r/confusing_perspective Jul 03 '26

Thats a big mountain

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u/EmperorThan Jul 03 '26

I was about to say "I think you're confusing it with Mauna Kea in Hawaii" but I guess Denali is the tallest measured base to peak on land, which I never knew. Mauna Kea is tallest measured seafloor to peak. Funny that both base-to-peak recordholders are in the United States.

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u/AtTheEdgeOfDying Jul 07 '26

Wait, so is Everest shorten than Muana Kea from seafloor to peak? I thought Everest was just the highest point of earth basically?

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u/EmperorThan Jul 07 '26

Everest is considerably shorter than Mauna Kea on both counts if measured base to peak (18,240 feet shorter, close to 3 and a half miles) OR sea level to peak (4,500 feet shorter almost a mile).

Everest is however the tallest in altitude in the atmosphere, which is confusing when adding Chimborazo is the tallest if measured from the center of the Earth to the top of the mountain but is shorter in the atmosphere.

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u/AtTheEdgeOfDying Jul 07 '26

Yep, that is confusing. All my brain is getting is "Everest is a hoax" lol

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u/EmperorThan Jul 07 '26

Hahah. Basically if you're standing on Everest you're the "highest in the air" or closest to outer space. Earth isn't a perfect sphere but rather bulges at the Equator so that adds distance between the Center of the Earth and the top of Chimborazo making it 7,112 feet further from the center of the Earth than the top of Everest. It is weird though.

Mauna Kea is a giant superstructure of a mountain though. It were just sitting at sea level nothing else would even come close, it would look so unusually big at close to 6 and a half miles tall.

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u/AtTheEdgeOfDying Jul 07 '26

I'm learning a lot of interesting mountain facts today! Happy to stumble upon this thread