Mount Everest

Contents What is Mount Everest? Where is Mount Everest? How… … was it formed? … does it stack up? … do you get to the top? Interesting Facts Key Dates Survival… …on Mount Everest …of Mount Everest

What is Mount Everest ? This is the summit of Mt Everest Mount Everest is the tallest mountain in the world, it reaches up to 8848m. (There have been arguments about the height). Or is it? Hawaii's Mauna Kea, though, rises 33,476 feet (10,203 meters) from the depths of the Pacific Ocean floor. Measuring from base to peak, Mauna Kea is the tallest mountain on earth. Not easy to climb from base to top! The first people to climb to the top of Mount Everest were Sir Edmund Hillary from New Zealand and Tenzing Norgay from Nepal. Hillary and Norgay reached the peak on 29th of May 1953. Hillary had had many attempts to climb Everest. His attempts were made in 1951 and 1952. In 1953 he had reached the summit and the queen knighted him for his achievement and that is were he got his title “sir”.

Where is Mount Everest ? Mt Everest Mount Everest is found in the Himalayas in Asia, Everest is found in between Nepal and Tibet. The Himalayas include nearly 100 of the worlds tallest peaks, is the worlds largest chain of mountains and it contains the world’s largest land peaks. In Sanskrit Himalayas means: Him - snow; alaya - home.

How was Mount Everest formed ? 60 million years ago when the continent Laurasia broke up in to lots of parts, India moved north toward Asia then crashed. The seabed between the two plates was crumbled and pushed up to create the mountains of the Himalayas around the northern rim of India. These plates are still moving around 2.5 inches every year which forces the height of the mountains to increase.

How does Mount Everest stack up? Continent Mountain Country and/or location Height Feet Meters Asia Mt. Everest Tibet-Nepal 29,035 8,850 South America Mt. Aconcagua Argentina 22,834 6,960 North America Mt. McKinley (Denali) United States, Alaska 20,320 6,194 Africa Mt. Kilimanjaro Tanzania 19,340 5,995 Europe Elbrus Russia/Georgia 18,510 5,642 Antarctica Vinson Massif Ellsworth Mts. 16,066 4,897 Australia1 Kosciusko Australia 7,310 2,228

How Do you Get to the Top It’s easy – you follow the map! North Face - Messner Variant When Reinhold Messner made the first solo ascent in 1980, he climbed about halfway up the North Ridge, then traversed to the right to the Great Couloir South West Face Central Couloir From the Western Cwm, the route climbs the huge Y-shaped couloir, taking the left fork through the rockband North Ridge/North East Ridge This Climbing route is shorter than the South Col route but above the north Cole the route becomes increasingly rocky and aggressive with severe winds. South Col/South East Ridge This is the most popular way up to the summit (it is also called the "yak" route) but should never be underestimated

Did You Know? Sir George Everest In Nepal Mt Everest is called Sagawartha which means land of eternal snows and in Tibet it is called Chomolungma. Mt Everest and some of its neighbours are so tall that they rise above cloud level for most of the year. Mt Everest was named after Sir George Everest. Everest worked as a British surveyor. The Sides of Everest: are: The North Face, The South West Face, The East (Kangshung) Face Sir George Everest

Dates of Interest Heights Recorded: 1852 First Height Recorded: 29.002ft 8.839m 1955 Revised Height: 29.028ft 8.848m 1999 Revised Height: 29.035ft 8.850m 2005 Revised Height: 29.017ft 2inches 8.844.43m Interesting Climbs and Climbers 1841: Sir George Everest a surveyor records the location of Mount Everest calling it Peak XV 1859: Peak XV renamed Mount Everest to honour Sir George Everest 1953: On the 29th May Edmund Hillary and Tenzing Norgay become the first people to stand on the summit of Mount Everest 1975: On the 16th May Junko Tabei from Japan became the first woman to reach the summit of Mount Everest 1978: Reinhold Messner and Peter Habeler were the first to climb Mount Everest without any Artificial Oxygen on the 8th May 1986: Tenzing Norgay aged 72 passed away on the 9th May 1995: Alison Hargreaves was the first British woman to reach the summit of Mount Everest Solo and without any Artificial Oxygen but later the same year died while descending from the summit of K2 1996: Jamling Norgay son of Tenzing reached the summit of Mount Everest on the 23rd May 1998: Tom Whittaker from USA became the first disabled (has an artifical leg) person to reach the summit of Mount Everest on the 27th May 2001: Temba Tsheri Sherpa became the youngest person to stand on the summit of Mount Everest at the age of 15 2004: 21st May saw Pemba Dorje Sherpa make a speed record of 8 hours and 10 minutes from base camp to summit of Mount Everest   2006: Ming Kipa Sherpais the youngest girl at the age of 15 to reach the summit of Everest on the 24th May 2008: Sir Edmund Hillary sadly passed away aged 88 on the 11th January

Survival on Mount Everest Bad Weather If you were climbing on Everest the weather can quickly get very bad and a blizzard can occur. Sometimes you can’t see and you might take a wrong turn and walk straight off a cliff. Because of this, when a blizzard sets in, climbers usually make a cave to wait till the weather calms down. Cold When you get cold you’re body slows down and it is hard to think. Climbers usually wear lots of thick layers to protect themselves from the cold. Altitude As you climb higher there is not enough oxygen to breath. To ensure this doesn’t happen climbers carry oxygen bottles. Climbing on snow and ice Snow and ice is hard to climb on because it is slippery. Climbers take crampons which are shoes with metal teeth. They also carry Ice Axes to help them climb higher.

Survival of Mount Everest The large number of trekkers and climbers who visit Nepal and the Everest region contribute to the local economy but also cause serious environmental impact. Although some climbing gear is recycled by local residents, it is estimated that more than 50 tons of plastic, glass, and metal were dumped between 1953 and the mid-1990s in what has been called "the world's highest junkyard." Efforts have been made to reduce the negative environmental impact on Mount Everest. The Nepalese government has been using a portion of climbing fees to clean up the area. In 1976, with aid from Sir Edmund Hillary's Himalayan Trust and the Nepalese government, the Sagarmatha National Park was established to preserve the remaining soil and forest around Mount Everest.