Antarctica: Vinson Massif
At 16,050 feet tall, the Vinson Massif is located near the base of the Antarctic Peninsula and overlooks the Ronne-Filchner ice shelf. It is part of the Sentinel Range, the Northern Range of the Ellsworth Mountains. The Vinson Massif is named after Carl G. Vinson, a Congressman from Georgia, in honor of his support of Antarctic exploration. The Vinson massif is not a technically difficult climb, but it is made harder due to the remoteness of its location, the logistics required to get there, and the extreme weather conditions. Since its first ascent in 1966, about 1200 people have reached the summit of the Vinson Massif. No one has died on this mountain.
South America: Cerro Aconcagua
Cerro Aconcagua is the tallest mountain in South America, the Americas, the Western Hemisphere, and the Southern Hemisphere. It is the tallest mountain in the world outside of the Himalayas. It stands 22,841 feet tall. Aconcagua is part of the Andes Mountain range; its peak is located in Argentina while some of its foothills are located to the west in Chile. Aconcagua is a former stratovolcano, though it is now inactive. The first recorded summit of Cerro Aconcagua occurred in 1897 by Swiss Mountaineer Matthias Zurbriggen.