What is the highest mountain on Earth? Turns out the answer to that question is more debatable than you might think.

Mount Chimborazo in Ecuador could be considered higher than Everest by one measure. But it’s way more within reach — physically and financially — for adventure travelers.

While Mount Everest is the highest above sea level, Chimborazo’s 6,263-meter (20,549-foot) summit achieves its unique status through the equatorial bulge of the planet.

Chimborazo is only the 39 th tallest mountain in the Andes, when measured from sea level, but there was a brief time in the 19 th century when it was thought to be the world’s highest peak.

Mount Chimborazo, an inactive stratovolcano in the Ecuadorian Andes, has challenged Mount Everest for the title of the world's highest mountain in a unique measurement.

But because the elevation of Chimborazo is measurably lower than Everest (which stands at 29,029 feet), acclimatization prep is not as strenuous. A summit attempt at Everest can require years of ...

Among them was British mountaineer Edward Whymper. Following celebrated first ascents of Matterhorn and Mont Blanc in the Alps, in 1880, he became the first person known to summit Chimborazo.

Chimborazo is only the 39 th tallest mountain in the Andes, when measured from sea level, but there was a brief time in the 19 th century when it was thought to be the world’s highest peak.

Among them was British mountaineer Edward Whymper. Following celebrated first ascents of Matterhorn and Mont Blanc in the Alps, in 1880, he became the first person known to summit Chimborazo.