Welcome to the highest mountain on Earth!

What is the highest mountain in the world? Everest, of course. There is one that rises to 9,968.3 meters, 1,118 more than the summit of the Himalayan chain. I’m talking about Mauna Kea: a dormant volcano located in Hawaii. Its peculiarity is due to the fact that its base is located underwater, at 5,761 meters below sea level: more than twice its cone is therefore invisible. Externally, Mauna Kea is 4,207.3 meters high but overall exceeds Everest by more than a kilometer. American adventurer Victor Vescovo, a Guinness World Record Hall of Fame nominee, entered the record books when he became the first person to visit the greatest depths of the oceans. But at the beginning of 2021 he decided to aim higher: the highest mountain on our planet, Mauna Kea. Why not Everest? Only because he had already climbed it in 2012, which made him the first person to visit the highest and lowest points on Earth. In three days, Bishop undertook the first complete ascent of Mauna Kea, from the seafloor to the snowy summit. Going from minus 5,000 to plus 4,000 in such a short amount of time was challenging, for the mind and the body. But the satisfaction was unmatched. Mauna Kea is a sacred place for Hawaiians: it’s believed to be the home of the Na Akua deities, and its summit is said to be the place where Mother Earth meets Father Sky. And this spirituality hovers everywhere, “and deserves much respect.”