So we have 14 independent mountains which are higher than 8000 m. When could we rule out that there are more 8000ers in remote areas of Tibet or somewhere else and which was the last mountain confirmed as an 8000er? Shishapangma perhaps?
It’s extremely unlikely that there are any undocumented 8000-meter peaks at this point. There have been extensive surveys in the regions and the biggest mountains are quite well mapped.
Shishapangma was the last 8000-meter peak to be climbed, but I don’t see any details online about when the peaks elevations were confirmed.
Messner completed his list in 1986, so they certainly knew there were 14 by then.
I believe the entire land area of the Earth has been mapped by satellites. If there was another 8000m+ peak anywhere, it would have shown up.
It is quite difficult to hide something whose defining characteristic is to be the largest thing in a given region.
Thanks, yes I’im aware that it is virtually impossible to discover an unknown 8000er by now. I would like to know at which point in time we ruled out that there are any more 8000ers than the current 14.
I do not know for sure, but I think it is likely that K2 was the last to be discovered. (Although it rather depends quite what you mean by “discovered”: known to exist? known to be a very large mountain? known to be an eight-thousander?) Note that all the others have names, which, in most cases, are the names given them by local peoples (or variants thereof). K2 is still known by its surveyors mark because it has no local name. It is so remote that no people live close enough to it to be able to see it, and even at the base of the Baltoro Glacier (the closest to it that locals ever normally venture) it is barely glimpsed in the distance, and does not look particularly impressive.
After checking Wikipedia, it appears that Broad Peak also does not have a local name, presumably for similar reasons. It is not that far from K2. As it was originally designated K3 by surveyors, it seems likely that its height was calculated a bit after that of K2.
The heights of both of these, and of Everest and several others, were first found during the Great Trigonometric Survey in the early 19th century. Indeed, probably all the eight-thousanders were first measured then.
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As I understand it, during the Great Trigonometric Survey, actual heights were not calculated on the spot where the measurements were taken, rather, they were calculated subsequently when the data was analyzed back in London. (I remember once reading a description of how Everest was discovered as the highest mountain in the world, in a London office!) This is likely to make precise differential dating rather difficult.