Most deadly peaks like K2 and Annapurna are feared for altitude and brutal routes, but a rarer group stuns through pure steepness. These granite beasts rise as near-vertical walls, judged not by height above sea level but by the sheer drop from summit to base. Curiosity Dude took a look at the world’s most extreme.
In the Arctic, Mount Thor on Baffin Island holds the record with a 1,250-meter overhanging face. Nearby stand the shark-fin blade of Greenland’s Ulamertorsuaq and the isolated Polar Sun Spire. Europe counters with Norway’s loose Trollveggen and the infamous north faces of the Matterhorn and Eiger, the latter nicknamed the Murder Wall for its 65+ deaths.
Patagonia delivers the jagged spires of Fitz Roy and the ice-armored peak of Cerro Torre, while Pakistan’s Great Trango Tower claims the tallest nearly-vertical rock wall ever climbed at 1,340 meters. These peaks are not the highest on Earth, but their violent sculptural walls remain the steepest mountain views out there.
