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05.10.16 Mount Everest
With an official peak elevation of 29,029 feet (8848 meters), the top of Mount Everest is the world's highest point above sea level. Mount Everest is located on the border of Nepal and Tibet, China. Mount Everest is located in the Himalayas, the 1500 mile (2414 kilometer) long mountain system that was formed when the Indo-Australian plate crashed into the Eurasian plate. The Himalaya rose in response to the subduction of the Indo-Australian plate under the Eurasian plate. The Himalaya continue to rise a few centimeters each year as the Indo-Australian plate continues moving northward into and under the Eurasian plate.
Indian surveyor Radhanath Sikdar, part of the the British-led Survey of India, determined in 1852 that Mount Everest was the tallest mountain in the world and established an initial elevation of 29,000 feet. Concerned that the public wouldn't believe the mountain was "exactly" 29,000 feet, they changed the official news release to 29,002, which happened to be slightly more accurate and gave rise to the slogan that Sikdar was the fist person to put "two feet" on top of Mount Everest.
Mount Everest was known as Peak XV by the British until it was given its current English name of Mount Everest in 1865. The mountain was named after Sir George Everest, who served as the Surveyor General of India from 1830 to 1843. His name was pronounce EEV-ER-EST, not EHV-RIST.
Local names for Mount Everest include Chomolungma in Tibetan, which means "Goddess mother of the world," and Sagarmatha in Nepalese, which means "Head in the Great Blue Sky."
The peak of Mount Everest has three somewhat flat sides; it is said to be shaped like a three-sided pyramid. Glaciers and ice cover the sides of the mountain. In July, temperatures can get as high as nearly zero degrees Fahrenheit (about -18 Celsius). In January, temperatures drop to as low as -76°F (-60°C).
Despite the extreme cold, hurricane-force winds, and low oxygen levels (about one-third of the oxygen in the atmosphere as at sea level), climbers seek to successfully climb Mount Everest every year. Since the first historic climb of New Zealander Edmund Hillary and Nepalese Tenzing Norgay in 1953, more than 5,000 people have successfully climbed Mount Everest.
Unfortunately, due to the hazards and rigors of climbing such a dangerous mountain, over 240 have died attempting to climb Mount Everest - making the death rate for Mount Everest climbers about 1 in 25. For reference, in 2013, the death rate for Death Row in the US was 1 in 75... So you are three times more likely to die summitting Mount Everest, than you are to die on Death Row. Nonetheless, in the late spring and summer months of the climbing season, there are up to 50 climbers attempting to reach the peak of Mount Everest each day.
In 1999, climbers using GPS (Global Positioning System) equipment determined a new height for Mount Everest - 29,035 feet above sea level, seven feet (2.1 meters) above the previously accepted height of 29,029 feet. The climb to determine the accurate height was co-sponsored by the National Geographic Society and Boston's Museum of Science. This new height of 29,035 feet was immediately and widely accepted.
Archives:
05.12.16 Departure Day
05.14.16 The Taj Mahal
05.15.16 Kathmandu
05.16.16 Lukla/Phakding
05.17.16 Namche Bazaar
05.21.16 Gokyo Lakes
05.25.16 Gorkashep
05.26.16 Everest Base Camp!
05.29.16 Kala Patthar/Tengboche/Namche
05.30.16 Lukla
06.01.16 Kathmandu: Final Thoughts