File:Volcán Chimborazo -El Taita Chimborazo-WikiCommons.jpg

World's Highest Mountain

http://www.nytimes.com/2016/05/17/world/what-in-the-world/the-mountain-that-tops-everest-because-the-earth-is-fat.html

Move over, Everest. Scientists say that by one measure, the world’s highest peak is actually Mount Chimborazo in Ecuador.

The summit of Chimborazo, an inactive volcano in the Andes, rises about 20,500 feet above sea level, far short of Everest’s renowned 29,029 feet. But it’s a different story when you measure from the center of Earth: Chimborazo’s apex rises the farthest, at about 21 million feet or 3,967 miles, while Everest’s doesn’t even crack the top 20.

This is because, while Earth is not flat, it is also not a perfect sphere. The planet flattens at its poles and bulges slightly around its waistline — don’t we all? — making its radius about 13 miles greater at the Equator. Chimborazo is close to the Equator, but Everest is 28 degrees north latitude, nearly one-third of the way to the pole.

More

http://mathscinotes.com/2015/01/the-farthest-mountaintops-from-the-center-of-the-earth/

http://www.npr.org/templates/story/story.php?storyId=9428163