20 Refreshing Facts About Mountains You Didn’t Know

The mountain Gerlachovský štít had four different name changes and six name reversals throughout the 19th and 20th centuries, was symbolic for multiple kings and leaders, and due to its location was the highest point in Hungary, Czechoslovakia and Serbia all within the space of two decades.

The highest peak east of the Mississippi, Mount Mitchell was named after Elisha Mitchell, who, when verifying his measurements of the mountain, fell to his death at one of the falls on the mountain, which they ended up naming "Mitchell Falls".

Mount Thor in Canada has a cliff that holds the record for the highest vertical drop in the world at 4,101 feet.

Mount Athos is an autonomous region in Greece that has to forbid the entry of women for 1,000 years. In the 14th Century, a Greek king's wife was brought to the area to avoid the plague, but she was carried by hand-carriage the entire time to avoid touching the ground.

Mount Chimborazo in Ecuador is the highest point on Earth from the center of the Earth and the closest point on Earth to the Moon. Chimborazo in Ecuador is 2,168 m (7,113 ft) farther from earth's center (6,384.4 km (3,967.1 mi)) than that of Everest (6,382.3 km (3,965.8 mi), because the earth bulges at the equator.

Mount Jefferson in northwest North Carolina was once named "Nigger Mountain," then later the less offensive "Negro Mountain" for many years.

A mountain named "Chinaman's Peak" was renamed to "Ha Ling Peak" because it was seen as derogatory. Ha Ling was the first to climb it and had named it himself.

Of the 14 highest peaks in the world over 8,000m, the deadliest are Annapurna I with a 32% kill rate (deaths/ascents), K2 (26.5%) and Nanga Parbat (20.3%). Everest is relatively safe with a fatality rate of 3.9%.

Huayna Picchu is the peak above Machu Picchu. This was the residence for the high priest and the local virgins.

100 highest mountain peaks in the world are all in Asia. 99 out of them pass through at least one of India, Nepal, China, Pakistan or Bhutan.