Everest dominates the ranking of summits measured above sea level. However, if we start from the center of the Earth, another summit passes him: the Chimborazo, in Ecuador. Both statements can be true at the same time.
The Earth is not a perfect sphere. Its equatorial bulge moves the surface of the center closer to the equator than closer to the poles. Chimborazo benefits from this position. Its altitude above the sea remains lower than Everest, but its distance to the terrestrial center is higher.
The surprise does not come from a mountain that would have grown during the night. It comes from the starting point chosen to measure it. Simply saying “the highest” erases part of the question. Two seemingly contradictory classifications tell of two different geometries of the same world.
What we know
Distance to the Earth’s center; “closer to space” is an ambiguous formula, not the definition of this measure.
To go to the source
References consulted on September 21, 2026. Linked pages may be in another language.
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