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Mount Everest Mount Everest (Nepali: , Sagarmth; Tibetan: , Wylie: jo mo glang ma; Chomolungma

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or Qomolangma/tomolm/
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"Hol

y Mother"; Chinese: ; pinyin:Zhmlngm Fng; ) is the Earth's highest mountain, with a peak at 8,848 metres (29,029 ft) above sea level and the 5th tallest mountain measured from the centre of the Earth.
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It is located in the Mahalangur section of the Himalayas.

The international border between China and Nepal runs across the precise summit point. Its massif includes neighboring peaks Lhotse, 8,516 m (27,940 ft); Nuptse, 7,855 m (25,771 ft) and Changtse, 7,580 m (24,870 ft). In 1856, the Great Trigonometric Survey of British India established the first published height of Everest, then known as Peak XV, at 29,002 ft (8,840 m). In 1865, Everest was given its official English name by the Royal Geographical Society upon a recommendation by Andrew Waugh, the British Surveyor General of India. Waugh named the mountain after his predecessor in the post, Sir George Everest. Although Tibetans had called Everest "Chomolungma" for centuries, Waugh was unaware of this because Nepal and Tibet were closed to foreigners. History Discovery Published by the Survey of Nepal, this is Map 50 of the 57 map set at 1:50,000 scale "attached to the main text on the First Joint Inspection Survey, 197980, Nepal-China border." In the top center, note the boundary line, identified as separating "China" and "Nepal", passing exactly through the summit contour. The boundary here and for much of the China-Nepal border follows the main Himalayan watershed divide. In 1802, the British began the Great Trigonometric Survey of India to determine the location and names of the world's highest mountains. Starting in southern India, the survey teams moved northward using gianttheodolites, each weighing 500 kg (1,100 lb) and requiring 12 men to carry, to measure heights as accurately as possible. They reached the Himalayan foothills by the 1830s, but Nepal was unwilling to allow the British to enter the country because of suspicions of political aggression and possible annexation. Several requests by the surveyors to enter Nepal were turned down. 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 due to failing health. Naming While the survey wanted to preserve local names if possible (e.g. Kangchenjunga and Dhaulagiri), Waugh argued that he could not find any commonly used local name. Waugh's search for a local name was hampered by Nepal and Tibet's exclusion of foreigners. Many local names existed, including "Deodungha" ("Holy Mountain") in Darjeeling
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and the

Tibetan "Chomolungma", which appeared on a 1733 map published in Paris by the French geographer D'Anville. In the

First successful ascent by Tenzing and Hillary Edmund Hillary and Tenzing Norgay In 1953, a ninth British expedition, led by John Hunt, returned to Nepal. Hunt selected two climbing pairs to attempt to reach the summit. The first pair (Tom Bourdillon and Charles Evans) came within 100 m (300 feet) of the summit on 26 May 1953, but turned back after running into oxygen problems. As planned, their work in route finding and breaking trail and their caches of extra oxygen were of great aid to the following pair. Two days later, the expedition made its second and final assault on the summit with its second climbing pair, the New Zealander Edmund Hillary and Tenzing Norgay, a Nepali sherpa climber fromDarjeeling, India. They reached the summit at 11:30 am local time on 29 May 1953 via the South Col Route. At the time, both acknowledged it as a team effort by the whole expedition, but Tenzing revealed a few years later that Hillary had put his foot on the summit first.
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They paused at the summit to

take photographs and buried a few sweets and a small cross in the snow before descending. Other "firsts" By the end of the 2010 climbing season, there had been 5,104 ascents to the summit by about 3,142 individuals. specific "firsts" by those climbers includes: First climb to 8,000 m On 23 May 1922, two members of the 1922 British Mount Everest Expedition, Australian climber George Finch and British climber Captain C. Geoffrey Bruce (cousin of Expedition leader General Charles Granville Bruce), became the first humans to ascend any mountain to 8,000 metres (26,247 ft) when they reached an altitude of 8,321 metres (27,300 ft) on the north ridge of Everest. Today it is considered a significant climbing accomplishment, achieved by only 28 climbers as of May 2012, to climb the 14 mountains on earth - the eight-thousanders - that reach and exceed 8,000 metres. At 8,321 metres, Finch and Bruce had actually exceeded the summit of 9 of the 14 eight-thousanders. First repeat ascent by a climber (and other multiples) On 20 May 1965, Sherpa Nawang Gombu became the first person to reach the summit twice, firstly with an American expedition in 1963 and secondly with an Indian expedition in 1965.
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Some

Fifteen years later, on 3 May 1980, Japanese climber Yasuo Kato became the first non-Sherpa to reach the summit a second time, following his original 1973 summit.
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The first to reach the summit five times is Sungdare Sherpa, on 10 May 1988, having first summitted on 2 October 1979.
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The first non-Sherpa to summit five times was New Zealand climber Rob Hall on 10 May 1996,

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dying a few

hours later in the 1996 Mount Everest disaster. First female ascent On 16 May 1975, Junko Tabei of Japan became the first woman to summit Everest. Tabei and her climbing partner, Sherpa Ang Tshering I, were the 38th/39th unique individuals to complete the ascent. woman to complete theSeven Summits.
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(In 1992, Tabei became the first

First ascent without supplemental oxygen On 8 May 1978, Italian climber Reinhold Messner and Austrian climber Peter Habeler made the first ascent without supplemental oxygen, using the southeast ridge route. First solo ascent On 20 August 1980, Messner became the first person to reach the summit of the mountain solo. In so doing, he was also the first to solo summit without supplementary oxygen or support, traveling the Northwest route. He climbed for three days entirely alone from his base camp at 6,500 metres (21,300 ft). First winter ascent In 1980, a team from Poland led by Andrzej Zawada, with Leszek Cichy and Krzysztof Wielicki, became the first to reach the summit during the winter season. (Also first winter summit of any of the world's fourteen 8000 metre peaks.) First 8,848 metres (29,029 ft) ascent from sea level On 11 May 1990, Australian climber Tim Macartney-Snape became the first person to complete a self-propelled ascent of Mount Everest from sea level to the summit.
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Macartney-Snape began his approximately 1,200 km (750 mi) 'Sea to

Summit' expedition three months earlier, on foot, on Sagar Island in the Bay of Bengal. First 9,271 metres (30,417 ft) ascent from Dead Sea level In May 2006 Briton Pauline Sanderson became the first person to complete a self-propelled ascent of Mount Everest, the highest point on the earth's surface, starting from the Dead Sea, at 423 metres (1,388 ft) the lowest point on the earth's surface.
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Sanderson began her approximately 8,000 km (5,000 mi) 'EverestMax' expedition six months earlier,
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by bicycle, from the shore of the Dead Sea inJordan.

(Sanderson's husband, Phil, joined her for the final ascent,


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making them the first married British couple to summit Everest together.) First descent by paraglider

On 26 September 1988, shortly after summitting, French mountaineer and paraglider pilot Jean-Marc Boivin completed the first descent by paraglider.
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Boivin's 11-12 minute, 2,948 metres (9,700 ft) descent to Camp II holds the altitude

record for start of a paraglider flight. First descent by ski On 7 October 2000, Slovenian climber and extreme skier Davo Karniar became the first person to descend by ski from the summit of Everest. The descent took five hours and Karnicar reached speeds of 75 mph.
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(While Japanese climber and skier Yuichiro Miurais known for his 6 May 1970 feat as The Man Who Skied

Down Everest, his 1,280 metres (4,199 ft) descent on skis began from Everest's 7,906 metres (25,938 ft) South Col.) 1996 disaster During the 1996 season, 15 people died while climbing on Mount Everest, the highest number of fatalities in a single year in the mountain's history. Eight of them died on 11 May alone. The disaster gained wide publicity and raised questions about the commercialization of climbing Mount Everest. Journalist Jon Krakauer, on assignment from Outside magazine, was in one of the affected parties, and afterwards published the bestseller Into Thin Air, which related his experience. Anatoli Boukreev, a guide who felt impugned by Krakauer's book, co-authored a rebuttal book called The Climb. The dispute sparked a debate within the climbing community. In May 2004, Kent Moore, a physicist, and John L. Semple, a surgeon, both researchers from the University

of Toronto, told New Scientist magazine that an analysis of weather conditions on 11 May suggested that freak weather caused oxygen levels to plunge approximately 14%. Records By the end of the 2010 climbing season, there had been 5,104 ascents to the summit by about 3,142 individuals. records set by those 3,000+ climbers (including new climbers and accomplishments in 2011 and 2012): Apa Sherpa has reached the summit 21 times Most times to summit Apa Sherpa holds the record for reaching the summit more times than any other person, 21 times between 10 May 1990 and 11 May 2011.
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Some

The

record for a non-Sherpa is held byAmerican climber and expedition guide Dave Hahn, reaching the summit 14 times between 19 May 1994 and 26 May 2012. Youngest to summit The youngest person to climb Mount Everest was 13-year-old Jordan Romero in May 2010 from the Tibetan side.
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His

ascent, as part of an apparent "race" to bring younger and younger children to the mountain (shortly after Romero's ascent, Pemba Dorjie Sherpaannounced plans to bring his 9 year old son to the summit ), triggered a wave of criticism
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that prompted Chinese authorities to establish age limits on Mt Everest. At the present time, China no longer grants permits to prospective climbers under 18 or over 60. Nepal sets the minimum age at 16 but has no maximum age.

Min Bahadur Sherchan was nearly 77 years old, when he reached the top on his first attempt Oldest to summit/oldest male to summit The oldest climber to reach Mount Everest's summit is 76-year-old Min Bahadur Sherchan, on 25 May 2008 from the Nepalese side. Sherchan beat the previous record set in 2007 by 71-year-old Katsusuke Yanagisawa. Oldest female to summit On 19 May 2012, 73-year-old Tamae Watanabe from Japan broke the record for the oldest woman to climb Mount Everest. She reached the summit from the north side. Oldest to summit from both sides The oldest climber to reach the summit of Mount Everest from both sides (Nepal and Tibet) of the mountain is 60-year-old Julio Bird, a Puerto Rican cardiologist who reached the summit of Mount Everest from the north side on 17 May 2010. Fastest to summit via northeast ridge, without supplemental oxygen 2007, Christian Stangl, 16 hours 42 minutes, Advanced Base Camp to the summit: The fastest ascent via the northeast ridge was accomplished in 2007 by Austrian climber Christian Stangl, who took 16h 42min for the 10 km distance from Camp III (Advanced Base Camp) to the summit, just barely beating Italian Hans Kammerlander's record of 17 hours, accomplished in 1996.
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Both men climbed solo. In 2010, Stangl was proven, and later confessed to, having claimed a
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fraudulent summit-climb of K2 in 2010.

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