Mount Everest

Mount Everest is the highest mountain on Earth. It is located at 24° 59' 16" N, 86° 56' 40" E in the Himalayas, and the summit ridge of the mountain marks the border between Nepal and Tibet. In Nepal the mountain is called Sagarmatha (goddess of the sky) and in Tibet Chomolungma (mother of the universe); and although it was named Everest in honour of Sir George Everest, the British surveyor-general of India, in 1865, the popular pronounciation of Everest is different from how Sir George pronounced his own last name.

The mountain is around 8,848 metres (29,030 feet) high, although there is some variation in the measurements. (It was first measured in 1856 and declared to be 29,002 feet high, but modern measuring techniques are considered more accurate).

On June 6, 1924, George Mallory[?] and Andrew Irvine[?] made an assult on the summit from which they never returned. An eyewitness claimed he saw the party reach the summit. Mallory's body was apparently sighted by a Chinese climber in 1975 but was not positively located until 1999. Its position indicated that the party could have reached the summit. It also indicated that the party fell while high on the mountain; whether this happened while climbing or descending could not be confirmed. See: The British Hero Who Died on Everest (http://elt.britcoun.org.pl/s_mallor.htm) and Lost on Everest (TV Documentary) (http://www.pbs.org/wgbh/nova/everest/lost/)

In 1933, Lady Houston[?], a millionaire ex-showgirl, funded the Houston Everest Flight of 1933, which saw a formation of aeroplanes led by the Marquess of Clydesdale fly over the summit in an effort to deploy the British Union Jack flag at the top.

Early expeditions ascended the mountain from Tibet, via the north face. However, this access was closed to western expeditions in 1950, after the Chinese took over Tibet. During 1951 and 1952 a British led expedition, including Edmund Hillary, travelled into Nepal to survey a new route via the southern face.

Taking their cue from the British, a Swiss expedition attempts to climb via the southern face but turns back 200 meters short of the summit. Among the assult team was Sherpa Tenzing Norgay,

In 1953, a ninth British expedition, lead by John Hunt[?], returned to Nepal. Hunt selected two climing pairs to attempt to reach the summit. The first pair turned back after becoming exhausted high on the mountain. The next day, the expedition made its second and final assult on the summit with its fittest and most determined climing pair. The summit was eventually reached at 11:30 AM on May 29, 1953 by the New Zealander Edmund Hillary and Sherpa Tenzing Norgay from Nepal climbing the South Col Route. Although Hillary admits his foot may have been ahead of Tenzing's, both acknowledged it as a team effort by the whole expedition. They paused at the summit to take photographs and bury a few sweets and a small cross in the snow, before descending. News of the expedition's success reached London on the morning of Queen Elizabeth II's coronation. Returning to Kathmandu a few days later, Hillary and Hunt discovered that they had been promptly knighted for their efforts.

Up to the end of the 2001 climbing season, 1491 people have reached the summit (560 of them since 1998), and there have been 172 climber deaths (the worst year being 1996, when 15 people died trying to reach the summit). The conditions on the mountain are difficult enough that most of the corpses have been left where they fell, some of them easily visible from the standard climbing routes. On May 16, 1975 Junko Tabei[?] became the first woman to reach the summit of Everest.

Most expeditions use oxygen to climb Everest above 26,000 ft. - known as the death zone. Everest can be climbed without oxygen tanks[?], but this requires special fitness training and increases the risk to the climber: humans do not think clearly with low oxygen, and the weather, low temperatures and the slopes often require quick, accurate decisions.

Mountain climbers are a significant source of tourist revenue for Nepal; they range from experienced mountaineers[?] to relative novices who count on their paid guides to get them to the top.

Milestones

• 1921 The first British expedition explores the access over the Rongbuk glacier[?].
• 1922 The second British expedition reaches 8321 meters.
• 1924 The third British expedition reaches 8500 meters. On June 6, George Mallory[?] and Andrew Irvine[?] ascend to attempt to reach the summit but are lost after cloud closes in. An eyewitness claims seeing them on the summit.
• 1933 Lady Houston[?] funds formation of aeroplanes to fly over summit to deploy the British Union Jack flag.
• 1934 Maurice Wilson[?] (British) dies on attempting to climb alone.
• 1950 Nepal opens its borders to foreigners.
• 1952 A Swiss expedition, including Sherpa Tenzing Norgay gives up from exhaustion, 200 meters short of the summit.
• 1953 The summit was first reached at 11:30 AM on May 29, 1953 by the New Zealander Sir Edmund Hillary and Sherpa Tenzing Norgay from Nepal climbing the South Col Route.
• 1963 First crossing by a United States expedition, starting from the west and descending over the south-west.
• 1975 Junko Tabei[?] of Japan is the first woman on the crest.
• 1978 Reinhold Messner (South Tyrol, Italy) and Peter Habeler[?] (Austria) reach the crest without oxygen tanks[?].
• 1980 First winter expedition by a team from Poland.
• 1980 Reinhold Messner of South Tyrol, Italy, first man to climb the mount Everest alone and without oxygen tanks[?].
• 1988 Jean-Marc Boivin[?] of France starts with a paraglider from the mountaintop.
• 1993 90 alpinists in the autumn alone, the commercial "Everest-climbing" starts.
• 1993 Ramon Blanco[?] of Spain became the oldest person to summit aged 60 years, 160 days (record beat in 2001).
• 1996 Hans Kammerlander of South Tyrol, Italy climbs the mountain from the north side in 16 hours and 45 minutes and returns on skis.
• 1998 Edward Grylls[?] of Great Britain is the youngest person to summit aged 23 years old.
• 1998 Tom Whittaker[?] is the first disabled climber to make it to the summit.
• 1999 Sherpa Babu Chiri Sherpa[?] of Nepal stays for 21 hours on the mountaintop.
• 2001 On May 24 15-year-old Sherpa Temba Tsheri[?] became the youngest person to climb to the top of Mount Everest.
• 2001 On May 25, 32-year old Erik Weihenmayer[?], of Boulder, Colorado, became the first blind person to reach the summit.
• 2001 On the same day 64-year old Sherman Bull[?], of New Canaan, Connecticut, became the oldest person to reach the summit.
• 2003 - 25-year-old Nepalese Sherpa, Pemba Dorjie Sherpa[?], made the world's fastest ever ascent of Mount Everest, in 12 hours 45 minutes on May 23.

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