitpost under the alias of Supersindre.

And read about the three Norwegians' exciting exploits and adventures at www.t3m.info

First German

Summitpost member Wolfgang Schaub completed the feat in June 2009. Like many involved in bagging the national high points, Wolfgang has much to say on the subject, describing it as a "weirdy hobby" - which it certainly is.

Additions and CorrectionsPost an Addition or Correction

Viewing: 1-5 of 5
SzaniUherkovich

SzaniUherkovich - Jun 15, 2009 4:41 pm - Hasn't voted

Hungary's highpoint

Hi! I created a new site about Hungary's highest point with the name "Matra and Kekes". Ithink that it would be good to create the parent-chlidren like, plus perhaps unpdating the missing info/link in your site about Hungary with the help of this new site. I suppose I have no right/possibility to do all these updates. If yes, please advise how Best regards, Szani

John Climber

John Climber - Dec 23, 2009 2:07 pm - Hasn't voted

Re: Hungary's highpoint

Hello Szani, Updating that page with the newest facts. Thank you very much. I'll do the convenient links. Greetings

Avocette - Jan 31, 2016 7:27 pm - Hasn't voted

New attempt

Starting in june 2016, three boys from Ghent, Belgium will attempt to break this record. Their progress can be followed on www.overthetop.gent

McCannster

McCannster - Mar 8, 2018 4:59 pm - Voted 10/10

New addition to the list- Belarus

Hey, Just created a page for the Belarus highpoint, feel free to add to this list and attach mountain page as a child. Thanks. https://www.summitpost.org/dzyarzhynskaya-hara/1016364

Adam Stevenson

Adam Stevenson - Oct 7, 2019 4:31 pm - Voted 10/10

New known completist and record for quickest time

I've not long got back from completing the High Points of Europe with a little help from this site as well as Carl McKeating and Rachel Crolla's book. I believe that I would be the first person to do this in a single climbing season. From start to finish it took me just under 6 months at 174 days. Proof can be found here: www.europenpeaks.com or instagram.com/europeanpeaks

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