The Strange Significance of 1400m

What is it about 1400m, or to be more specific, heights of approximately that figure?

I'm just back from Slovakia where I climbed Slavkovsky Stit, the highest walkable peak in the High Tatras.  The actual height climbed, from the 1010m of Stary Smokovec to the summit at 2452m, was 1442m.  I was particularly pleased with this new ascent, and would set it alongside some of my other personal achievements, all covered on Walking Stories:

Mount Fuji, highest mountain in Japan - height 3776m, height climbed from Kawaguchi-ko 5th station (2305m), the most popular starting point = 1471m  (although we actually climbed from the village at the base of the mountain)

El Teide, highest mountain in Spain - height 3718m, height climbed from car park = 1400m

Kilimanjaro - highest mountain in Africa - height 5895m - height climbed on final day from Barafu Camp - 1300m.  

Of course, Scotland's highest peak is Ben Nevis, at 1344m, which is climbed virtually from sea level in Fort William.

So the interesting point is, if you can climb Britain's highest mountain without too much difficulty, then you could also be thinking about climbing some mountains in other countries which (on the face of it) are much more challenging.  Certainly on Fuji, El Teide there is the additional challenge of coping with the altitude, whilst Kilimanjaro has even more of that and you have already spent several days trekking to the final camp.  Nevertheless, the heights involved are in the same order of magnitude.

Well, I thought it was interesting anyway.

Andrew Llanwarne - 5 August 2008