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104-1745: Legend： 1： Mount Everest ,  2： Kangchenjunga ,  3： Lhotse ,  4： Yalung Kang, Kanchenjunga West ,  5： Makalu ,  6： Kangchenjunga South ,  7： Kangchenjunga Central ,  8： Cho Oyu ,  9： Dhaulagiri ,  10： Manaslu (Kutang) ,  11： Nanga Parbat (Diamer) ,  12： Annapurna ,  13： Shishapangma (Shishasbangma, Xixiabangma) ,  14： Manaslu East ,  15： Annapurna East Peak ,  16： Gyachung Kang ,  17： Annapurna II ,  18： Tenzing Peak (Ngojumba Kang, Ngozumpa Kang, Ngojumba Ri) ,  19： Kangbachen ,  20： Himalchuli (Himal Chuli) ,  21： Ngadi Chuli (Peak 29, Dakura, Dakum, Dunapurna) ,  22： Nuptse (Nubtse) ,  23： Nanda Devi ,  24： Chomo Lonzo (Chomolonzo, Chomolönzo, Chomo Lönzo, Jomolönzo, Lhamalangcho) ,  25： Namcha Barwa (Namchabarwa) ,  26： Zemu Kang (Zemu Gap Peak) ,  27： Kamet ,  28： Dhaulagiri II ,  29： Ngojumba Kang II ,  30： Dhaulagiri III ,  31： Kumbhakarna Mountain (Mount Kumbhakarna, Jannu) ,  32： Gurla Mandhata (Naimona'nyi, Namu Nan) ,  33： Hillary Peak (Ngojumba Kang III) ,  34： Molamenqing (Phola Gangchen) ,  35： Dhaulagiri IV ,  36： Annapurna Fang ,  37： Silver Crag ,  38： Kangbachen Southwest ,  39： Gangkhar Puensum (Gangkar Punsum) ,  40： Annapurna III ,  41： Himalchuli West ,  42： Annapurna IV ,  43： Kula Kangri ,  44： Liankang Kangri (Gangkhar Puensum North, Liangkang Kangri) ,  45： Ngadi Chuli South Kamet ( Hindi : कामेत )

208-501: A Swabian and Tyrolean flag on top. In 1931 the summit record was broken again with the ascent of Kamet . Frank Smythe , Eric Shipton , R.L. Holdsworth and Lewa Sherpa reached the summit on 21 June. At 7,756 m (25,446 ft), Kamet was the first mountain over 7,500 m and 25,000 ft to be climbed. The summit record was raised once more before the Second World War brought an effective halt to mountaineering in

312-663: A belt of Late Oligocene – Miocene intrusive rocks known as the Higher Himalayan leucogranite. They formed as the result of partial melting of Paleoproterozoic to Ordovician high-grade metasedimentary rocks of the Higher Himalayan Sequence about 20 to 24 million years ago during the subduction of the Indian Plate. Mount Everest consists of sedimentary and metamorphic rocks that have been faulted southward over continental crust composed of Archean granulites of

416-557: A distinctive yellowish brown, and muscovite - biotite phyllite and semischist . Petrographic analysis of marble collected from about 8,300 m (27,200 ft) found it to consist as much as five per cent of the ghosts of recrystallised crinoid ossicles. The upper five metres of the Yellow Band lying adjacent to the Qomolangma Detachment is badly deformed. A 5–40 cm (2.0–15.7 in) thick fault breccia separates it from

520-622: A feat accomplished by Tim Macartney-Snape's team in 1990. Climbers usually begin their ascent from base camps above 5,000 m (16,404 ft). The amount of elevation climbed from below these camps varies. On the Tibetan side, most climbers drive directly to the North Base Camp . On the Nepalese side, climbers generally fly into Kathmandu , then Lukla , and trek to the South Base Camp , making

624-511: A great deal of wind from the Plateau. However, by modern standards, it is a relatively straightforward ascent for such a high mountain. Early explorers of the region faced long approach marches of around 200 miles (321.9 km) from Ranikhet through dense mountain forest; access is easier today. While attempts to climb Kamet began in 1855, the first ascent was not made until 1931 by Frank Smythe , Eric Shipton , R.L. Holdsworth , Raymond Greene ,

728-583: A native name for the mountain was Gaurishankar , a mountain between Kathmandu and Everest. In 1802, the British began the Great Trigonometrical Survey of India to fix the locations, heights, and names of the world's highest mountains. Starting in southern India, the survey teams moved northward using giant theodolites , each weighing 500 kg (1,100 lb) and requiring 12 men to carry, to measure heights as accurately as possible. They reached

832-566: A new weather station at about 8,000 m (26,000 ft) elevation went online. The project was orchestrated by Stations at High Altitude for Research on the Environment (SHARE), which also placed the Mount Everest webcam in 2011. The solar-powered weather station is on the South Col . Mount Everest extends into the upper troposphere and penetrates the stratosphere . The air pressure at

936-419: A reference, and/or with a substantial contribution to the development of geological sciences through history." There is very little native flora or fauna on Everest. A type of moss grows at 6,480 metres (21,260 ft) on Mount Everest and it may be the highest altitude plant species. An alpine cushion plant called Arenaria is known to grow below 5,500 metres (18,000 ft) in the region. According to

1040-438: A sequence of high-grade metamorphic and granitic rocks that were derived from the alteration of high-grade metasedimentary rocks. During the collision of India with Asia, these rocks were thrust downward and to the north as they were overridden by other strata; heated, metamorphosed, and partially melted at depths of over 15 to 20 kilometres (9.3 to 12.4 mi) below sea level; and then forced upward to surface by thrusting towards

1144-457: A short distance before. This was an altitude record which would not be broken, with certainty, until the 1950s, or without supplemental oxygen until 1978. Three days later George Mallory and Andrew Irvine disappeared while making their own attempt on the summit. There has been much debate over whether they reached a greater height than Norton, or even the summit; professional climbers such as Conrad Anker believe Mallory and Irvine traversed "from

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1248-583: A spirited defense of the ascent in the Alpine Journal , arguing that Graham and Boss's criticism of the maps of the Garhwal Himalaya had led to bad blood. If Graham, Boss and Kaufmann did climb Kabru it was a remarkable achievement for its time, establishing an altitude record which was not broken for twenty-six years. Nine years later, another claim to the world altitude record was made by Martin Conway in

1352-410: A survey official back to Terai to make closer observations of peak "b", but clouds thwarted his attempts. In 1849, Waugh dispatched James Nicolson to the area, who made two observations from Jirol, 190 km (120 mi) away. Nicolson then took the largest theodolite and headed east, obtaining over 30 observations from five different locations, with the closest being 174 km (108 mi) from

1456-636: Is Earth's highest mountain above sea level , located in the Mahalangur Himal sub-range of the Himalayas . The China–Nepal border runs across its summit point . Its elevation (snow height) of 8,848.86 m (29,031 ft 8 + 1 ⁄ 2  in) was most recently established in 2020 by the Chinese and Nepali authorities. Mount Everest attracts many climbers, including highly experienced mountaineers. There are two main climbing routes, one approaching

1560-413: Is Sagarmāthā ( IAST transcription) or Sagar-Matha (सगर-माथा, [sʌɡʌrmatʰa] , lit. "goddess of the sky" ), which means "the head in the great blue sky", being derived from सगर (sagar), meaning "sky", and माथा (māthā), meaning "head". The Tibetan name for Everest is Qomolangma ( ཇོ་མོ་གླང་མ , lit.  "holy mother"). The name was first recorded (in a Chinese transcription) in

1664-417: Is despite Chimborazo having a peak of 6,268 m (20,564.3 ft) above sea level versus Mount Everest's 8,848 m (29,028.9 ft). Nearby peaks include Lhotse , 8,516 m (27,940 ft); Nuptse , 7,855 m (25,771 ft), and Changtse , 7,580 m (24,870 ft) among others. Another nearby peak is Khumbutse , and many of the highest mountains in the world are near Mount Everest. On

1768-534: Is estimated at between 7,000 m (23,000 ft) and 7,300 m (24,000 ft), greater than the height of Aconcagua. In 1907 Longstaff and the Brocherel brothers returned to the Himalayas and led an expedition with the aim of climbing Nanda Devi , but unable to penetrate its "sanctuary" of surrounding peaks turned their attention to Trisul , which they climbed on June 12. At 7,120 metres (23,360 ft) Trisul became

1872-582: Is likely that local inhabitants went to such heights in search of game, and possibly higher while exploring trade routes, but they did not live there, and there is no evidence that they attempted to climb the summits of the Himalaya before the arrival of Europeans. In August 1855, the Bavarian brothers Adolf and Robert Schlagintweit of the Magnetic Survey of India made an attempt to climb Kamet (7,756 m), in

1976-483: Is so high the jet stream can hit it. Climbers can be faced with winds beyond 320 km/h (200 mph) when the weather shifts. At certain times of the year the jet stream shifts north, providing periods of relative calm at the mountain. Other dangers include blizzards and avalanches. In 1885, Clinton Thomas Dent , president of the Alpine Club , suggested that climbing Mount Everest was possible in his book Above

2080-456: Is taller than Everest as well. Despite its height above sea level of only 6,190 m (20,308 ft), Denali sits atop a sloping plain with elevations from 300 to 900 m (980 to 2,950 ft), yielding a height above base in the range of 5,300 to 5,900 m (17,400 to 19,400 ft); a commonly quoted figure is 5,600 m (18,400 ft). By comparison, reasonable base elevations for Everest range from 4,200 m (13,800 ft) on

2184-579: Is the point at which Earth's surface reaches the greatest distance above sea level . Several other mountains are sometimes claimed to be the "tallest mountains on Earth". Mauna Kea in Hawaii is tallest when measured from its base; it rises over 10,200 m (33,464.6 ft) from its base on the mid-ocean floor, but only attains 4,205 m (13,796 ft) above sea level. By the same measure of base to summit, Denali , in Alaska , formerly known as Mount McKinley,

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2288-586: Is the second-highest mountain in the Garhwal region of Uttarakhand , India , after Nanda Devi . It is the 29th highest mountain in the world. It lies in the Chamoli District of Uttarakhand . Its appearance resembles a giant pyramid topped by a flat summit area with two peaks. Due to its position near the Tibetan Plateau , Kamet is very remote and not as accessible as some Himalayan peaks. It also receives

2392-500: Is widely quoted. Geoid uncertainty casts doubt upon the accuracy claimed by both the 1999 and 2005 (see § 21st-century surveys ) surveys. In 1955, a detailed photogrammetric map (at a scale of 1:50,000) of the Khumbu region, including the south side of Mount Everest, was made by Erwin Schneider as part of the 1955 International Himalayan Expedition, which also attempted Lhotse . In

2496-421: The 1950 French Annapurna expedition . Both Herzog and Lachenal lost their toes to frostbite ; Herzog also lost most of his fingers. The first attempt to climb Everest from the south was made by a Swiss team in 1952. The expedition's high point was reached by Raymond Lambert and the team's Nepali Indian sardar Tenzing Norgay on 26 May, when they reached a point approximately 200 m (650 ft) below

2600-660: The Garhwal region of Uttarakhand , India, near the Tibetan border. Spending 10 days above 17,000 ft (5,200 m) they approached the mountain from the Tibetan side, climbing the northwest ridge of the subsidiary peak Abi Gamin . From their highest camp at 19,325 ft (5,890 m), they and some of their guides and carriers reached an altitude of 22,259 ft (6,785 m) according to their barometric measurements, which would have put them higher than Llullaillaco. Many early claims of world altitude records are muddied by incomplete surveying and lack of knowledge of local geography, which have led to reassessments of many of

2704-448: The Great Trigonometrical Survey . From 1952 to 1954, the Survey of India , using triangulation methods, determined that the height of Everest was 8,847.73 m (29,028 ft). In 1975 it was subsequently reaffirmed by a Chinese measurement of 8,848.13 m (29,029.30 ft). In both cases the snow cap, not the rock head, was measured. The 8,848 m (29,029 ft) height given

2808-458: The North Col , the 1922 expedition pushed the north ridge route up to 8,320 m (27,300 ft), marking the first time a human had climbed above 8,000 m (26,247 ft). The 1924 expedition resulted in one of the greatest mysteries on Everest to this day: George Mallory and Andrew Irvine made a final summit attempt on 8 June but never returned, sparking debate as to whether they were

2912-525: The South Col at 7,920 metres (25,980 ft) and yellow-billed choughs have been seen as high as 7,900 metres (26,000 ft). Yaks are often used to haul gear for Mount Everest climbs. They can haul around 100 kg (220 pounds), have thick fur and large lungs. Other animals in the region include the Himalayan tahr , which is sometimes the prey of the snow leopard . The Himalayan black bear can be found up to about 4,300 metres (14,000 ft) and

3016-495: The convergent boundary between the Eurasian Plate and Indian Plate , are adding to the height and moving the summit northeastwards. Two accounts suggest the rates of change are 4 mm (0.16 in) per year vertically and 3 to 6 mm (0.12 to 0.24 in) per year horizontally, but another account mentions more lateral movement (27 mm or 1.1 in), and even shrinkage has been suggested. The summit of Everest

3120-473: The red panda is also present in the region. One expedition found a surprising range of species in the region including a pika and ten new species of ants. Mount Everest has an ice cap climate (Köppen EF ) with all months averaging well below freezing. The base camp for Everest expeditions based out of Nepal is located by Khumbu Glacier , which is rapidly thinning and destabilizing due to climate change , making it unsafe for climbers. As recommended by

3224-471: The "higher snows" of the Kailash range, 110 miles east of Kamet. This range is slightly lower than Kamet, its highest peak being Gurla Mandhata , 7,728 m/25,355 ft; however it stands more fully on the high Tibetan Plateau . At dawn and dusk, "the copper colored rock of Mount Kamet reflecting the oblique rays of the sun on its hanging glaciers appears to set these glaciers aglow with crackling flames and bathes

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3328-787: The 1721 Kangxi Atlas, issued during the reign of Qing Emperor Kangxi ; it first appeared in the West in 1733 as Tchoumour Lancma , on a map prepared by the French geographer D'Anville and based on Kangxi Atlas. The Tibetan name is also popularly romanised as Chomolungma and (in Wylie ) as Jo-mo-glang-ma . The official Chinese transcription is 珠穆朗玛峰 ( t   珠穆朗瑪峰 ), or Zhūmùlǎngmǎ Fēng in pinyin . While other Chinese names have been used historically, including Shèngmǔ Fēng ( t   聖母峰 , s   圣母峰 , lit.  "holy mother peak"), these names were largely phased out after

3432-426: The 8,848.86 metres (29,031.7 ft) true summit on 29 May 1953, marking the final chapter in the history of the mountaineering altitude record. While the exact height of Everest's summit is subject to minor variation due to the level of snow cover and the gradual upthrust of the Himalaya, significant changes to the world altitude record are now impossible. Female mountaineers were rare in the early 20th century, and

3536-570: The British continued the survey and began detailed observations of the Himalayan peaks from observation stations up to 240 km (150 mi) distant. Weather restricted work to the last three months of the year. In November 1847, Andrew Scott Waugh , the British Surveyor General of India , made several observations from the Sawajpore station at the east end of the Himalayas. Kangchenjunga

3640-504: The Chinese Ministry of Internal Affairs issued a decree to adopt a sole name in May 1952. The British geographic survey of 1849 attempted to preserve local names when possible (e.g., Kangchenjunga and Dhaulagiri .) However, Andrew Waugh , the British Surveyor General of India , claimed that he could not find a commonly used local name, and that his search for one had been hampered by

3744-523: The First Step to the Second” step, placing them 100ft higher at 28,226ft than Edward Norton's climb, but as there is no direct proof they are not generally credited with a record. The British made several further expeditions to Mount Everest in the 1930s. Twice in 1933 climbing parties reached approximately the same point as Norton; first Lawrence Wager and Percy Wyn-Harris , and later Frank Smythe , but there

3848-574: The Himalaya. Nanda Devi , at 7,816 m (25,643 ft) the highest mountain wholly within the British Empire , had been the object of several expeditions, and it was finally climbed on 29 August 1936 by Bill Tilman and Noel Odell . After the Second World War, the formerly closed and secretive kingdom of Nepal , wary of the intentions of the People's Republic of China and seeking friends in

3952-587: The Himalayan foothills by the 1830s, but Nepal was unwilling to allow the British to enter the country due to suspicions of their intentions. Several requests by the surveyors to enter Nepal were denied. The British were forced to continue their observations from Terai , a region south of Nepal which is parallel to the Himalayas. Conditions in Terai were difficult because of torrential rains and malaria . Three survey officers died from malaria while two others had to retire because of failing health. Nonetheless, in 1847,

4056-577: The Indian Plate during the Cenozoic collision of India with Asia . Current interpretations argue that the Qomolangma and North Col formations consist of marine sediments that accumulated within the continental shelf of the northern passive continental margin of India before it collided with Asia. The Cenozoic collision of India with Asia subsequently deformed and metamorphosed these strata as it thrust them southward and upward. The Rongbuk Formation consists of

4160-590: The Nepalese and Tibetan policy of exclusion of foreigners. Waugh argued that – because there were many local names – it would be difficult to favour one name over all others; he therefore decided that Peak XV should be named after British surveyor Sir George Everest , his predecessor as Surveyor General of India. Everest himself opposed the honor, and told the Royal Geographical Society in 1857 that "Everest" could neither be written in Hindi nor pronounced by "

4264-594: The North Col Formation is a regional low-angle normal fault called the "Lhotse detachment". Below 7,000 m (23,000 ft), the Rongbuk Formation underlies the North Col Formation and forms the base of Mount Everest. It consists of sillimanite - K-feldspar grade schist and gneiss intruded by numerous sills and dikes of leucogranite ranging in thickness from 1 cm to 1,500 m (0.4 in to 4,900 ft). These leucogranites are part of

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4368-561: The Snow Line . World altitude record (mountaineering) European exploration of the Himalaya began in earnest during the mid-19th century, and the earliest people known to have climbed in the range were surveyors of the Great Trigonometric Survey (GTS). During the 1850s and 1860s they climbed dozens of peaks of over 6,100 m (20,000 ft ) and several of over 6,400 m (21,000 ft) in order to make observations, and it

4472-526: The South Summit before turning around in the knowledge that they would not reach the summit in daylight. Their estimated height of 8,600 m (28,210 ft) was slightly higher than the previous altitude record set by the British on the north side of the mountain. The Swiss made further attempts later in May, and again in autumn after the monsoon , but did not regain Lambert and Tenzing's high point. Mount Everest

4576-509: The West, began to open its borders. For the first time its peaks, including the south side of Everest, became accessible to Western mountaineers, triggering a new wave of exploration. There was one further improvement on the summit record before Everest was conquered. On 3 June 1950 Annapurna (8,091 m, 26,545 ft) became the first 8,000 m mountain to be climbed when the French climbers Maurice Herzog and Louis Lachenal reached its summit on

4680-517: The air pressure further, reducing available oxygen by up to 14 percent. To avoid the harshest winds, climbers typically aim for a 7- to 10-day window in the spring and fall when the Asian monsoon season is starting up or ending. Mount Everest hosts several weather stations that collect important data on high-altitude weather conditions. Among them is the Balcony Station, the highest weather station on

4784-511: The altitude record, was broken by 8 meters on June 14, 1911, when the Scottish chemist, explorer, and mountaineer Alec Kellas together with the Sherpas "Sony" and "Tuny's brother" climbed the 7,128 metres (23,386 ft) high Pauhunri on the border of Sikkim and Tibet . Until the late 20th century this mountain was thought to be only 7,065 metres (23,179 ft), so this record was not realized at

4888-441: The climb from Lukla to the summit about 6,000 m (19,685 ft) in elevation gain. The first recorded efforts to reach Everest's summit were made by British mountaineers . As Nepal did not allow foreigners to enter the country at the time, the British made several attempts on the north ridge route from the Tibetan side. After the first reconnaissance expedition by the British in 1921 reached 7,000 m (22,970 ft) on

4992-532: The committee formed by Nepal's government to facilitate and monitor mountaineering in the Everest region, Taranath Adhikari—the director general of Nepal's tourism department—said they have plans to move the base camp to a lower altitude. This would mean a longer distance for climbers between the base camp and Camp 1. However, the present base camp is still useful and could still serve its purpose for three to four years. The move may happen by 2024, per officials. In 2008,

5096-570: The course of his expedition to the Karakoram in 1892. Together with Matthias Zurbriggen and Charles Granville Bruce , Conway made an attempt on Baltoro Kangri and on 25 August reached a subsidiary summit which he named Pioneer Peak . The barometer showed a height of 22,600 ft (6,900 m) which Conway optimistically rounded up to 23,000 ft (over 7,000 m). However, Pioneer Peak has since been measured at only 6,501 metres (21,329 ft). On 14 January 1897, Matthias Zurbriggen went on to make

5200-417: The discovery of the skeleton of a guanaco on the summit ridge of Aconcagua (6,962 m, 22,841 ft) suggests that they also climbed on that mountain, and the possibility of Pre-Columbian ascents of South America's highest peak cannot be ruled out. In the Himalaya yaks have been reported at heights of up to 6,100 m (20,000 ft) and the summer snow line can be as high as 6,500 m (21,300 ft). It

5304-432: The east face of Kabru is less readily dismissed. Although their report of views of Mount Everest from the top appears convincing, Graham's description of the ascent was also vague, and this, coupled with the speed of their claimed ascent and his failure to report significant effects of altitude sickness , have led many to assume that here they also climbed a lower peak in the same area. Their claim was, however, supported in

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5408-729: The east side of Meade's Col saddle, flows east of Abi Gamin, and unites with the East Kamet Glacier. The West Kamet Glacier drains into the Saraswati River while the East Kamet Glacier feeds the Dhauliganga River ; both rivers are tributaries of the Alaknanda River , the major river of the Chamoli district. Alexander Kellas and his companion Henry Morshead conducted scientific studies during their 1920 Kamet expedition focusing on

5512-512: The effort and attention poured into expeditions, only about 200 people had summited by 1987. Everest remained a difficult climb for decades, even for serious attempts by professional climbers and large national expeditions, which were the norm until the commercial era began in the 1990s. By March 2012, Everest had been climbed 5,656 times with 223 deaths. By 2013, The Himalayan Database recorded 6,871 summits by 4,042 different people. Although lower mountains have longer or steeper climbs, Everest

5616-545: The expedition's doctor, Bill Birnie and Lewa Sherpa, members of a British expedition. Kamet was the first peak over 25,000 ft (7,620 m) to be climbed, and was the highest summit reached until the first ascent of Nanda Devi five years later. However, far higher non-summit altitudes had been reached on the north side of Mount Everest in the 1920s. The standard route begins from the East Kamet (or Purbi Kamet) Glacier, ascending via Meade's Col (c. 7,100m/23,300 ft),

5720-664: The first ascent of Aoraki / Mount Cook in New Zealand . Among others, they claimed a near ascent of Dunagiri (reaching about 6,900 m), an ascent of Changabang (6,864 m, 22,520 ft) in July in the Garhwal Himalaya, and an ascent to 30 feet below the east summit of Kabru 7,338 metres (24,075 ft) south of Kangchenjunga in October, but most of the ascents are disputed. It is not claimed that they lied about their ascents, rather that

5824-534: The first ascent of Gyalgen Peak , 6,151 m (20,180 ft). In 1959, Phantog of the Chinese female mountaineering team reached the summit of Muztagh Ata at 7,509 m (24,636 ft). Phantog later went on to become the second woman to summit Mount Everest 11 days after Junko Tabei. The first female ascent of an 8000 m peak came in 1974, when three Japanese women, Masako Uchida , Mieko Mori and Naoko Nakaseko climbed Manaslu , at 8,163 m (26,781 ft). A year later Junko Tabei of Japan made

5928-564: The first recorded ascent of Aconcagua in the Andes. Aconcagua is 6,962 metres (22,841 ft) high and, if the claims of Boss and Graham are discounted, was still the highest point to have been reached at that time. It was several more years before the 7,000 m barrier would be broken with reasonable certainty. In July 1905 Tom George Longstaff , accompanied by the alpine guides Alexis and Henri Brocherel from Courmayeur and six local porters, made an attempt on Gurla Mandhata . The height they reached

6032-463: The first to reach the top. Tenzing Norgay and Edmund Hillary made the first documented ascent of Everest in 1953 , using the southeast ridge route. Norgay had reached 8,595 m (28,199 ft) the previous year as a member of the 1952 Swiss expedition . The Chinese mountaineering team of Wang Fuzhou , Gonpo , and Qu Yinhua made the first reported ascent of the peak from the north ridge on 25 May 1960. Mount Everest's Nepali / Sanskrit name

6136-451: The first woman to exceed 7000 m when she climbed Sia Kangri (7,422 m (24,350 ft)). Her summit record would stand for 25 years, though her altitude record was broken by the French climber Claude Kogan , who reached approximately 7,600 m (24,900 ft) on Cho Oyu in 1954. The following year saw the first all-female team to visit the Himalayas, made up of Monica Jackson , Evelyn McNicol and Elizabeth "Betty" Stark , making

6240-479: The following years by climbers such as Douglas Freshfield , Norman Collie , Edmund Garwood , Carl Rubenson , and Tom Longstaff , and more recently Walt Unsworth has argued that as a man who was more interested in climbing than in making observations, the vagueness of his description is to be expected, and that now Everest has been climbed in a single day without oxygen, his claims sound less outlandish than they once did. In 2009, Willy Blaser and Glyn Hughes wrote

6344-584: The heights which were originally claimed. In 1862 a khalasi (an Indian assistant of the GTS ) climbed Shilla , a summit in Himachal Pradesh which was claimed to be over 7,000 m (23,000 ft) high. More recent surveys have, however, fixed its height at 6,111 m (20,049 ft). Three years later William Johnson of the GTS claimed to have climbed a 7,284 m (23,898 ft) peak during an illicit journey into China , but

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6448-585: The highest summit to have been climbed whose height was accurately known and whose ascent was undisputed. This altitude record, though not the summit record, was broken a few months later, on 20 October 1907, when the Norwegians Carl Wilhelm Rubenson and Ingvald Monrad Aas came within 50 m of ascending the 7338 m east summit of Kabru . It is noteworthy that Carl Rubenson afterwards believed that Graham, Boss and Kaufmann had ascended that summit 24 years before. An undisputed new altitude record

6552-500: The late 1980s, an even more detailed topographic map of the Everest area was made under the direction of Bradford Washburn, using extensive aerial photography . On 9 October 2005, after several months of measurement and calculation, the Chinese Academy of Sciences and State Bureau of Surveying and Mapping announced the height of Everest as 8,844.43 m (29,017.16 ft) with accuracy of ±0.21 m (8.3 in), claiming it

6656-407: The limestone from near the summit revealed them to be composed of carbonate pellets and finely fragmented remains of trilobites , crinoids, and ostracods . Other samples were so badly sheared and recrystallised that their original constituents could not be determined. A thick, white-weathering thrombolite bed that is 60 m (200 ft) thick comprises the foot of the " Third Step ", and base of

6760-438: The lower part of the North Col Formation consists of biotite-quartz schist intercalated with epidote-quartz schist, biotite-calcite-quartz schist, and thin layers of quartzose marble . These metamorphic rocks appear to be the result of the metamorphism of Middle to Early Cambrian deep sea flysch composed of interbedded, mudstone , shale , clayey sandstone , calcareous sandstone, graywacke , and sandy limestone. The base of

6864-469: The maximum height attained by a woman lagged behind that claimed by male climbers. The first woman to climb extensively in the Karakoram was Fanny Bullock Workman , who made a number of ascents, including that of Pinnacle Peak, a 6,930 m (22,740 ft) subsidiary summit of Nun Kun , in 1906. Her claim on the women's altitude record was challenged by Annie Smith Peck in 1908 after she made an ascent of

6968-493: The mountain and have not been removed due to the dangerous conditions. Climbers typically ascend only part of Mount Everest's elevation, as the mountain's full elevation is measured from the geoid , which approximates sea level . The closest sea to Mount Everest's summit is the Bay of Bengal , almost 700 km (430 mi) away. To approximate a climb of the entire height of Mount Everest, one would need to start from this coastline,

7072-619: The mountain he climbed has since been measured at 6,710 m (22,014 ft). The first pure mountaineers (as opposed to surveyors) to have climbed in the Himalaya were the English barrister William Graham , the Swiss hotelier Emil Boss and the Swiss mountain guide Ulrich Kaufmann , who together climbed extensively in the area in 1883. The previous year Graham had made the first ascent of the Dent du Géant , and Boss and Kaufmann had equally notably very nearly made

7176-624: The mountain in a red burning glow". Hence the term "glacier fire" is also used as an allusion to the name Kamet. The West (Pachmi or Paschimi) Kamet Glacier, the East (Purbi or Purva) Kamet Glacier and the Raikana Glacier systems surround Kamet. The branches of the West Kamet Glacier head on the western slopes of Kamet, Abi Gamin, and Mukut Parbat. The East Kamet Glacier flows from the eastern side of Kamet and Mana. The Raikhana glacier originates on

7280-422: The mountain was climbed in ancient times is unknown. It may have been climbed in 1924, although this has never been confirmed, as neither of the men making the attempt returned. Several climbing routes have been established over several decades of climbing expeditions to the mountain. Everest's summit is first known to have been reached by a human in 1953, and interest from climbers increased thereafter. Despite

7384-402: The name "Kamet." Charles Meade gives the pronunciation as / ˈ k ʌ m eɪ t / , and claims that it is known to Tibetans as Kangmen , signifying "huge grandmother of a sacred snow chain". However, Frank Smythe writes in his book Kamet Conquered that the genesis of the name is from the Tibetan word Kangmed ("the lower snows", from kang , "snow", and med , "little"), as distinct from

7488-509: The native of India ". Despite Everest's objections, Waugh's proposed name prevailed, and the Royal Geographical Society officially adopted the name "Mount Everest" in 1865. The modern pronunciation of Everest ( / ˈ ɛ v ər ɪ s t / ) is different from Sir George's pronunciation of his surname ( / ˈ iː v r ɪ s t / EEV -rist ). In the late 19th century, many European cartographers incorrectly believed that

7592-490: The north peak of Huascarán , which she claimed was higher than Pinnacle Peak. The ensuing controversy was bitter and public, and eventually resolved in Bullock Workman's favour when she hired a team of surveyors to measure the height of Huascarán. The north peak was found to be 6,648 m (21,811 ft) tall - some 600 m lower than Smith Peck's estimate. In 1934 Hettie Dyhrenfurth , wife of Günter Dyhrenfurth , became

7696-508: The numbers, having to deal with the problems of light refraction, barometric pressure, and temperature over the vast distances of the observations. Finally, in March 1856 he announced his findings in a letter to his deputy in Calcutta . Kangchenjunga was declared to be 8,582 m (28,156 ft), while Peak XV was given the height of 8,840 m (29,002 ft). Waugh concluded that Peak XV

7800-528: The overlying Qomolangma Formation. The remainder of the North Col Formation, exposed between 7,000 to 8,200 m (23,000 to 26,900 ft) on Mount Everest, consists of interlayered and deformed schist, phyllite , and minor marble. Between 7,600 and 8,200 m (24,900 and 26,900 ft), the North Col Formation consists chiefly of biotite-quartz phyllite and chlorite-biotite phyllite intercalated with minor amounts of biotite- sericite -quartz schist. Between 7,000 and 7,600 m (23,000 and 24,900 ft),

7904-708: The peak. Nicolson retreated to Patna on the Ganges to perform the necessary calculations based on his observations. His raw data gave an average height of 9,200 m (30,200 ft) for peak "b", but this did not consider light refraction , which distorts heights. However, the number clearly indicated that peak "b" was higher than Kangchenjunga. Nicolson contracted malaria and was forced to return home without finishing his calculations. Michael Hennessy, one of Waugh's assistants, had begun designating peaks based on Roman numerals , with Kangchenjunga named Peak IX. Peak "b" now became known as Peak XV. In 1852, stationed at

8008-1996: The physiology of high altitude travel and acclimatization, and on the possibility of using supplemental oxygen. These studies eventually proved useful on expeditions to Mount Everest. Mount Everest Legend： 1： Mount Everest ,  2： Kangchenjunga ,  3： Lhotse ,  4： Yalung Kang, Kanchenjunga West ,  5： Makalu ,  6： Kangchenjunga South ,  7： Kangchenjunga Central ,  8： Cho Oyu ,  9： Dhaulagiri ,  10： Manaslu (Kutang) ,  11： Nanga Parbat (Diamer) ,  12： Annapurna ,  13： Shishapangma (Shishasbangma, Xixiabangma) ,  14： Manaslu East ,  15： Annapurna East Peak ,  16： Gyachung Kang ,  17： Annapurna II ,  18： Tenzing Peak (Ngojumba Kang, Ngozumpa Kang, Ngojumba Ri) ,  19： Kangbachen ,  20： Himalchuli (Himal Chuli) ,  21： Ngadi Chuli (Peak 29, Dakura, Dakum, Dunapurna) ,  22： Nuptse (Nubtse) ,  23： Nanda Devi ,  24： Chomo Lonzo (Chomolonzo, Chomolönzo, Chomo Lönzo, Jomolönzo, Lhamalangcho) ,  25： Namcha Barwa (Namchabarwa) ,  26： Zemu Kang (Zemu Gap Peak) ,  27： Kamet ,  28： Dhaulagiri II ,  29： Ngojumba Kang II ,  30： Dhaulagiri III ,  31： Kumbhakarna Mountain (Mount Kumbhakarna, Jannu) ,  32： Gurla Mandhata (Naimona'nyi, Namu Nan) ,  33： Hillary Peak (Ngojumba Kang III) ,  34： Molamenqing (Phola Gangchen) ,  35： Dhaulagiri IV ,  36： Annapurna Fang ,  37： Silver Crag ,  38： Kangbachen Southwest ,  39： Gangkhar Puensum (Gangkar Punsum) ,  40： Annapurna III ,  41： Himalchuli West ,  42： Annapurna IV ,  43： Kula Kangri ,  44： Liankang Kangri (Gangkhar Puensum North, Liangkang Kangri) ,  45： Ngadi Chuli South Mount Everest , known locally as Sagarmatha or Qomolangma ,

8112-444: The planet, located at about 8,430 meters (27,657 feet) above sea level. Set up by climate scientists Tom Matthews and Baker Perry in 2019, this station is positioned just below the summit of Everest, which is the highest point on Earth. As of January 20, 2020, the Balcony Station ceased transmitting data. Because Mount Everest is the highest mountain in the world, it has attracted considerable attention and climbing attempts. Whether

8216-408: The poor quality of maps at the time may have led them to be unsure of which mountain they were actually on, and to make estimates of their height which owed more to wishful thinking than scientific measurements. Their description of Changabang is so at variance with the mountain itself that their claim was doubted almost immediately, and by 1955 was not taken seriously anymore. The team's ascent over

8320-580: The saddle between Kamet and its northern outlier Abi Gamin . From Meade's Col the route ascends the northeast edge of the north face. The ascent to Meade's col involves steep gullies, a rock wall, and several glacier climbs. Five camps are usually placed en route. The final ascent to the summit involves steep snow, possibly icy. Kamet is surrounded by three principal neighboring or subsidiary peaks: Several adjoining peaks, such as Mana NW, 7,092 m, Point 6,977 m, Deoban, 6,855 m, and Bidhan Parbat, 6,519 m, also lie close to Kamet. There are varying explanations of

8424-428: The same route and went even higher—turning around at about 27,300 ft (8,321 m) when Bruce's oxygen apparatus failed. In 1924 the British made another attempt on Everest , and the world altitude record was again broken. On 4 June, Edward Norton, without supplemental oxygen, reached a point on the mountain's Great Couloir 8,572.8 m (28,126 ft) high, his companion Howard Somervell having turned around

8528-483: The snow height (8,848 m, Nepal). In 2010, both sides agreed that the height of Everest is 8,848 m, and Nepal recognises China's claim that the rock height of Everest is 8,844 m. On 8 December 2020, it was jointly announced by the two countries that the new official height is 8,848.86 metres (29,031.7 ft). It is thought that the plate tectonics of the Main Himalayan Thrust and related faults, which form

8632-702: The south between two major detachments. Mount Everest is rising by about 2 mm per year. In respect of the recognition of the "highest rocks on the planet" as fossiliferous, marine limestone, the Ordovician Rocks of Mount Everest were included by the International Union of Geological Sciences (IUGS) in its assemblage of 100 geological heritage sites around the world in a listing published in October 2022. The organisation defines an IUGS Geological Heritage Site as "a key place with geological elements and/or processes of international scientific relevance, used as

8736-507: The south side to 5,200 m (17,100 ft) on the Tibetan Plateau , yielding a height above base in the range of 3,650 to 4,650 m (11,980 to 15,260 ft). The summit of Chimborazo in Ecuador is 2,168 m (7,113 ft) farther from Earth's centre (6,384.4 km, 3,967.1 mi) than that of Everest (6,382.3 km, 3,965.8 mi), because the Earth bulges at the equator. This

8840-417: The southwest side, a major feature in the lower areas is the Khumbu icefall and glacier , an obstacle to climbers on those routes but also to the base camps. Geologists have subdivided the rocks comprising Mount Everest into three units called formations . Each formation is separated from the other by low-angle faults , called detachments , along which they have been thrust southward over each other. From

8944-541: The study based on satellite data from 1993 to 2018, vegetation is expanding in the Everest region. Researchers have found plants in areas that were previously deemed bare. A minute black jumping spider of the genus Euophrys has been found at elevations as high as 6,700 metres (22,000 ft), possibly making it the highest confirmed non-microscopic permanent resident on Earth. Another Euophrys species, E. everestensis , has been found at 5,030 metres (16,500 ft), and may feed on insects that have been blown there by

9048-557: The summit from the southeast in Nepal (known as the "standard route") and the other from the north in Tibet . While not posing substantial technical climbing challenges on the standard route, Everest presents dangers such as altitude sickness , weather, and wind, as well as hazards from avalanches and the Khumbu Icefall . As of May 2024, 340 people have died on Everest . Over 200 bodies remain on

9152-467: The summit is generally about one-third what it is at sea level. The altitude can expose the summit to the fast and freezing winds of the jet stream . Winds commonly attain 160 km/h (100 mph); in February 2004, a wind speed of 280 km/h (175 mph) was recorded at the summit. These winds can hamper or endanger climbers, by blowing them into chasms or (by Bernoulli's principle ) by lowering

9256-913: The summit of Mount Everest to its base these rock units are the Qomolangma Formation, the North Col Formation, and the Rongbuk Formation . The Qomolangma Formation, also known as the Jolmo Lungama Formation, runs from the summit to the top of the Yellow Band, about 8,600 m (28,200 ft) above sea level. It consists of greyish to dark grey or white, parallel laminated and bedded, Ordovician limestone interlayered with subordinate beds of recrystallised dolomite with argillaceous laminae and siltstone . Gansser first reported finding microscopic fragments of crinoids in this limestone . Later petrographic analysis of samples of

9360-598: The summit of the 7,134 m (23,406 ft) Kaufman Peak in the Pamirs , a mountain up to that year thought to be the highest mountain in the Soviet Union . After the expedition, it was renamed Lenin Peak . The next advance was a by-product of the international expedition to Kanchenjunga led by Günter Dyhrenfurth in 1930. The attempt on Kanchenjunga itself was abandoned after an avalanche had killed Chettan Sherpa, but members of

9464-447: The summit pyramid of Everest. This bed, which crops out starting about 70 m (230 ft) below the summit of Mount Everest, consists of sediments trapped, bound, and cemented by the biofilms of micro-organisms, especially cyanobacteria , in shallow marine waters. The Qomolangma Formation is broken up by several high-angle faults that terminate at the low angle normal fault , the Qomolangma Detachment. This detachment separates it from

9568-531: The survey headquarters in Dehradun , Radhanath Sikdar , an Indian mathematician and surveyor from Bengal was the first to identify Everest as the world's highest peak, using trigonometric calculations based on Nicolson's measurements. An official announcement that Peak XV was the highest was delayed for several years as the calculations were repeatedly verified. Waugh began work on Nicolson's data in 1854, and along with his staff spent almost two years working on

9672-402: The team stayed to climb a number of smaller peaks in the area. Erwin Schneider  [ de ] , who had barely escaped the avalanche, broke his own summit record twice in two weeks: on 24 May he solo-climbed 7,177 m (23,547 ft) Nepal Peak near Kirat Chuli , and on 3 June Hermann Hoerlin  [ de ] and he climbed 7,462 m (24,482 ft) Jongsong Peak , planting

9776-516: The time. The world altitude record was not broken again until the British expeditions to Mount Everest , and would then become the exclusive preserve of climbers on the world's highest mountain. On the 1922 expedition the record was broken twice. On 21 May, George Mallory , Howard Somervell and Edward Norton reached 26,985 ft (8,225 m) on the mountain's North Ridge, without using supplemental oxygen. Three days later George Finch and Geoffrey Bruce , using supplemental oxygen, followed

9880-485: The underlying Yellow Band. The lower five metres of the Qomolangma Formation overlying this detachment are very highly deformed. The bulk of Mount Everest, between 7,000 and 8,600 m (23,000 and 28,200 ft), consists of the North Col Formation, of which the Yellow Band forms the upper part between 8,200 to 8,600 m (26,900 to 28,200 ft). The Yellow Band consists of intercalated beds of Middle Cambrian diopside - epidote -bearing marble , which weathers

9984-403: The wind. There is a high likelihood of microscopic life at even higher altitudes. The bar-headed goose migrates over the Himalayas and have been seen flying at the higher altitudes of the mountain. In 1953, George Lowe (part of the expedition of Tenzing and Hillary) said that he saw bar-headed geese flying over Everest's summit. Another bird species, the chough , have been spotted as high as

10088-619: Was "most probably the highest in the world". Peak XV (measured in feet) was calculated to be exactly 29,000 ft (8,839.2 m) high, but was publicly declared to be 29,002 ft (8,839.8 m) in order to avoid the impression that an exact height of 29,000 feet (8,839.2 m) was nothing more than a rounded estimate. Waugh is sometimes playfully credited with being "the first person to put two feet on top of Mount Everest". In 1856, Andrew Waugh announced Everest (then known as Peak XV) as 8,840 m (29,002 ft) high, after several years of calculations based on observations made by

10192-549: Was achieved in 1909 by the Duke of the Abruzzi's expedition to the Karakoram. After failing to make progress on K2 the Duke led an attempt on Chogolisa , where they reached a height of approximately 7,500 m (24,600 ft) before turning around just 150 m below the summit due to bad weather and the risk of falling through a cornice in poor visibility. The undisputed summit record, though not

10296-453: Was climbed the following year. On 26 May, three days before the successful attempt, Tom Bourdillon and Charles Evans reached the South Summit before turning back due to malfunctioning oxygen apparatus. Their height of 8,760 m (28,750 ft) represented a new, short lived, altitude record, and can be seen as a summit record if this is taken to include minor tops as well as genuine mountains. Edmund Hillary and Tenzing Norgay finally reached

10400-512: Was during this period that claims to have ascended the highest point yet reached by man began to be made. Most of these early claims have now been rendered invalid by the discovery of the bodies of three children at the 6,739 m (22,110 ft) summit of Llullaillaco in South America : Inca sacrifices dated to around AD 1500. There is no direct evidence that the Incas reached higher points, but

10504-513: Was no advance on Norton's record. While there would be no advance on the altitude record until the 1950s, the summit record was broken five times in the inter-war years. The first was by just another 6 meters, when on 15 September 1928 the German mountaineers Karl Wien and Eugen Allwein  [ de ] and the Austrian mountaineer and cartographer Erwin Schneider  [ de ] reached

10608-566: Was officially recognised by Nepal and China. Nepal planned a new survey in 2019 to determine if the April 2015 Nepal earthquake affected the height of the mountain. In May 1999, an American Everest expedition directed by Bradford Washburn anchored a GPS unit into the highest bedrock. A rock head elevation of 8,850 m (29,035 ft), and a snow/ice elevation 1 m (3 ft) higher, were obtained via this device. Although as of 2001, it has not been officially recognised by Nepal, this figure

10712-414: Was the most accurate and precise measurement to date. This height is based on the highest point of rock and not the snow and ice covering it. The Chinese team measured a snow-ice depth of 3.5 m (11 ft), which is in agreement with a net elevation of 8,848 m (29,029 ft). An argument arose between China and Nepal as to whether the official height should be the rock height (8,844 m, China) or

10816-436: Was then considered the highest peak in the world , and with interest, he noted a peak beyond it, about 230 km (140 mi) away. John Armstrong, one of Waugh's subordinates, also saw the peak from a site farther west and called it peak "b". Waugh would later write that the observations indicated that peak "b" was higher than Kangchenjunga, but closer observations were required for verification. The following year, Waugh sent

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