Ras Dashen is the highest mountain

Mountain

Image:Himalaya_annotated.jpg|thumb|right|The Himalayan mountain range with Mount Everestrect 58 14 160 49 Chomo Lonzorect 200 28 335 52 Makalurect 378 24 566 45 Mount Everestrect 188 581 920 656 Tibetan Plateaurect 250 406 340 427 Rong River...

 in Ethiopia

Ethiopia

Ethiopia , officially known as the Federal Democratic Republic of Ethiopia, is a country located in the Horn of Africa. It is the second-most populous nation in Africa, with over 82 million inhabitants, and the tenth-largest by area, occupying 1,100,000 km2...

. Part of Semien Mountains National Park

Semien Mountains National Park

Simien Mountains National Park is one of the National Parks of Ethiopia. Located in the Semien Gondar Zone of the Amhara Region, its territory covers the Simien Mountains and includes Ras Dashan, the highest point in Ethiopia....

, it reaches an elevation of 4,550 metres (14,928 ft). The more common form, "Ras Dashen" is a corruption of its Amharic name, "Ras Dejen", used by the system of the Ethiopian Mapping Authority

Ethiopian Mapping Authority

The Ethiopian Mapping Authority is a branch of the Ethiopian government, a department within the Ministry of Interior, that is responsible for cartographic mapping and remote sensing activities in Ethiopia...

 (EMA) which means "the general who fights in front of the Emperor".

According to Erik Nilsson, Ras Dashen is the eastern peak of the rim of "an enormous volcano, the northern half of which is cut down about thousand metres by numerous ravines, draining into the Takkazzi River

Tekezé River

The Tekezé River, also known as the Takkaze River, is a major river of Ethiopia, and forms a section the westernmost border of Ethiopia and Eritrea for part of its course. The river is also known as the Setit in Eritrea, western Ethiopia, and eastern Sudan. According to materials published by the...

." Its western counterpart is Mount Biuat

Mount Biuat

Mount Bwahit is a peak of the Semien Mountains in the Amhara Region of Ethiopia. Its altitude is estimated at 4430 or 4437 m above sea level, making it the second highest mountain in Ethiopia. It is located about 16 km west of the highest, Ras Dashen, from which it is separated by a 1,600 m deep...

 (4,510 meters), separated by the valley of the Meshaha river.

Elevation

A mapping survey of the country in the 1960s and 1970s established an elevation of 4,533 meters. The elevation given here is taken from a 2005 publication by the EMA, and is supported to within one metre by a 2007 DGPS Franco-Italian survey (Vigano'-Salvat). The widely-quoted elevation of 4,620 metres is inconsistent with all modern surveys and SRTM data.

First European ascent

The first recorded ascent by Europeans was in 1841, by the French officers Ferret and Galinier. There is no verifiable evidence of earlier ascents by locals, but the summit climate and conditions are relatively hospitable, and there are nearby high altitude pastoral settlements. A small fort still partially standing at around 4,300 metres and at less than one hour walk from the summit, was the location of a battle in the nineteenth century.

External links

• Detailed trip report
• Ras Dashen on Peakware
• Elevation misquotes