Mountain Everest

Mount Everest (Chomolangma Peak), located on the border between Sagarmatha Zone, Nepal, and Tibet, China, is the tallest mountain in the world and is the part of the Himalaya range. The official altitude of the world’s highest peak is 29,029 feet (8,848m above sea level). However, the National Geographic Society has determined the height to be 6 feet taller, 29,035 feet. Shifting tectonic plates continue to push Everest upward, along with the whole Himalaya mountain range, at 1.6 to 3.9 inches (4 to 10 centimeters) per year.

Why is it called Everest? In 1841, Sir George Everest, Surveyor General of India from 1830 to 1843, first recorded the location of Everest. It was subsequently named “Peak XV”. In 1865, it was renamed Mt. Everest to honor Sir George.

Chomolangma had been in common use by Tibetans for centuries, but Waugh was unable to propose an established local name because Nepal and Tibet were closed to foreigners. The first known climb that made it to the top was made by a New Zealander named Edmund Hillary and a Napalese named Tenzing Norgay in 1953.

The Tibetan name for Mount Everest is Chomolangma or Qomolangma (“Saint Mother” orliterally “Holy Mother”). According to English accounts of the mid-19th century, the local name in Darjeeling  for Mount Everest was Deodungha (meaning “holy mountain”).

The highest mountain in the world attracts well-experienced mountaineers as well as novice climbers who are willing to pay substantial sums to professional mountain guides to complete a successful climb. The mountain, while not posing substantial technical climbing difficulty on the standard route (other eight-thousanders such as K2 or Nanga Parbat are much more difficult), still has many inherent dangers such as altitude sickness, weather and wind.

As the altitude increases, the oxygen content of the air decreases dramatically. At 9,800 feet, for example, there’s about 2/3 of the oxygen in the air than at sea level. At 20,000 ft, there is roughly half the oxygen content in the air. At 29,035ft, the summit of Everest, there is only a third of the oxygen in the air.

Mountaineers climbing Everest establish a camp at the base of the mountain, and four higher camps before reaching the summit. For the next 30 days or so, they will move up, then down again, allowing their bodies to get used to the reduced oxygen content of the air. This process is called acclimatization.

Some climbers don’t like to go down, but the significant benefits on the body from staying at lower altitudes make it worth it. It’s important that the climbers don’t stay down too long because it’s possible to lose some acclimatization in the process.