Mount Everest

By Katie Maxwell

Contents
1. What is Mount Everest?
2. Where is Mount Everest?
3. How
1.
2.
3.

was it formed?
does it stack up?
do you get to the top?

1.

Key Dates

1.
2.

on Mount Everest
of Mount Everest

4. Interesting Facts
5. Survival

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 33,476feet (10,203meters) 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 worlds
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 of Asia then
crashed. The seabed
between the two plates were
crumbled and pushed up to
create the mountains of the
Himalayas around the
northern rim of India. These
plates are still moving
around 6cm every year
which forces the height of
the mountains to increase.

How does Mount Everest stack

up?
Height
Continent

Mountain

Country and/or location

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

Its 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
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 West Face Central Couloir

From the Western Cwm, the route climbs the
huge Y-shaped couloir, taking the left fork
through the rockband
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?

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

Survival on Mount Everest

Bad Weather

I f you were climbing on Everest the weather can quickly get

worse and it will start to snow. Sometimes you cant see and
you will take a wrong turn and walk straight off a cliff. When
this happens climbers usually make a cave to wait till the
weather calms down.

Cold

When you get cold youre 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 doesnt 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.
It is so sad that humans can damage
such a beautiful mountain

Sources
www.answers.com/topic/george-everest
http://wiki.answers.com/Q/When_did_Sir_George_

Everest_climb_Mount_Everest
http://library.thinkquest.org/J0111360/evhis.html
http://library.thinkquest.org/J002388/mounteveres
t.html
http://www.infoplease.com/ipa/A0777282.html
http://www.teameverest03.org/everest_info/index
.html
http://www.abc-ofmountaineering.com/articles/e_routes.asp
Mountain-Land Shapes
Mountains-Mapping Earthforms