summiting

1. 1
   verb

   Present participle of summit.

   The expedition was summiting Everest at dawn after weeks of preparation.

   Summiting in winter requires far more equipment than a summer attempt.

   Note

   An -ing form that does two jobs. It carries the progressive (they were summiting at dawn), and it works as a gerund, a noun in all but name (summiting in winter is harder). The informal climbing verb behind it takes an object or none: summiting Everest, or simply summiting. It can also mean attending a diplomatic summit. Its past tense and past participle are summited.

2. 2
   noununcountable

   The act of reaching the summit, or highest point, of a mountain or peak.

   The summiting of K2 in winter had never been accomplished before 2021.

   Heavy snow delayed the summiting by two full days.

   Similarascent, climb

   Oppositedescent

   Note

   Where the gerund takes a direct object (summiting K2), the full noun takes an article and of: the summiting of K2. It is also countable, with the plural summitings, so a guide can speak of several summitings in one season. A gerund never takes a plural.

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