27 Interesting Facts about Mount Everest
This mighty mountain has thousands of tales to tell and you’re bound to get astonished after getting to know about them. These facts help to get a clear view and thought about Everest.
This mighty mountain has thousands of tales to tell and you’re bound to get astonished after getting to know about them. These facts help to get a clear view and thought about Everest.
We all have heard about the mighty Mount Everest, the highest mountain on the Earth. Mount Everest is a dream to everyone, from its expedition to its base camp trek, people surely are attached to a glimpse of it. Since Hillary and Tenzing Norgay set foot on Everest, a flock of tourists travel to Nepal dreaming of setting foot on Everest but every time things don’t act as they are intended. You need to be highly prepared for the summit expedition. In this article, you will know about the most interesting facts about Mount Everest.
The mighty mountain has thousands of tales to tell and you’re bound to get astonished after getting to know about them. These facts help to get a clear view and thought about Everest.
Let’s dive into the seas of facts about Everest. We are taking a lid off on this topic and providing the amazing facts about Everest, and next time when you sit around with your friends you could share these awesome facts and might even plan for the trek and expedition. These are the top 27 interesting facts about Mount Everest.
Measuring the height of 8848.86 m (29,031.7 ft), Mount Everest is the highest mountain in the world. Due to the shifting of tectonic plates, the height of Everest increases by 4mm each year. The collision Indian-Australian and the Eurasian plates have caused this action, one of the surveys concluded this by mounting GPS on a plateau below the summit.
In 2015, a devastating earthquake hit Nepal, its impact was so huge it shifted the mountain about 3 centimetres towards the southwest but had no impact on its elevation.
Well the name itself gives us the biggest hint, Mount Everest was named after Sir George Everest, a British surveyor in 1852. He is believed as the person who discovered the great Everest, Royal Geography Society accepted the proposal of Andrew Waugh and named it Everest from Peak XV, making it the official name.
Related Article: Where is Mount Everest Located?
The entire journey to reach the summit is around 43 days, including the climb, the trek to Everest Base Camp, and rest days for acclimatization. However, this number might fluctuate depending on the weather and other factors. The core climbing lasts for a duration of 26 days.
Related Article: How long does it take to climb Mount Everest?
The expedition story of sir Edmund Hillary and Tensing Norgay is famous for all. They conquered the highest mountain at 11:30 am on May 29, 1953. They were the first people to reach the summit.
But did you know about the two climbers George Mallory and Andrew Irvine, who had attempted to conquer the Everest summit back in 1921? This mystery still hovers around the air like a Vulture hovering around the dead, they were last seen on the morning of the 8th July and are missing to date.
There are various theories and hypotheses regarding the duo but the facts are still buried in Everest. The tragic to victorious stories are created in Mount Everest. It is also the major interesting fact of Mount Everest. Some of the first move makers to this giant Himalaya complex are as follows.
Furthermore to mark the first ones,
We now know that more than a thousand have ascended Everest but can you guess what ages are the youngest and oldest to summit Everest.
Jordan Romero, of the USA, is the youngest person to successfully summit Everest back in 2010. He was 13 years and 11 months old when he held this record. The oldest person to successfully summit Everest is Yuichiro Miura, of Japan back in 2013. He was 80 years old when he held this record.
Climbing Everest could be a giant leap for someone but for others, it might be a hiking spot. Kami Rita Sherpa is the person with the most successful summit expedition with a record-breaking 24 successful summit record on his name. His latest ascend was on 20th May 2019. This record was held by Apa Sherpa before with 22 successful summits.
Kushang Sherpa is the only individual to climb Mount Everest successfully from all four sides.
The weather is constant throughout the year during summer the temperature rises to its maximum i.e. -10 to -15 degrees celsius and during winter it falls to a minimum i.e. -36 to -75 degree celsius.
The jet stream sits on the top of Everest almost all year long, making wind current as fast as 200mph. During May, the jet stream moves towards the north, making the summit possible for climbers. This main course of time is also termed as “Summit Window”.
The altitude higher than 8000m is considered as the death zone, this cursed name was given as it is difficult for humans to survive at such altitude due to extremely thin air.
Those who get ill or have life-threatening injuries have fewer chances to survive as help seems to be uncertain due to thin air and the strong current of wind. Among all those deaths on Everest, death zones are accountable for the maximum.
This is one of the most interesting facts about Mount Everest. Rainbow Valley is a section of Everest, which is filled with the silent dead bodies of the fearless climbers who made Everest their resting destination. The section of the peak is colourful regardless of the mountain's grey and white colour.
The bodies of more than 200 climbers remain on the mountain, and the colourful clothes and gears of these mountaineers have given a part of the mountain the unique name ‘Rainbow Valley’. Those bodies are left there due to the difficulties of descending the body and poor weather conditions.
This might sound spooky or myths, and not proven scientifically but experienced by many climbers. The third-factor feeling is a feeling or sensing the unseen power or spirits whose intention is to help climbers during the critical moment.
John Geiger, an American author has written a book about this feeling entitled “The Third Man Factor: Surviving the Impossible”. Science believes that this is just a hallucination that one’s body gets due to starvation and inadequate oxygen. There are various religious beliefs regarding this but in reality, we have to wait a little longer to find the truth.
Everest faces huge human traffic every year, climbers from around the world come to conquer the highest point on Earth which results in massive traffic of people.
Recently, a huge traffic jam occurred on Hillary step, the last landmark before the summit, and also led to several accidents. Climbers had to wait for approximately two hours in a queue to reach the top, the waiting time, steep hill, and higher altitude male climbers were exhausted which led to several accidents.
This is another heartbreaking fact about Everet. These traffic jams are due to a lack of proper rules and barriers from the government of Nepal. It is also one of the very interesting facts about Mount Everest.
Have you ever in your dream thought of just skipping long highways and flying to the destination instead? Well, Didier Delsalle, a French pilot took this dream and made it quite the wildest one. He became the first person/pilot to land a helicopter on the summit of Everest.
The wind current, low air pressure and a perfect landing spot make helicopters unable to take elevation beyond the death zone, but he modified the helicopter and made it according to his experiment which was successful later.
Related Trip: Everest Mountain Flight
Paragliding is a common sport among us, jumping off the cliff with Paragliders attached to us. But have you ever imagined someone would do from the highest point on Earth, gliding down the white mountains, cliff, rocks, and villages all the way down to 3,400 m?
Well yes, Sanobabu Sunuwar and Lakpa Tshiri Sherpa, of Nepal, glided from the top to Namche Bazar, a village commonly called a getaway of Everest inside 40 min. They received the National Geographic Adventurer of the year award in 2012 for this act.
Yearly, thousands of tourists visit Everest, some till the Base camp whereas others conquer. The supplements taken by tourists are never brought back, making a heap of waste and making Everest the dirtiest mountain. These waste are maximum at Nepal’s side as proper waste management is still lacking. The waste is never an amazing part of the Everest exploration, however, it is one of the interesting facts about Mount Everest indeed.
The Nepal government recently banned the use of plastics in Everest region and imposed a rule stating "Every climber must bring at least 8kg of their waste back, if failed they will be fined $4000.”
Everest is unique in every aspect from its height to base camp. There are two base camps of Everest, Southern Base Camp in Nepal at an altitude of 5,365m and North Base Camp in Tibet at an altitude of 5,150m. These base camps share a common identity but the culture, environment, difficulties, and view are non-identical to each other.
The two paths accomplish the same goal, witnessing Everest with a closure view but the journey is poles apart. The Southern Base Camp, i.e. The Nepal side is more famous compared to Tibet’s. The journey begins at Kathmandu where you either can catch a thrilling flight to Lukla, a small village in Solukhumbu district or trek from Salleri, a town in Solukhumbu district, which adds extra two days to your trek.
The next stop, Namche Bazar is truly a blessing point for every trekker and the old village with mountains in the vicinity will add flavours to your trek. Other attraction points are Gokyo Lakes, Kalapattar, and most of Mt. Ama Dablam, which is considered the most beautiful mountain in the world. The trek could be 10-20 days depending on the itinerary.
The Northern Base Camp is easily accessible, starting at Lhasa, travelling down the long and winding road through the gigantic Himalayas and Glacier will probably be a breathtaking moment. The landscape is drier, brownish, and with fewer mountains. The trip could be around 3-5 days long depending upon the itinerary.
Everest Base Camp has been the hotspot of technological changes for the past decade. From 3G connection to advanced 5G connection in Everest Base Camp, you can contact your home from the highest mountain of the world, base camp.
China, Everest’s counterpart, has done the unthinkable, advancement in network technology. The 5G network Everest Base Camp is a bigger achievement for trekkers and mountaineers. According to People’s Daily China, “5G network has been successfully tested at base camp in the northern mountain of Everest.” The service formally started on April 25, 2020. Everest base camp is so remote, such an advancement in technology is a great task accomplished by China.
The word “Sherpa” does not need any description, their energy and work have made them global mountaineering legends. The word “Sherpa” originally meant “People from the East”, as they are inhabitants of the Eastern Mountain region of Nepal and are pronounced as “Shar-wa”. The oldest community of Sherpas are at Pangboche, a small village near Everest Base Camp. They are the perfect companions for climbing mountains especially Everest and support you as a stick supports an old man. From the first summit of Everest to this date they are considered legends of Everest.
Earning comes with great sacrifice, In April of 2014, an avalanche killed 16 Sherpas on Everest. Many Sherpa sacrifices their life for the good of other mountaineers and climbers. A study conducted in 1976 shows that Sherpa had undergone genetic adaptation after living at such a high altitude for thousands of years. This was the primary advantage of higher altitude without oxygen. Adaptations include unique haemoglobin-binding enzymes, doubled nitric oxide production, hearts that utilizes glucose and lungs with better efficiency in low oxygen conditions.
Mount Everest is the highest place on earth that is revered for its jaw-dropping adventure. The trekking and mountaineering activities in the Mount Everest region are highly popular. A popular route includes Mount Everest base camp trek that is itself a great honour for the adventure seeker and the expedition of this mighty peak is a very intriguing destination for the mountaineers.
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