A walk into heaven where the land and sky are all the same. Climbing and reaching the top of the summit of the Mount Everest is one of the things many people want to accomplish in their lifetime. But few ever realize this dream. Situated in the Himalayas in Asia it is the highest mountain in the world perched at a heavenly height of 8848 meters.
Mount Everest Facts: Names
The Mountain range for ages has enjoyed many different names. The Tibetans have been calling the mountain Chomolangma. Chomolangma means Saint Mother or Holy Mother. The Darjeeling name for the Mountain was Deodungha which means Holy Mountain. Nepalis call the mountain as Sagarmatha.
Andrew Waugh the then surveyor general of India was unable to use any local names for the mountain although the survey was anxious to preserve a local name for the highest mountain in the world. Entry to Tibet and Nepal was closed to visitors during those times. Waugh as per his duty was to assign a name and he chose his predecessor George Everest’s name to be assigned to the Peak.
While George Everest himself was opposed to naming the peak Everest, today with bungling of the authorities the name of Mount Everest is resonant in households of the world. It today stands for achievement par excellence and some thing that cannot be achieved. The Mount Everest is situated at Latitude 27° 59’ N and on the Longitude 86° 56’ E. The summit ridge of Mount Everest separates Tibet and Nepal.
Mount Everest Facts: Ascents
Sir Edmund Hillary from New Zealand and his Sherpa Tenzing Norgay (Nepal) were the first people to conquer the Everest peak. The Mount Everest was first climbed by them on May 29, 1953 through the route of South Col. The first person to climb the Mount Everest solo was Reinhold Messner. This Italian national climbed the peak on August 20, 1980 and traversed the NE Ridge to the North Face.
The first American to conquer the peak was James Whittaker who took the South-Col route on May 1, 1963. The first woman to climb the Everest was a Japanese national Junko Tabei.
The youngest person to climb the Everest title has been broken many times. And the title now sits happy with American Jordan Romero who is 13 years old. The oldest person to climb the peak is Sherman Bull who was 64 years old in May 25, 2001 when he reached the epic height.
Other Mount Everest Facts: Records
The first blind person to reach the heavenly height was Erik weihenmeyer. The most ascents by a person is 11 times and the title holder is Appa Sherpa. All his climbs were oxygen less.
The most cause of death while climbing the peak is due to Avalanches. Avalanches enjoy a 2:1 ratio over death due to falls. The most dangerous region on the peak is at Khumbu Ice Fall. So far 19 deaths have been recorded here.
1974 was the last recorded year in which no ascents were attempted to the peak. 120 is the number of corpses which still remain lost some where on the Everest. The longest stay on the Everest top was attempted by Sherpa Babu Chiri who clocked 21 and half hours.
The fastest descent from the top is 11 minutes. French Jean Marc Boivin came down in this mind boggling time using a paraglide. China took on the Everest with a 410 member team. Anna Czerwinska in 2000 became the youngest woman to reach the epic summit.