Amazing and Interesting facts about Mount Everest

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Mount Everest is the highest mountain in the world with the summit reaching a peak of 29,029 feet (8,848 m). It is located in the Himalayan mountain range on the border between Nepal and Tibet, China.

Mount Everest represent the highest spot on earth, but it is not the tallest mountain in the world. Mount McKinley in Alaska is the tallest mountain based on measurements taken from the base of the mountain, which is above sea level, to the peak. However, Mauna Kea in Hawaii is the actual tallest mountain in the world measured from its base, of which most of it is under water. Collectively, it rises 6.3 miles (10,200 m) from the base beneath the sea to the peak at 13,796 feet (4,205 m).

The Challenger Deep, off the Mariana islands, is the deepest spot in the ocean. If Mount Everest were placed inside the cavern there would be more than 1.3 miles (2 km) of water still covering it.

Everest in Evening: Mount Everest at Sunset.

Interesting facts about Mount Everest:

George Everest, Surveyor General of India from 1830 to 1843, discovered Everest in 1841.
Highest mountain in the world, represents the highest spot on the earth's surface.
Summit reaches a peak of 29,029 feet (8,848 m).
Located in the Himalaya mountains on the border between Nepal and Tibet.
Before being named Mount Everest by the British in 1865, the mountain had gone by many names in many languages over the centuries. Tibetans call it Chomolungma, often translated as "mother of the universe."
Sir Edmund Hilary and Tenzing Norgay were the first to conquer Everest, on May 19 1953.
Everest grows 4mm higher every year due to geologic uplift.
Over 4,000 people have attempted to climb Everest.
Mount Everest is also home to a very minute black jumping spider. These spiders hide in crevices and feed on frozen insects. Their food depends largely upon what is blown by the wind into the specific area. They live as high as 22,000 feet.
In Nepal the mountain is called Sagarmatha, meaning 'forehead of the sky'.
In Tibet the mountain is known as Chomolangma for 'mother of the universe'.

Best Times to Explore Mount Everest:

The simple but unpredictable answer is when it is not snowing. The best season to explore Mount Everest is during the months of October and November which are the start of the dry season. The next best season to visit Everest is during the months of February through April; this is the end of the dry season.

Quick Facts About Mount Everest:

Tallest mountain in the world.
Number of people to attempt to climb Mt. Everest: approximately 4,000.
Number of people to successfully climb Mt. Everest: 660.
Number of people who have died trying to climb Mt. Everest: 142.
Height: 29,028 feet, or 5 and a half miles above sea level. This is equivalent to the size of almost 20 Empire State Buildings.
Location: part of the Himalaya mountain range; straddles border of Nepal and Tibet.
Named for: Sir George Everest, a British surveyor-general of India.
Age: approximately 60 million years old.
Other names: called "Chomolungma" by Tibetans and Sherpas, which means "Mother Goddess of the Earth."
Countries visible from the summit: Tibet, India, and Nepal.
First to climb to summit: Edmund Hillary and Tenzing Norgay on May 29, 1953.

Notable dates in the history of Mount Everest:

In 1856, Andrew Waugh announced Everest (then known as Peak XV) as 29,002 ft (8,840 m) high, after several years of calculations based on observations made by the Great Trigonometric Survey.
1921 — Dalai Lama allows British reconnaissance party to visit Tibet and the northern side of Mt. Everest.
1924 — British explorers George Mallory and Andrew Irvine disappear near the summit, along the Northeast Ridge. It is possible that they may have actually been the first to reach the summit, but they never returned.
1949 — Nepal opens its borders, making access to the mountain's southern peak possible.
1953 — Hillary and Norgay reach summit.
1963 — First Americans reach the summit.
1989 — First two women, both American, reach the summit.
1990 — Sir Edmund Hillary's son, Peter, reaches summit.
1996 — Eleven people die during spring expeditions.
On 9 October 2005, after several months of measurement and calculation, the Chinese Academy of Sciences and State Bureau of Surveying and Mapping officially announced the height of Everest as 8,844.43 m (29,017.16 ft).

First successful ascent by Tenzing and Hillary

In 1953, the New Zealander Edmund Hillary and Tenzing Norgay, a Nepali sherpa climber from Darjeeling, India, they reached the summit at 11:30 am local time on 29 May 1953 via the South Col Route. At the time, both acknowledged it as a team effort by the whole expedition, but Tenzing revealed a few years later that Hillary had put his foot on the summit first. They paused at the summit to take photographs and buried a few sweets and a small cross in the snow before descending.

Death zone: The summit of Mount Everest.

At the peak of Mount Everest, atmospheric pressure is a mere 30 percent of that at sea level, meaning that a climber's breath takes in only 30 percent of the oxygen that it normally does, causing the body and mind to begin breaking down.

Southern and northern climbing routes as seen from the International Space Station.

Best Ways to Experience Mount Everest:

The best way to experience Mount Everest is by making the trek to the base of the mountain. For more experienced individual climbers, a climb to the upper base camp. But this experience is costly; the Nepal government now requires potential climbers to purchase a $ 25,000USD climbing permit.

Climbing Mount Everest is not a high probability for most people, but there is a better chance of trekking to the part of the mountain known as base camp. The Himalayas are a beautiful mountain range and just trekking through the area is certain to be an amazing experience. A trek to base camp of Mount Everest will be an exhilarating adventure.

A simpler way to experience Mount Everest is by taking a guided flight around Mount Everest. This bird's eye view of this majestic mountain is an avenue that is available to more travelers.