Virtual ascent to Everest Yandex. Himalayas: a virtual journey to Everest. Climate - what time of year is suitable for conquering Everest

Everest from a plane (shrimpo1967 / flickr.com) Everest (Neil Young / flickr.com) Mount Everest from Base Camp (Rupert Taylor-Price / flickr.com) Mount Everest, Base Camp and Rongbuk (Göran Höglund (Kartläsarn) / flickr. com) Top of Chomolungma (jo cool / flickr.com) View of Everest (Christopher Michel / flickr.com) cksom / flickr.com Mahatma4711 / flickr.com McKay Savage / flickr.com ilker ender / flickr.com Fred Postles / flickr. com Jeff P / flickr.com Everest in the clouds (Jean-François Gornet / flickr.com) utpala ॐ / flickr.com Airplane view of Everest (Xiquinho Silva / flickr.com) Rick McCharles / flickr.com Climbing Everest (Rick McCharles / flickr.com) Everest Base Camp - Gorak Shep - Nepal (lampertron / flickr.com) akunamatata / flickr.com Top of Mount Chomolungma (Everest) (TausP. / flickr.com) Denn Ukoloff / flickr.com Mount Everest (Christopher Michel / flickr.com) Returning from Everest Base Camp (valcker / flickr.com) Everest and Nuptsz e (smallufo / flickr.com) Stefanos Nikologianis / flickr.com

Everest or Chomolungma is the highest mountain peak in the world. It is located in the Himalayas, on the border of Nepal and the Tibet Autonomous Region of China. The geographical coordinates of Mount Everest are 27°59′17″ north latitude and 86°55′31″ east longitude.

The height of Chomolungma is 8848 meters above sea level. For comparison, the height of Elbrus, the highest point in Russia, is only 5642 meters above sea level, i.e. 3206 m below Chomolungma.

The first ascent of Everest was made on May 29, 1953 by New Zealand climber Edmund Hillary and Sherpa Tenzing Norgay.

The mountain is best known around the world as "Everest". The peak was named after George Everest, who was the chief surveyor of British India in the 1830s and 40s.

Mount Everest (Christopher Michel / flickr.com)

Interestingly, the mountain was so named during the lifetime of Everest, about a year before his death. The name was suggested by a student of a scientist who calculated the exact height of the peak and thus proved that it is the highest on Earth. Prior to this, the peak was also known as "Peak XV".

The traditional Tibetan name for the peak is Chomolungma, which can be translated as “mistress of the winds”. This name is widely used in Russian cartography, but in Western countries it is not very well known, as it is considered rather difficult to pronounce.

On maps published in our country, the peak is usually signed as "Chomolungma", and the name "Everest" is indicated in brackets. There is also a traditional Nepalese name for the mountain - Sagarmatha.

Where is Mount Everest (Chomolungma) located?

Where Everest is today is known to almost every child. If you look at the geographical map, you can see that it is located in the highest mountain system of the Earth - the Himalayas, on the border of Nepal and China.

Everest coordinates: 27°59′17″ N and 86°55′31″ E Mount Everest is part of the Mahalangur-Himal range; its Nepalese part is located within the Sagarmatha park.

Everest summit

The top of Mount Chomolungma looks like a pyramid with three almost flat sides. The southern slope is steeper, snow and ice hardly linger on it, the northern slope is somewhat flatter.

The relative height of the mountain is approximately 3550 m. The South Col Pass, whose height reaches 7906 meters above sea level, connects Everest with Mount Lhotse (8516 m), and the North Col Pass (7020 m) connects with Mount Changze (7553 m). Most of the climbing routes pass through these two passes.

Geographical characteristic

In the basin between the peaks of Chomolungma and Lhotse is the Khumbu glacier. Below it passes into the icefall of the same name, which is considered the most dangerous section when climbing through the South Wing.

View of Everest (Christopher Michel / flickr.com)

This can be explained by the fact that the icefall is almost constantly in motion. To pass this place, climbers use various ladders and railings.

Below the icefall, the glacier continues again and ends only at an altitude of 4600 meters. Its total length is 22 km.

Another notable feature of the local topography is the Kangshung Wall. This is the eastern wall of the peak of Mount Chomolungma, whose height is 3350 meters, and the width of the base is about 3000 meters.

At the foot of the wall there is a glacier of the same name. Climbing to the top via the Kangshung Face is significantly more dangerous than the standard routes.

Everest in the Clouds (Jean-François Gornet / flickr.com)

Climate - what time of year is suitable for conquering Everest?

The summit of Everest is characterized by extremely unfavorable climatic conditions. There are often very strong winds that blow at a speed of more than 50 meters per second.

The temperature at the top is never above 0 degrees. The average temperature in July is minus 19 degrees, and the average temperature in January is 36 degrees below zero. During winter nights, the temperature can drop to 50-60 degrees below zero.

What time of the year is best for conquering the summit? Based on climatic conditions, the beginning of May is most favorable for climbing. At this time, the winds here are usually the least strong.

How was Everest formed?

The history of the formation of Everest is closely connected with the history of the formation of the Himalayas, which originates many millions of years ago and follows from global geological processes.

Top of Chomolungma (jo cool / flickr.com)

About 90 million years ago, the Indian plate broke away from the giant continent of Gondwana and began to move north rather quickly.

The speed of movement reached twenty centimeters per year, which is much more than the speed of movement of any other plate of the earth's crust. Approximately 50-55 million years ago, the Indian Plate began to collide with the Eurasian Plate.

As a result of this collision, the Eurasian plate was severely deformed - a vast mountain belt was formed, the highest part of which is the Himalayas.

At the same time, the sedimentary rocks that previously made up the bottom of the ancient ocean were crumpled into huge folds and often found themselves at great heights. This explains the fact that the top of Everest is composed of sedimentary rocks.

Everest Education Scheme

Today, the Indian Plate continues its movement in a northeasterly direction, deforming the Eurasian Plate. In this regard, mountain-building processes in the Himalayas continue.

The height of the mountain system in general and individual peaks in particular continues to slowly increase by several millimeters per year.

During large earthquakes, the change in the height of the territory can occur almost instantly and be much more significant.

Ecology: garbage left by climbers, the bodies of the dead

The situation with the environment on Mount Chomolungma leaves much to be desired. During the ascents, a huge amount of debris has accumulated on its slopes.

According to 2007 data, only the Tibetan section of the mountain contains about 120 tons of various garbage left by climbers. How to take out the garbage from the slopes is not entirely clear.

In the past few years, attempts have been made to collect waste, but this was clearly not enough. Another problem is the evacuation and burial of the bodies of the deceased climbers.

A rather interesting fact is that the water on the highest peak in the world boils at a temperature of only +68 °C. You will surely ask: why? This is due to the fact that the atmospheric pressure here is only a third of the normal pressure at sea level.
Another interesting fact is the gradual growth of the mountain. Indeed, the height of the Chomolungma increases every year by 3 to 6 millimeters. The same trend is typical for all the Himalayas, which is explained by the ongoing processes of mountain building and the rise of the territory associated with this.
I would also like to mention such a curious fact that Everest is the highest point in the world, only if we take into account the height from the level of the oceans. Thus, the Mauna Kea volcano on the island of Hawaii rises 10,203 meters relative to the ocean floor, while its height above sea level is only 4,205 meters.

A place with a view of Everest

Thanks to the efforts of the www.AirPano.com team, it became possible to take a virtual tour of Everest. AirPano specializes in high-definition bird's-eye virtual tours. Below is a panorama with a view of Everest.

The Himalayas are the highest (8848 m) mountain system of the Earth. Everest is part of the Himalayas, which in turn share the Indian tectonic and Asian (Tibetan Plateau) platforms.
Hence the pronounced climatic natural boundary between the mountainous deserts of Central Asia and the tropical landscapes of South Asia.

Everest attracts climbers from all over the world. The most popular routes to the summit are the northern side (from Tibet) and the southwestern (from Nepal).
For ordinary tourists, the purpose of the trip is the base camp. All expeditions of climbers are accommodated here for acclimatization to the next level of ascent.

You can get to the camp in Tibet at a height (5149) in just a couple of days by jeep.
From Nepal, tourists will have to get to the foot of Everest for about a week on foot. However, this route is full of unforgettable mountain views and magnificent nature of various climatic zones.

The technologies of using high-resolution spherical 3D panoramas with a 360° view will also help us to be transported to Everest in the Himalayas and make a virtual journey with the maximum effect of presence.

Nepal is lucky to have unusual sights. Not only is the country known as the birthplace of the Buddha; here is the majority of the highest peaks of the world, 8 of the 14 "eight-thousanders". Among them is the highest mountain on the planet - Everest.

She is also known under the name "Chomolungma": translated from Tibetan - "Divine Mother of Life". The international name "Everest" was given to the mountain in honor of Sir George Everest, the head of the British India Geodetic Survey, simply because it was the employees of this institution who first measured the height of Chomolungma in 1852, proving that its Peak XV is the highest in the region and, probably, in the whole world. .

True, with the height of Everest, not everything is so obvious. Indian mathematician and topographer Radhanat Sikdar (an employee of the same service), based on trigonometric calculations and being 240 kilometers from Chomolungma, only suggested that this is the highest peak in the world. Practical calculations made 4 years later gave a figure of 29,002 feet (8840 meters), proving the theory.

And then Everest was measured repeatedly, and from time to time it "increased" - up to 8872 meters, depending on the methods. Currently, the officially recognized mark is 8848 meters above sea level, of which four meters fall on the snow cap.

Here, in the world of rocks, snow and eternal ice, frosts down to minus 60 ° C prevail, and strong winds blow at the top at a speed of up to 200 km / h. At an altitude of 7925 meters, the so-called "death zone" begins, where only 30% of oxygen is concentrated. Add to this constant ice collapses and snow avalanches - and it becomes obvious why no one could climb to the top for a long time. And now, despite the progress and all kinds of technologies, the ascent takes an average of two months, since it is done in stages: with the installation of an acclimatization camp.

Another difficulty in conquering Chomolungma was that the mountain lies on the border of Nepal and China (Tibet). From time to time, then Nepal, then China, or even both states at the same time, were closed to foreigners. One way or another, the first ascent was made on May 29, 1953 by Sherpa Tenzing Norgay and New Zealander Edmund Hillar, after a numerous series of failures of previous expeditions.

The mountain has several names. The most common is Everest, assigned to the mountain in honor of the Englishman John Everest, who led the Survey of British India from 1830 to 1843. In Tibet, the peak is usually called Chomolungma, which means "divine" in translation. In Nepal, the name Sagarmatha, meaning "Mother of the Gods", was fixed.

In total, approximately 4,000 people have conquered Everest to date - we are talking about those who have reached the top. It is not possible to count the number of tourists with their shortened tours. Many of those who reached the very "roof of the world" set various kinds of records. This includes climbing without oxygen tanks, staying without oxygen for almost a day, and skiing down Everest ... In 2001, the blind American Eric Weihenmeier climbed to the top of Everest, in 2006 - Mark Inglis, a climber with two amputated legs. And the first woman to conquer Chomolungma was in 1976 the Japanese Junko Tabei.

Expeditions to Everest were planned by the British since 1893, but due to various reasons, the trip was postponed year after year. Only in 1921 was the first group equipped. The start was taken from Darjeeling. The purpose of the expedition was to explore the ways to climb the northern slope. In subsequent years, the British made more than once attempts to conquer the main peak of the world, but weather conditions and lack of experience in climbing did not allow them to conquer Everest. The result of these attempts was only the death of several people, the mountain still remained impregnable ...

The desire to conquer the “divine”, after a series of similar unsuccessful campaigns, was repulsed by the British for a long time, and only after the Second World War did the person again turn his gaze to the top of the recalcitrant mountain. Again, a number of preliminary expeditions were carried out, the purpose of which was to deliver equipment to the slopes of Everest. These were the preparations for the main group's push. And on May 29, 1953, Tenzing Norgam and Edmund Hillary ascended to the top of the world ...

However, Everest is, in the full sense of the word, the mountain of death. Storming this height, the climber knows that he has a chance of not returning. Death can be caused by a lack of oxygen, heart failure, frostbite or injury. Fatal accidents also lead to death, such as a frozen valve of an oxygen cylinder. Moreover, the path to the summit is so difficult that, as Alexander Abramov, one of the participants in the Russian Himalayan expedition, said, “at an altitude of more than 8000 meters you cannot afford the luxury of morality. Above 8000 meters you are completely occupied with yourself, and in such extreme conditions you do not have extra strength to help a friend. The tragedy that happened on Everest in May 2006 shocked the whole world: 42 climbers passed by the slowly freezing Englishman David Sharpe, but no one helped him. One of them was the television people of the Discovery channel, who tried to interview the dying man and, having photographed him, left him alone ...

During all these years of climbing Everest, more than 200 people died, and only the bodies of a few were lowered from the top. The rest are buried in meter-long snow or are exposed by the winds and "meet" other climbers on the way to the top. These are the laws of Everest: the higher the height, the less humanity remains in people. More than once it happened that the rising group could help those in trouble, but to help means to complete the campaign, to abandon the dream. Many passed by, and when they walked back, help was no longer required.

Vladimir Vysotsky has a song “Only mountains can be better than mountains”, and this is true. The only exception is Chomolungma. What is experienced by a climber who has conquered the main peak in his life? Joy or disappointment, from the fact that the main goal has been achieved, and then there will be “smaller” mountains?!

Initially, the peak was not considered the highest in the world, according to the results of the first topographic survey (1823-1843), it was included in the classifier as the “XV” peak (Dhualagiri was the leader in this list). And only after the second survey (1845-1850) everything fell into place. Based on intelligence data, the British, under the leadership of Mallory, stormed the summit in 1922, but the monsoon, snowfall and lack of experience in high-altitude ascents did not give them the opportunity to climb. In 1924, the third expedition to Chomolungma. The group spent the night at an altitude of 8125 m, the next day one of the participants (Norton) reached a height of 8527 m, but was forced to return. A few days later, a second attempt was made to storm the northeastern ridge (a bunch of Mallory, Irvine using oxygen tanks), the climbers did not return, there is still an opinion that they could be on top of the Chomolungma. Subsequent pre-war expeditions to the area did not bring new results. In 1952, a Swiss expedition launched an assault on Everest from the south. Twice in 1952, Lambert and Norgay Tenzing climbed above 8000 meters, but in both cases the weather forced them to turn. was E. Hillary, they were supposed to help the British get over the Khumbu icefall, the Sherpa Norgay Tenzing was included in the assault group. There is a legend that the conquest of Everest was prepared as a gift to Queen Elizabeth II on the day of the coronation. On May 27, the first two - the British Evans and Bourdillon reached the southern peak, where they left oxygen and a tent for the next assault group. And on May 29, 1953, Sherp Norgay Tenzing and New Zealander Edmund Hillary reached the summit. On May 8, 1978, R. Messner and P. Habeler made what was considered impossible - the first ascent of Everest without oxygen. Messner described his feelings as follows: “In a state of spiritual abstraction, I no longer belonged to myself, to my vision. I am nothing more than a lone panting lung floating above mists and peaks. On May 16, 1975, the first woman climbed Everest, it was Junko Tabei (Japan). The first ascent of Soviet climbers to the highest peak of the Earth took place in May 1982. The Soviet team of 9 people climbed to the top of Everest, along a very difficult, previously untraveled route along the southwestern wall.

The focus, of course, is the winter expedition organized by the Basque climber Alex Chicon. The team suffered losses. Including one irreparable: a communications officer assigned to the expedition died of acute mountain sickness. Left the expedition due to illness Carlos Rubio. He's already at home. So only Sherpas remained Chikon's partners and he is very pleased with them. Although the Sherpas keep trying

Alex and three Sherpas at Camp 7800. Norbu, Nuri, Chepal

Film crew

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At the moment, we already have as much visual information on Everest as, perhaps, not on any other natural object in the world. For the Russians with panoramic shooting, Yandex tried. His work was carried out as part of the expedition of the 7 Summits Club.

Who hasn't seen it yet?

A Swiss company, a manufacturer of climbing equipment, Mammut has been surprising the world with its multimedia products for several years: unique staged photographs, videos, sponsorship of sports feats, etc...

Last year, the Swiss funded filming of the South route to Everest South route of Mount Everest in 360°: http://project360.mammut.ch

Filming was done by Sherpa guides Lakpa Sherpa and Pemba Rinji Sherpa. They were assisted by assistants Kusang Sherpa and Ang Kaji Sherpa

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Watch in February on Travel Channel: New show "Journey to Everest".

The summit of Everest is the ultimate dream of any climber and avid traveler. The highest mountain on Earth fascinates people from all over the world not only with its size and grandeur, but also with its unique harsh beauty. To conquer the famous mountain, show it to the Travel Channel viewers and help climbers and local residents in trouble, the doctor Jeff Evans decides with his team in the Journey to Everest (6+) show, according to a press release received by the Planet today.

On their way, they have to save more than one life, withstand severe weather conditions and climb higher and higher ... Follow the incredible adventures of Jeff and his team - every Thursday at 23:00, from February 2.

Jeff Evans is a doctor well known among climbers. During his career, he has helped many athletes - skiers and hikers - cope with professional injuries. And in 2001, he contributed to the conquest of Everest by the blind climber Eric Weihenmeyer, who set a record with his ascent.

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Everest 2017 - there will be a new height!

The Indian government has announced its intention to measure the height of Mount Everest to assess whether it has changed as a result of the strong earthquakes in Nepal in 2015. A spokesman for the Indian Institute of Geodesy and Cartography said the expedition would be sent to the world's highest mountain within two months. At the same time, satellite data showed that the height of the mountain changed under the influence of the earthquake. According to the Indian initiators of the measurements, the last time Everest was measured was 62 years ago, and then the height of the mountain was 8848 meters. However, it should be said that this is not entirely true. Over the past quarter century, the highest mountain has been measured several times in different ways. And the results invariably turned out to be different: from 8844 for the Chinese, to 8850 meters for the Italian explorers. To avoid unnecessary confusion, an agreement was reached at the diplomatic level that the reference altitude of 8848 would be kept on maps and in official documents. So, most likely, the Indians will get a new height, but it will not be used anywhere. Nevertheless, measurements have a certain scientific interest, including in the development of accurate measurement techniques.

In this study, the Indians will work with the government of Nepal to ascertain as accurately as possible the impact of the past earthquake. Everest's height will be estimated using a combination of GPS measurements and various geodetic methods. The team of scientists who will explore Everest has 30 people. About a month will be spent on various kinds of measurements, and another 15 days may be required for calculations before announcing the results.

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Increase in prices for permits from the Chinese authorities

The low cost of climbing permits (permits) from the North is a thing of the past. This year, the cost of permits to the Tibetan peaks will be raised in general by about 30%. The cost of permits for Everest itself in a group increases from $7,000 to $9,950 for each person in the team - an increase of 34%.

It should be clarified that this cost includes a fairly large number of services that one way or another need to be paid for:

transport to the base camp, hotels along the way, services of a liaison officer, garbage collection, yaks for transporting cargo to the ABC camp.

The cost of a permit from the South in a group is $11,000.

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Min Bahadur Sherchan started raising funds to participate in a new expedition to Everest. The former oldest climber to climb Everest turns 86 next year. And the Nepalese intends to take away the record from his rival, the current record holder of the Japanese Yuichiro Miura, who is 80 years old. Miura himself decided to "miss this height", he said that he would go to Everest again when he turned 90 years old.

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Another attempt to visualize Everest - video edited by Summit Climb

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Photos from the first English expeditions will be auctioned on February 3rd. The original slides made by members of the 1922 expedition were discovered 40 years ago by a schoolteacher. And now it's time for them to sell. Each slide is initially valued at £2,000.

The panorama is made in several resolutions. High resolution with maximum detail and the best quality is designed for high-speed Internet and modern computers, since the size of the panorama is more than 7 MB. For slow internet and low-performance computers, we offer a low-resolution panorama of less than 2 MB.

This virtual tour is also available in other resolutions: - LOW - iPhone - iPad