Mount everest interesting facts for kids. Unusual facts about Mount Everest. Everest is not the highest mountain on Earth

Mount Everest has a simply magical effect on people, for many decades the desire to climb the mountain has not weakened.

We hear countless triumphal or tragic stories about those who wished to reach the top. But some interesting facts about great sorrow remain unknown to a wide range of people.

Mountain Spiders

Even high in the sky, where there is just enough air to just breathe, a person cannot hide from terrible spiders. Euophrys omnisuperstes ("standing above all"), better known as Himalayan jumping spiders, hide in nooks and crannies and cracks on the slopes of Everest. This habitat makes them one of the "highest" inhabitants of our planet. Climbers noticed them at a record for permanent residence an altitude of 6700 meters (22000 feet). Tiny spiders manage to feed on everything that comes their way, their main food is insects brought to the top by strong gusts of wind. These spiders are practically the only animals permanently living on such high altitude except for a few bird species.

In addition, it is worth noting that during the ill-fated British ascent of Everest in 1924, several specimens of a previously unknown species of grasshoppers were collected. They are currently on display at the British Museum of Natural History.

Everest and its most outstanding conquerors

Two climbers, Apa Sherpa and Phurba Tashi, set an unusual joint record for the most summits of Everest. The couple managed to reach the top and enjoy spectacular views already 21 times. Phurba Tashi reached the top of the world three times in 2007 alone, and Apa Sherpa successfully climbed the mountain almost every year between 1990 and 2011. Apa says he clearly sees clear changes on Everest caused by global warming recent years. He spoke about his fears about melting snow and glaciers. This process opens up and exposes the rock, making climbing conditions tougher and more dangerous. He also worries about the well-being of the Sherpas, who may lose their own home during a flood caused by melting glaciers. Apa has made several ascents of Everest specifically to study the climate change that has taken place.

Confrontation between local residents and climbers

Even if we do not take into account the tragic attempts to conquer Everest, then climbers' hikes do not always proceed harmoniously. In 2013, climbers Simone Moro, Ueli Stack and Jonathan Griffith were involved in a major fight with Sherpas who were trying to stop the climb. Sherpa activists blame researchers mountain peaks that the planned ascent could trigger an avalanche. The climbers tried to refute the allegations, but the confrontation turned violent. Sherpas beat the aliens with stones, threatening to kill them. The climbers retreated to base camp. After the incident, the Nepalese army was engaged in the settlement of the conflict, both sides agreed to sign a peace agreement to resolve the dispute.

Millions of years of Everest history

Although the Himalayan mountains formed over sixty million years ago, the history of Mount Everest actually goes back much further. The limestone and sandstone that makes up the top of the mountain were once part of the sedimentary layers located below sea level.

Yes, the top of Everest was the bottom of the ocean 450,000,000 years ago. Over time, certain sections of the ocean floor began to be rapidly pushed up at great speed. Per year plot sea ​​land could rise up to 11 centimeters (4.5 inches), eventually rising to an unattainable height. The topsoil of Everest contains fossils of sea creatures that once lived in the ocean.

Explorer Noel Odell first discovered marine fossils in Mount Everest back in 1924, proving that the mountain was once well below sea level. For the first time, rock samples from Everest were brought for research in 1956 by Swiss climbers.

Mount Everest controversy

What is the exact height of Mount Everest? As strange as it sounds, it depends on which side of its border you are on. Chinese scientists have stated that the peak has a height of 8844 meters (29016 feet), while Nepal says 8848 meters (29029 feet). There is such a small difference because China claims that the mountain should be measured by the height of its rocks, with the exception of a snow cap of several meters lying at the very top. However, the international community regularly includes snow when measuring the height of peaks around the world. Both countries came to a mutual agreement in 2010, fixing the official height of Everest as 8848 meters.

Growing Everest

Chinese and Nepalese measurements of the mountain's height may be in error, according to later measurements. A research team in 1994 discovered that the giant Mount Everest is still growing, with an increase of about 4 millimeters (0.16 inches) per year. The Indian subcontinent was originally a landmass in its own right, then collided with Asia to form the Himalayas, and the continental plates keep moving, pushing the mountains higher and higher. American researchers during an expedition in 1999 placed a satellite device on the mountain to measure height. Their more accurate conclusions and modern technologies allowed to establish the exact height of Everest, today it has already changed and differs from the previously established official value. Today the height of the peak is 8850 meters (29035 feet).

Several names for Everest

Although we know majestic mountain as "Everest", the Tibetan natives have called the peak for many centuries by the ancient name "Chomolungma", which translates as "Goddess - Mother of the Mountains". But other names are also known. The Nepalese people know the peak as "Sagarmatha" which means "Forehead in the sky", the mountain is officially part of the Nepalese " national park Sagarmatha." The peak got its name "Everest" from the British topographer Andrew Waugh in 1865, who named it in honor of the Indian leader of the British team that explored the Himalayas, Colonel George Everest.

The popularity of Mount Chomolungma

Despite the fact that climbing Everest is an extremely dangerous and very expensive event (the cost of climbing is measured in thousands of dollars), everything more people want to climb to the top. In 2012, German mountaineer Ralf Dujmovitz posted a shocking image showing hundreds of climbers lining up to reach the summit. It was a mass climb of Everest. Ralph then made the decision to turn back due to bad weather when he saw a painfully long queue. So, on May 19, 2012, climbers crowded in anticipation of their turn to climb the mountain, everyone had to wait almost two hours before the start of the ascent.

During the event, 234 people were able to reach the peak in half a day, four climbers died.

Garbage on mountain peaks

As a rule, we are surprised by the countless photos of climbers on their way to the conquest of Everest, we admire their courage and are surprised at their recklessness. But much less often come across photographs of what they leave behind. Mount Chomolungma is littered not only with the corpses of unfortunate climbers. According to experts, 50 tons of waste and garbage are left here by people every season. The slopes are strewn with oxygen tanks, the remains of climbing equipment and big amount human excrement. Since 2008, the Everest environmental protection service has been working to solve this problem every year, collecting more than 13 tons of waste per season.

The Nepalese authorities have enacted new rules that have come into effect since 2014. Climbers must collect 8 kilograms (18 pounds) of waste per person, handing it in after climbing, or they will lose the $4,000 deposit. Artists working on the project "Mount Everest 8848 Art Project", turned eight tons of rubbish, including broken tents and beer cans, into 75 works of art. During the implementation of this project, over two spring expeditions, sixty-five porters lowered the garbage, and the artists turned it into sculptures. This action was taken to draw attention to environmental issues Mount Everest. The organizers of the environmental event thus raised the issue of disorder on the mountain.

Everest is not the highest mountain in the world

Although Everest is awarded the title of the highest point on Earth located above sea level, the world record for the highest mountain in the world does not belong to him, but to Mauna Kea, a sedentary Hawaiian volcano. Everest Peak is located on higher altitude, but that doesn't make it taller. Mauna Kea reaches 4,205 meters (13,796 feet) above sea level, but the volcano has bases 6,000 meters (20,000 feet) below the surface of the water. Measurements from the volcanic base from the ocean floor give it a total height of 10,200 meters (33,465 feet), making it almost a mile higher than Everest. In fact, depending on how you measure the summit, Everest will not only not be the most high mountain, but not the highest peak either. Chimborazo in Ecuador is only 6,267 meters (20,661 feet) above sea level, but this particular peak is the highest point when counted from the exact center of the Earth. This is because Chimborazo is very close to the south of the equator. The earth, of course, does not have the shape of a perfect ball, so the sea level of Ecuador "bulges" further from the center of the planet than the territory of Nepal.

The mighty Everest has already been conquered many times by brave climbers, but this does not detract from its greatness. The peak rising for many kilometers, built of ancient rocks, seems to look patronizingly down at the tiny people bustling around at its foot. The feeling that covers a person looking at the highest mountain in the world is difficult to describe in words - it must be experienced.

• Second or more correct name peaks - Chomolungma.
• Now the height of the peak of Everest is 8 kilometers 848 meters, but due to the action of tectonic forces, it sometimes changes slightly.
• The atmospheric pressure at the summit of Everest is only a third of normal, and the vast majority of people there would die from lack of oxygen. However, some climbers conquered this peak without an oxygen mask.
• At the top of Everest are not uncommon hurricane winds reaching speeds of 200 km / h ().
• You can climb Everest from the territory of two countries, from Nepal or from China, from the Tibetan Plateau.
• On average, one ascent to Everest, taking into account all costs, equipment and other expenses, costs the climber in the amount of 30 to 85 thousand dollars.
• Among all the mountains in the world, Everest is the most high peak but not the most dangerous. Another Himalayan peak, Annapurna, is much more dangerous in climbing statistics. More than 30% of attempts to conquer it end in the death of the climber. The death rate during the conquest of Chomolungma fluctuates around the mark of 10% ().
• For the first time, a man conquered the summit of Everest without oxygen masks and cylinders in 1980. The record was set by the Italian Reinhold Messer. Moreover, he set his record alone.
• Since 1969, the only year in which not a single climber died on the slopes of Everest was 1977.
• In winter, the temperature at the top of Everest sometimes drops to -60 degrees.
• In 2001, another Italian descended from the summit of Everest on a snowboard. The following year, he tried to climb this mountain again, but went missing while climbing.
• Own European name The mountain was named after the English surveyor George Everest.
• The youngest conqueror of Everest was 13 years old, and the oldest - 80.
• It is impossible to evacuate the bodies of dead climbers down, so they remain right there on the slopes, and often serve as landmarks for other conquerors of the mountains. Many disappear under the snow and into mountain gorges.
• The summit of Everest grows by about 4 mm every year due to the influence of tectonic forces.
• There is internet at the very top.
• The first person to fly above Everest on a motorized paraglider was the well-known survivalist and TV presenter Bear Grylls.
• On average, climbing Everest takes climbers about 2 months, taking into account the time for acclimatization, and during this time the conquerors of the mountains lose 10-15 kg of weight.
• Since 1974, the summit of Everest has been climbed every year.
• Permission to climb Everest costs 10-12 thousand dollars. This tax is levied by the Nepalese authorities on everyone.
• In 1999, a Nepalese climber set the record for the fastest climb of Everest, reaching the summit in just under 17 hours.
• Until 2018, about 5 thousand successful ascents were made to the top of Everest.
• Everest was once the ocean floor. By geological standards, the mountain is quite young - it is about 60 million years old. At an altitude of up to 4 kilometers, fossilized remains of sea creatures are still sometimes found on its slopes.
• By law, every climber, descending from Everest, must bring with him at least 8 kg of garbage. If he has less of his own garbage, he must collect someone else's, which mountain slopes, unfortunately, enough. Otherwise, you will have to pay another 4 thousand dollars.
• In the entire history of climbing Everest, just over 200 people have reached its summit without the use of oxygen masks.
• Many people in Nepal and Tibet consider Everest sacred mountain and treat it with awe.
• The first man summited Everest in 1953 and the first woman in 1975.
• Sherpa Appa Tenzing, one of local guides, accompanying tourists for a fee, has been to the top of Everest more often than anyone else. He reached the peak 21 times, and he never used oxygen tanks and masks.
• In 2001, Everest was successfully climbed by the first blind climber named Eric Weihenmeier.
• The most large group, ever climbing Everest, consisted of 410 Chinese climbers.
• Nepalese and Sherpas call Everest Sagarmatha.
• Life meets at a high altitude. So, jumping spiders live on Everest up to a height of up to 6.7-6.8 kilometers above sea level, where there is almost no life (

A man lives in Nepal who conquered the “top of the world” 21 times, and amazing spiders live on the very top, which was once the seabed. The mountain is still growing, has not even two, but four official names and by the way, is not the highest in the world ...

Everest climb record - 21 times

Appa Tenzing, also known as Appa Sherpa, was able to conquer the top of the world 21 times. Its first ascent took place in May 1990, after three earlier unsuccessful attempts. Apparently, having learned all the secrets of climbing, Appa continued to conquer Everest every year - from 1990 to 2011.

He repeatedly stressed that the effects of global warming are clearly visible in the mountains. Appa is concerned about the melting of snow and ice, which makes climbing the mountain more difficult, as well as the safety of his people, after his home village was flooded by a melted glacier. Appa made his last four ascents of Everest as part of ecological expeditions.

The "highest" fight

The conquest of Everest is not as romantic as it might seem at first glance. Thanks to the significant development of the tourism industry, there has been a significant increase in the number of ascents to the highest mountain in the world. So, in 1983, only 8 people reached the top, and in 2012, 234 people got there in just one day. It is not surprising that traffic jams and even fights happen when conquering Everest.

So, in 2013, climbers Ueli Stack, Simon Moreau and Jonathan Griffith got into a fight with Sherpas after the latter asked them to stop climbing. The Sherpas accused the climbers of causing the avalanche. A dispute began, which, on emotions, turned into a fierce fight using stones.

It came to death threats, but the climbers returned to the base camp, where the rest of their “colleagues” took their side. Even the Nepalese army had to intervene in the incident - then both sides of the conflict signed an agreement on its peaceful settlement.

450 million years of history

Although the Himalayan mountains formed about 60 million years ago, their history begins much earlier. 450 million years ago, limestone and rocks were part of the sedimentary layers that were located below sea level. Over time, the rocks at the bottom of the ocean came together and began to move upward at 11 centimeters per year.

Now, fossils of sea creatures can be found at the top of Everest. They were first discovered in 1924 by guide Noel Odell - thus it was proved that the top of Everest was once under water. The first rock samples from the world's summit were brought back by Swiss climbers in 1956 and by a team from America in 1963.

Height controversy

What is the exact height of Everest? It depends on which country you are on. China has stated that it is equal to 8844 meters, while Nepal claims that it is 8848 meters.

This dispute is due to the fact that China believes that the height should be equal only to the height of the rock, excluding meters of frozen snow from the total. Like it or not, it remains a double-edged sword, but the international community still includes snow in the height of the mountain. China and Nepal came to an agreement in 2010, finalizing an official height of 8,848 meters.

Himalayan spiders

Even high in the mountains, where there is barely enough oxygen to breathe, we cannot hide from the spiders. Euophrys omnisuperstes, better known as the Himalayan jumping spider, hides in the nooks and crannies of Everest, making it one of the highest living creatures on Earth.

Climbers found them at an altitude of 6700 meters. These spiders are able to feed on almost everything that can fly so high. With the exception of some species of birds, they are the only living creatures that permanently live at such an altitude.

True, in 1924, during the British expedition to Everest, a previously unknown species of grasshoppers was found here - now they are on display in the British Museum of Natural History.

Everest is still growing

According to the latest measurements, both China and Nepal can be wrong about the height. In 1994, a research team found that Everest continues to grow at 4 millimeters a year. The Indian subcontinent was originally an independent landmass that collided with Asia to form the Himalayas. But the continental plates are still moving and the height of the mountains is rising.

American researchers in 1999 installed special equipment that allows you to monitor its change. Their more accurate measurements could result in the mountain's official height being changed to 8,850 meters. Meanwhile, other tectonic activity is causing Everest to shrink, but the combined results still keep it growing.

Everest has several names

Most of us know the mountain under the names of Everest and Chomolungma. last name came from Tibet, which means "Divine (qomo) mother (ma) of life (lung)". But these are not the only names by which the mountain is known. So, in Nepal it is called Sagarmatha (“Forehead in the sky”), and it itself is part of the Nepalese Sagarmatha National Park.

The mountain owes the name Everest to the British surveyor Andrew Waugh, who was unable to find a single generally accepted name even after carefully studying all the maps of the surrounding area and communicating with its inhabitants. Andrew decided to name the mountain after the geographer who worked in India, George Everest, the leader of the British team that first explored the Himalayas.

Everest himself refused such an honor, but nevertheless, British representatives in 1865 changed the name of the mountain. Previously, it was simply called the 15th peak.

Traffic jams from people

Climbing Everest will cost you several thousand dollars, but the number of people who want to conquer the summit is steadily growing. In 2012, German climber Ralf Dujmovitz took a photograph of hundreds of people queuing up to climb.

By the way, due to bad weather and in a long line Ralph had to turn back at one of the passes called the South Col. And on May 19, 2012, those wishing to climb to the top of the mountain were forced to stand in line for about two hours - 234 people climbed Everest in one day.

However, on the same day, four people died during the ascent, which caused some concerns about the safety of conquering the summit, and railings were installed by specialists from Nepal to deal with traffic jams. Now the issue of mounting the stairs at the top is being discussed.

The highest landfill in the world

There are many photographs showing the beauty of Everest from every possible angle, but there are also back side medals: photos of the huge amount of garbage left behind by climbers.

According to some estimates, there are about 50 tons of waste of various origins on Everest, and their number is growing in proportion to the number of visits. On the slopes of the mountain you can see used oxygen cylinders, climbing equipment and other waste of life of climbers.

In addition, the mountain is "decorated" by the bodies of dead climbers - because of the difficulties in transporting them, the victims of an unfortunate set of circumstances remain lying on the slopes. Some of them serve as a guide for other climbers. So, Tsevang Palzhora, who died in 1996, "marks" a height of 8500 meters and even received the nickname "Green Shoes" - for his conspicuous bright green shoes.

Since 2008, a special ecological expedition (Eco Everest Expidition) has been climbing the mountain every year, the purpose of which is to combat the pollution of Everest. On this moment thanks to this expedition, more than 13 tons of waste were collected.

In 2014, the government of Nepal introduced a new rule that every climber must bring at least 8 kilograms of waste with them when descending the mountain - otherwise the $4,000 deposit will be lost.

There is also the Everest 8848 creative project: its artists turned 8 tons of waste into 75 works of art, even using the remains of broken tents and beer cans. In this way they are trying to draw attention to the pollution of the mountain.

Everest is not the best high mountain on the ground

Despite the fixed title, in fact Everest is not the highest mountain in the world. Mauna Kea, an inactive volcano in Hawaii, rises "only" 4205 meters above sea level, but another 6000 meters of its base are hidden under water. When measured from the ocean floor, its height is 10,203 meters, which is almost one and a half kilometers more than Everest.

Everest is also not the most "convex" point on the planet. Dormant volcano Chimborazo in Ecuador reaches an altitude of 6267 meters above sea level, but is only one degree from the equator.

Since our planet is slightly thicker in the center, the sea level in Ecuador is located further from the center of the Earth than in Nepal, and it turns out that Chimborazo is the highest point on Earth in terms of stereometry.

It is the highest peak on the planet. This peak is located in the Himalayas, and its summit is the highest point on the border that runs between China and Nepal. Climbers can climb the mountain from both the Chinese and Nepalese sides. Thus, they have the opportunity to stay at one of the two base camps, which are located on opposite sides. These camps are used as waypoint and starting point on the way to the top. The most popular side for climbing the highest point on the planet is the southern slope, despite the fact that transport connection here is impossible due to the special geographical location.

The most popular time to climb Everest is spring. The local Sherpa people live here permanently and help climbers carry equipment and offer other types of services. These facts are widely known, but there are many more useful information which is usually unknown to the public. So what do we still not know about?

Mount Everest is still growing!

It may seem strange, but Everest's height - 8,849 m - is not a definitive measure of height. The reason is simple: because seismic environment in the region and a certain movement of lithospheric plates, seismic activity continues to push one plate onto another, which makes Everest ever higher - by about 0.5 cm every year. Thus, very soon the height of Everest will be completely different than a few years ago.

Everest extreme climbing records

The standard way to climb the highest peak on the planet usually involves a lot of preparation, the use of appropriate equipment and supplemental oxygen during the ascent. Due to the low pressure, the air at the summit is rarefied, so the oxygen content in it is 2/3 lower than under normal conditions. It was the lack of oxygen that more than once became the main cause of mountain sickness and one of the main causes tragic outcome many expeditions. The lack of oxygen at the top does not allow you to warm up, since some biological processes in the human body at altitude proceed differently. However, in 1980, Italian climber Reinhold Messner managed to climb Mount Everest without the use of oxygen tanks. Later, numerous brave climbers followed his example.

Another extreme but tragic record belongs to Marco Siffardi, a 23-year-old who managed to snowboard down the summit of Mount Everest, following a path along the Norton couloirs. This happened in 2001, and a year later, in 2002, he decided to try to repeat this record, but went missing on the way to the top.

In 2007, another extreme record was set when Bill Ray managed to soar above the top of Everest on his paramotor.

Sherpa Babu Chiri became the first person to set two records at once: to spend more than 22 hours on the summit of Everest, and without the use of supplemental oxygen. In addition, he managed to climb the peak of Everest in the shortest possible time: in 1999, it took him only 17 hours to reach the top of the highest peak in the world.

Everest and modern technologies

The first message published from the top of the world on the Internet was sent in 2011. So, a message appeared on Twitter, which was sent by the user KentonKul. He wrote that he was on Mount Everest for the ninth time, and the message was sent thanks to a weak but still available 3G signal. The device he used to send the message was a Samsung Galaxy S2.

The first phone call ever made from the summit of Everest was made in 2013. This event seemed incredible to the climbers, while the governments of Nepal and China were, to put it mildly, not happy with this news. Moreover, the Nepalese authorities recognized this call as illegal.

Queue of climbers on the way to the top of Everest

Many people know that Mount Everest is quite difficult to climb, and not everyone manages to do it. In addition, climbers must pay for permission to climb Everest. Despite these moments, in 2012, a huge line of people who wanted to climb it gathered on the way to the top. The queue was so long that climbers had to wait over two hours to reach the top. It sounds impressive, but over the course of half a day on May 19, more than 230 climbers managed to make it to the summit, creating a huge queue to the peak.

Someone may get the impression that if there is a whole line of people on the rise, it means that it is quite easy to climb the peak. However, this assumption is not entirely correct, since on this day four people died during the expedition. After this fact, the Chinese and Nepalese governments initiated the equipment of the second branch of the ascent to the peak, as well as the installation of additional railings. Moreover, in the near future it is planned to install a ladder for climbing. This will secure the final step of climbing Everest and help avoid long queues.

Surprise fact: Everest, in fact, is not the highest mountain on the planet

Everest is the highest point on Earth, but the mountain itself is not the highest in the world. This fact is quite unusual for the perception of most people. Meanwhile, an inactive volcano in Hawaii known as Mauna Kea is the tallest mountain that is part of mountain range located below sea level. At the same time, the height of this volcano is only 4.205 meters above sea level, but if we consider the height from the base, located on the ocean floor, then the height of the underwater part of the volcano will be about 6.000 meters. Thus, overall height of this volcano in the islands of Hawaii - 10.200 meters, which makes it higher than Everest, more than 1.000 meters.

There is another curious version about whether Everest is actually the highest peak in the world. Another mountain that is considered higher than Everest in terms of its position above sea level is Chimborazo, which is only 6,267 meters above sea level. However, given the fact that the Earth is ellipsoid, not a sphere, and the mountain is only 1 degree south of the equator, the top of the mountain is farther from the center of the Earth than the top of Everest. The mathematical approach to this question is another curious point of view that makes one argue whether Mount Everest is highest peak on the ground.

More than 60 years have passed since Sir Edmund Hillary and Tenzing Norgay made history as the first successful climbers of Mount Everest. Decades later, the desire to climb the mountain has not diminished in any way. We constantly hear countless stories of successful or tragic attempts to reach the top. There are many interesting facts about Everest that many do not know anything about.

mountain spiders

Even high in the sky, where there is barely enough air to breathe, we can still encounter spiders. The Himalayan jumping spider Euophrys omnisuperstes (“standing above all”) hides in secluded nooks and crevices on the slopes of Everest, being one of the highest mountain inhabitants of the Earth. Climbers have found these spiders at an altitude of 6,700 meters.

Tiny spiders manage to feed on insects brought to the summit strong winds. They are the only animals permanently living at such a high altitude, apart from several species of birds. In addition, several previously unknown grasshopper species were collected during the 1924 British expedition and are now on display at the British Natural History Museum.

Climbing record holders

Two climbers - Apa Sherpa and Phurba Tashi shared the joint record for the most ascents to the summit of Mount Everest. Each of them managed to conquer the summit 21 times. Phurba reached the summit alone three times in 2007, and Sherpa successfully summited Everest every year from 1990 to 2011. Apa Sherpa clearly sees all the changes on Everest caused by global warming.

He is especially concerned about melting snow and glaciers, which makes the climb more difficult every year. He also worries about the future of the Sherpas, who are losing their homes after floods due to melting glaciers. Apa has devoted several of his Everest climbs to raising awareness of the problems caused by climate change.

The highest quarrel

Everest climbs are not always harmonious triumphs, full of joy and fun. In 2013, climbers Ueli Steck, Simon Moreau and Jonathan Griffith got into a big fight with the Sherpas after ignoring their orders to stop climbing. The Sherpas blamed the climbers for causing the avalanche by preventing another group from climbing. The climbers denied the accusations, having entered into a serious confrontation, a fight ensued. According to Moreau, one of the Sherpas even tried to kill him.

Things could have ended much worse, but American climber Melissa Arnot asked the trio to return to base camp before a mob of Sherpas stoned them to death. After the incident, a Nepalese official forced both sides to sign a peace agreement to settle the dispute.

A history of 450 million years

Although Himalayan Mountains formed 60 million years ago, Everest's history goes much deeper. As early as 450 million years ago, the base of the mountain was part of the sedimentary layers below sea level. For a long time rocks at the bottom of the ocean under pressure rose up at a rate of about 11 centimeters per year, eventually reaching such a colossal height.

The top formations of Everest contain fossils of sea creatures and shells that once inhabited the ocean. Explorer Noel Odell first discovered the fossil in 1924, proving that the mountain was once an ocean floor. Specimens valuable for research were obtained by Swiss climbers in 1956, and by an American research team in 1963.

Height controversy

How high is Mount Everest? It depends on which side of the border you are climbing from. China claims the peak at 8,844 meters while Nepal claims 8,848 meters. The difference is because China measures altitude excluding snow cover at the top. However, the international community regularly includes snow when describing mountain heights around the world. The two countries came to an agreement in 2010, setting the official height at 8,848 meters.

Everest is growing

Both Chinese and Nepalese measurements of the mountain's height may be wrong, according to more recent data. In 1994, a research team discovered that Everest continues to grow by about 4 millimeters every year. The Indian subcontinent was originally an independent plate that collided with Asia.

And so began to form the Himalayas, where the continental layers are still moving, making Everest even higher. Researchers from the US Millennium Expedition in 1999 placed a GPS device on top to measure height. Their more accurate measurements have raised Everest's official height to 8,850 meters.

Multiple titles

Although we know this peak as "Everest", the Tibetan locals called it by the ancient name "Chomolungma" for many centuries. The Tibetan name means "Mother Goddess Horus". But this is not the only name. The Nepalese call it "Sagarmata", meaning "Heavenly Forehead". Everest is part of Nepal's Sagarmata National Park.

The mountain was named "Everest" when British surveyor Andrew Waugh failed to find a common local name. After studying maps of the surrounding area, he named the mountain after the Indian explorer General George Everest, head of the British team exploring the Himalayas. Colonel Everest objected to such an honor, but the British officially introduced the name Everest in 1865.

Most Popular Peak

Despite the fact that the cost of climbing Everest reaches hundreds of thousands of dollars, it rises to the top the largest number of people. In 2012, German climber Ralph Duymovitz made an interesting shot where hundreds of climbers lined up in one column to conquer the summit.

Ralph decided to stop the climb due to bad weather conditions, after which he met this long queue. On May 19, 2012, climbers were forced to wait in a two-hour queue. During the day, only 234 of them managed to reach the peak, and four climbers died. The Nepalese specialists then built a special fixed rope to lighten the load and even negotiated the installation of permanent ladders.

The dirtiest mountain

Countless climbers who conquer Everest leave behind piles of rubbish. The mountain is littered with approximately 50 tons of waste, and the volume of garbage continues to increase from year to year. The slopes are littered with oxygen bottles, labels and human excrement.

The Everest Ecological Expedition has been running since 2008, collecting over 13 tons of waste per year. The Nepalese government introduced a new rule in 2014 that each climber must take 8 kilograms of waste with them when descending, or lose the $4,000 deposit. Artists working on the Everest 8848 art project turned 8 tons of rubbish, including broken tents and beer cans, into 75 works of art. Sixty-five workers worked on two spring expeditions to haul the debris down, and the artists turned it into sculptures highlighting Everest's mess problem.

Everest is not the highest mountain

Although Everest is the highest point on Earth from sea level, Mauna Kea is dormant Hawaiian volcano, leads the list of the highest mountains in the world. Everest Peak is over high point, but that doesn't make it taller. Mauna Kea reaches a height of 4,205 meters above sea level, but the volcano goes an incredible 6,000 meters below the surface of the water.

When measured from the base on the ocean floor, the total height of Mauna Kea reaches 10,200 meters. In fact, it all depends on the starting point. Chimborazo in Ecuador reaches a height of 6,267 meters above sea level, but this is the highest point from the center of the Earth. This is because Chimborazo is only one degree south of the equator.