How many decades does one have in a lifetime to chase a dream? On May 19th last year, the HowToTrip Seven Summits Expedition Team reached the summit of Mount Everest, achieving a once-in-a-century glory in Taiwan's mountaineering history. Yesterday, HowToTrip once again announced that it will embark on an over 10-year mission to explore all 14 peaks around the world above 8,000 meters. It also calls on all fearless hiking enthusiasts across the country to fulfill the greatest dream of their lives.
There are a total of 14 peaks in the world exceeding 8,000 meters in height, located in the Himalayas and the Karakoram Range. Taiwanese mountaineers have only reached the summits of three of these mountains — Everest, Cho Oyu, and Shishapangma. The other 11 peaks have not only never been summited by Taiwanese climbers, but attempts to climb them have been extremely rare.
Challenging the world’s 14 highest peaks is as difficult in the mountaineering world as winning an Olympic gold medal. In 1986, the first person to achieve this feat, Italian mountaineer Reinhold Messner, along with the second, Polish climber Jerzy Kukuczka, were even awarded Olympic gold medals by the International Olympic Committee in recognition. The number of people who have reached the summit of Everest has exceeded 4,000, but after 24 years, only 21 mountaineers have managed to "complete" all 14 peaks.
Cheng Kun, the initiator of the 14×8000m project and chairman of HowToTrip, expressed gratitude to the members of the Seven Summits Expedition Team for bringing glory to Taiwan. But HowToTrip aims to help those with dreams to join together in tackling what the global mountaineering community considers the most challenging endeavor — conquering all 14 peaks over 8,000 meters.
Brave souls interested in joining the selection can visit www.8000ers.tw to view the selection brochure and download the application form. The judging panel will conduct the first round of screening in mid-January next year, selecting approximately 20 brave hikers to enter the next phase of intensive training. The final list will be announced in March, officially kicking off this seemingly impossible giant peak exploration plan.