Peaks high enough to thrill the climber with ambitions

To the average armchair adventurer, scaling a mountain 3 miles high may seem an inaccessible pastime - the exclusive preserve of the superhuman, the mega-rich, or the slightly mad. But not all high places require a rock climber’s physique to reach and a banker’s salary to finance. This list is just a small selection of the world’s most rewarding “trekking peaks,’’ nontechnical climbs of over 4,000 meters that can be tackled by anyone with the right gear, a reasonable level of fitness, and a knowledgeable guide.

This is not to say these are cakewalks. Reaching lofty climes invariably means a brush with extreme cold, physical exhaustion, and the ever-present perils of acute mountain sickness. But for the wannabe Willi Unsoelds out there, such discomforts are worth it for the life-affirming experience of battling uphill until there is nowhere left to go. Whether climbing to raise money for charity, to seek transcendence, or, in the spirit of George Mallory, just because it is there, these are treks that can put us mere mortals on top of the world.