In Focus The Rough Guide to Climbing in the Solar System
THE LIST of people that have summited Mount Everest is hovering around the 10,000 mark. The long-hoped-for winter ascent of K2 was finally pulled off in January. The fourteen eight-thousand metre peaks have very much been 'done' in all seasons and in myriad styles of ascent. You might say that there aren't too many virgin, iconic mountains left to climb – on Earth, that is. But what about beyond this planet? If we had the whole solar system as our playground and neither distance nor money nor technology were an object, where could we go climbing and what sort of fun could we expect? This isn't realistic, but it's going to be a lot of fun.