# Where is the greatest precipice on earth? **URL:** \ **Category:** Factual Questions\ **Created:** [March 14, 2005, 1:44am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/where-is-the-greatest-precipice-on-earth/294384 "2005-03-14T01:44:46Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 13\ **Page:** 1
**Author:** ![Boyo\_Jim](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/b/87869e/32.png) [@Boyo\_Jim](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Boyo_Jim)\ **Post date:** [March 14, 2005, 1:44am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/where-is-the-greatest-precipice-on-earth/294384/1 "2005-03-14T01:44:46Z")
Where can you free-fall the farthest from one solid surface to another? The top of a building is acceptable as a starting point. But I’m asking about a straight vertical descent, not a “very steep” mountain side or a canyon where you might hit the side on the way down. ---
**Author:** ![Reeder](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/r/c6cbf5/32.png) [@Reeder](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Reeder)\ **Post date:** [March 14, 2005, 1:47am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/where-is-the-greatest-precipice-on-earth/294384/2 "2005-03-14T01:47:05Z")
Without searching I’d say Angel Falls. ---
**Author:** ![F.U.Shakespeare](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/f/aca169/32.png) [@F.U.Shakespeare](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/F.U.Shakespeare)\ **Post date:** [March 14, 2005, 2:00am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/where-is-the-greatest-precipice-on-earth/294384/3 "2005-03-14T02:00:33Z")
[This post](http://boards.straightdope.com/sdmb/showthread.php?p=5418013&highlight=nanga+parbat#post5418013), from a thread on the tallest mountain, excerpts a breathtaking description of Nanga Parbat, a mountain in Pakistan. ---
**Author:** ![Terminus\_Est](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/terminus_est/32/3087_2.png) [@Terminus\_Est](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Terminus_Est)\ **Post date:** [March 14, 2005, 4:28am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/where-is-the-greatest-precipice-on-earth/294384/4 "2005-03-14T04:28:00Z")
That would be the Marianas Trench. It’s so deep that it’s been only visited once. In the 1960’s. For twenty minutes. That was just too easy. ---
**Author:** ![Fear\_Itself](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/fear_itself/32/19637_2.png) [@Fear\_Itself](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Fear_Itself)\ **Post date:** [March 14, 2005, 11:33am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/where-is-the-greatest-precipice-on-earth/294384/5 "2005-03-14T11:33:18Z")
> [@Reeder](#): > > Without searching I’d say Angel Falls. El Capitan in Yosemite is 3,500 feet, while Angel Falls is only 3,200 feet. For a sheer drop, my money is on El Cap. ---
**Author:** ![don\_t\_ask](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/d/e68b1a/32.png) [@don\_t\_ask](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/don_t_ask)\ **Post date:** [March 14, 2005, 12:10pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/where-is-the-greatest-precipice-on-earth/294384/6 "2005-03-14T12:10:28Z")
If you weren’t so earthist about this you could try _Verona Rupes_ the 20,000 metre high cliff on Uranus’s moon Miranda. _El Gigante_ the overhanging cliff in Basaseachic National Park, Mexico is over 900 meters (2900 feet). According to [SummitPost](http://www.summitpost.org/show/mountain_link.pl/mountain_id/2350) the actual cliff at _El Capitan_ is only 1,000 feet. ---
**Author:** ![don\_t\_ask](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/d/e68b1a/32.png) [@don\_t\_ask](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/don_t_ask)\ **Post date:** [March 14, 2005, 12:12pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/where-is-the-greatest-precipice-on-earth/294384/7 "2005-03-14T12:12:53Z")
Oops there are Capitans everywhere. Sorry 'bout that. ---
**Author:** ![si\_blakely](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/d9b06d/32.png) [@si\_blakely](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/si_blakely)\ **Post date:** [March 14, 2005, 12:30pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/where-is-the-greatest-precipice-on-earth/294384/8 "2005-03-14T12:30:59Z")
The Great Trango Tower (6258m) in Pakistan has a 2 km vertical cliff - used for the tallest Base Jump in the world (apparently). Ama Dablam may have a taller cliff. FWIW Simon ---
**Author:** ![j\_sum1](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/j/8baadc/32.png) [@j\_sum1](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/j_sum1)\ **Post date:** [March 14, 2005, 12:33pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/where-is-the-greatest-precipice-on-earth/294384/9 "2005-03-14T12:33:41Z")
I saw a doco on some climbers doing a wall in Greenland (IIRC). quoted figure was a mile high. By the looks of it you wouldn’t bounce off much on the way down. Nanga Parbut is another good one. The Raikot (sp?) face is quoted as being the biggest Himalayan wall. It is not sheer though. Not that it would make much difference if you were going the short way down. You might want to google the Trango Towers in Karakoram – near to K2. They are pretty much vertical. (Meaning that they don’t hold a whole lot of snow.) I forget the height above the Baltoro Glacier though. The Torres del Paine are others that come to mind. Again not certain of the height that you’d drop. I heard someone once describe it as a kilometer and a bit of vertical stuff , but I am not sure which route they were doing. There may be stretches considerably bigger. Mitre peak in NZ is supposed to be the world’s tallest mountain rising directly out of the sea. Again it is not sheer and it is a measly 1692 metres – just over a mile. So it is probably not what you are after. ---
**Author:** ![j\_sum1](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/j/8baadc/32.png) [@j\_sum1](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/j_sum1)\ **Post date:** [March 14, 2005, 12:36pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/where-is-the-greatest-precipice-on-earth/294384/10 "2005-03-14T12:36:10Z")
Just found this: [http://www.the-south-asian.com/Jan%202004/nanga\_parbat.htm](http://www.the-south-asian.com/Jan%202004/nanga_parbat.htm) > [@](#): > > The north or Raikot face dives over 7000 m from the summit to the Indus River, forming one of world?s deepest and finest gorges. Its sides are too steep to allow snow to cover them. I don’t know if it is vertical enough for you, but it will do for me. ---
**Author:** ![don\_t\_ask](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/d/e68b1a/32.png) [@don\_t\_ask](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/don_t_ask)\ **Post date:** [March 14, 2005, 12:37pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/where-is-the-greatest-precipice-on-earth/294384/11 "2005-03-14T12:37:58Z")
It appears to be this : On August 26, 1992, Nicholas Feteris and Dr Glenn Singleman jumped from a ledge known as the “Great Trango Tower”, which stands at 5,880 m (19,300 ft) in the Karakoram mountains of Pakistan. The extremely dangerous sport of BASE jumping – Building, Antenna, Span [bridge], Earth [cliff] – is effectively skydiving without the need for an aircraft, as jumpers will launch themselves from any suitably high structure before deploying their parachute. It is banned in most countries, although legal jumps can be made on specified dates and from approved structures. \*\*from [Guinness World Records](http://www.guinnessworldrecords.com/content_pages/record.asp?recordid=43965&Reg=1) \*\* American Alpine Journal Assistant Editor Kelly Cordes and Josh Wharton have made a bold, alpine-style first ascent of the enormous southwest ridge of Great Trango Tower (20,617 feet) in Pakistan. The mostly rock ridge rises more than 7,000 feet to the west summit of Great Trango. from \*\*[Speed Climbing News](http://www.wwwright.com/climbing/speed/2004/09/huge-new-route-on-great-trango-tower.html) \*\* [picky](http://www.alpinist.com/climbing-notes/note/10100/) ---
**Author:** ![Fear\_Itself](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/fear_itself/32/19637_2.png) [@Fear\_Itself](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Fear_Itself)\ **Post date:** [March 14, 2005, 1:08pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/where-is-the-greatest-precipice-on-earth/294384/12 "2005-03-14T13:08:29Z")
> [@don't ask](#): > > American Alpine Journal Assistant Editor Kelly Cordes and Josh Wharton have made a bold, alpine-style first ascent of the enormous southwest ridge of Great Trango Tower (20,617 feet) in Pakistan. The mostly rock ridge rises more than 7,000 feet to the west summit of Great Trango. from > \*\*[Speed Climbing News](http://www.wwwright.com/climbing/speed/2004/09/huge-new-route-on-great-trango-tower.html) \*\* > > [picky](http://www.alpinist.com/climbing-notes/note/10100/) But that 7,000 foot measurement is not all stright wall. It appears that record goes to [a cliff in Canada](http://starbulletin.com/96/04/23/sports/story1.html): > [@](#): > > But coming up will be a potential world-record climb - the “Polar Sun Spire” on Baffin Island, which is located north of Quebec and west of Greenland. > > Hollinger put on a slide show about the upcoming adventure at Hawaii Outdoor World Climbers Paradise on Sand Island Road last weekend. > > “It’s so barren there’s not a tree on it,” he said. "We were the first team to go up there and do big-wall style last year. > > **"After we checked out the measurements, we found that it could be the largest straight wall on the planet - about 4,550 feet. That would be 200 feet taller than the largest big wall to date - the Great Trango Tower in Pakistan, which is 4,300 feet tall**." ---
**Author:** ![An\_Arky](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/a/87869e/32.png) [@An\_Arky](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/An_Arky)\ **Post date:** [March 14, 2005, 1:42pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/where-is-the-greatest-precipice-on-earth/294384/13 "2005-03-14T13:42:27Z")
That cliff that Wile E. Coyote always falls off of is in the top 5, easy.