Sorry Everest, Ecuador's Chimborazo is world's tallest mountain

Sorry Everest, Ecuador's Chimborazo is world's tallest mountain

Ain't no mountain high enough - apparently Everest really isn't.

According to the Independent, the Ecuadorian mountain Chimborazo beats the Everest mountain range in terms of being the closest to space.

Although Everest is still the tallest mountain (9,000m above sea level) based on the traditional standard of measuring from the sea level, Ecuador's mountain is closest to space because Earth is not perfectly spherical. Instead, it is flat on the top and bottom and bulges out in the middle.

The latter is also known as the equatorial bulge. 

As such, the Independent reports that if measured from the center of the earth, Everest would not even make it into the top 20 list of the world's tallest mountains. 

The report continued that on other non-traditional metric systems, the Mauna Kea mountain in Hawaii would beat Everest as a bigger mountain. However, as most of Mauna Kea is under sea level, it does not beat Everest when traditionally measured.

[embed]https://www.facebook.com/AstronautChrisHadfield/photos/a.157475407603538.32702.151680104849735/1132028443481558[/embed]

Oh, and best part of this discovery? Chimborazo is reported to be easier to climb than Everest.

Time to get the climbing boots out. 

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