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Tag: Mount Everest (Page 2 of 3)

The 14 mountains over 8,000 metres elevation

2020.08.25 /
A morning shot of Fairy Meadows and Nanga Parbat. » Photography by Imrankhakwani

A morning shot of Fairy Meadows and Nanga Parbat. » Photography by Imrankhakwani

  1. Mount Everest
    » 8,848 metres (29,029 ft) above sea level
    » Located on the border between Nepal and the autonomous region of Tibet (OpenStreetMap / Google Maps)
    » First summitted by Sir Edmund Hillary and Tenzing Norgay in 1953
  2. K2
    » Also known as Mount Godwin-Austen or Chhogori
    » 8,611 metres (28,251 ft) above sea level
    » Located on the border between China and Pakistan (OpenStreetMap / Google Maps)
    » First summitted gy Lino Lacedelli and Achille Compagnoni in 1954
  3. Kangchenjunga
    » Located on the border between Nepal and India, approximately 125 kilometres from Everest (OpenStreetMap / Google Maps)
    » At elevation of 8,586 metres (28,169 ft), it is the second highest mountain in the Himalayas
    » First summitted by Joe Brown and George Brand in 1955 Continue reading

Video » Were Sandy Irvine and George Mallory the first to summit Everest in 1924? » 12 year old Archie Price Siddiqui looks at the evidence

2020.08.25 /

This short video was produced and presented by Archie Price Siddiqui for a school project.

Officially speaking, the first successful Everest climbers were Sir Edmund Hillary and Tenzing Norgay in 1953.

Archie had a some help from Terry Abraham, the Mountain Heritage Trust, the BMC, the Alpine Club, Leo Houlding, Julie Summers and Dave Hahn (US Mountain Guide, journalist & Lecturer).

Filmed by Terry Abraham.

Mexican climber Viridiana Álvarez Chávez holds the world record for the fastest female to ascend the world’s three highest mountains

2020.08.18 /

Guinness World Records »

Many little girls dream of one day being on top of the world, but Mexican climber Viridiana Álvarez Chávez grew up and actually did so.

In an incredible one year and 364 days, she scaled three peaks to achieve an adventurous Guinness World Records title.

In an admirable display of strength and determination, she has broken the record for the fastest ascent of the top three highest mountains with supplementary oxygen (female).

Viridiana’s journey started with Everest (8,848 meters; 29,029 feet high) on May 16, 2017, followed by K2 (8,611 meters; 28,251 feet) on July 21, 2018, and finished at Kangchenjunga (8,856 meters; 28,169 feet) on May 15, 2019.

Read the rest of the story »

How Mount Everest is and isn’t the highest mountain

2020.08.16 /

Mount Everest is Chomolungma (ཇོ་མོ་གླང་མ-Tibetan) “Goddess Mother of the World” or Sagarmatha (सगरमाथा-Nepali) “Sky Head” or “Peak of Heaven”.

It was named “Mount Everest” in 1865 to honour British surveyor Colonel Sir George Everest, who served as Surveyor General of India from 1830 to 1843.

The commercialization of Mount Everest

2020.03.07 /

The crowds climbing Everest are spoiling one another’s views and polluting the region. Less than one-third will summit. 4% will die trying.

However the economies of Nepal and Tibet depend on these climbers, contributing some 10% of Nepal’s GDP.

A typical Everest package costs US$66,000 per climber — including $11,000 for government permits, US$14,000 for guides, US$5,000 for sherpas, US$4,000 for oxygen, plus US$1,000 for yaks and porters.

It’s an additional US$70,000 to retrieve your body should you fail trying.

Zachary Crockett, The Hustle »

When Tenzing Norgay and Edmund Hillary first reached the summit of Everest in 1953, mountaineering was a sport reserved for alpine clubs, national expeditions, and scientific pursuits.

For decades, the governments of Nepal and Tibet (which share access to Everest) denied access to most foreign climbers. Throughout the 1980s, access was limited to one Everest permit per season.

But in the early 1990s, everything changed.

Realizing that there was a business opportunity in leading Western adventure seekers up Everest, climbers like Rob Hall (Adventure Consultants) and Scott Fischer (Mountain Madness) convinced Nepalese officials to expand foreign access. John Krakauer’s 1997 bestseller Into Thin Air, which chronicled the death of 8 climbers (including Hall and Fischer) on one of these early expeditions, only further stoked demand.

More » NYTimes (paywall) » After Deadly Jam on Everest, Nepal Delays New Safety Rules

 

Nepalese Kami Rita Sherpa Sets Second Mount Everest Record This Week

2019.05.22 /

Amazing.

Bill Chappell writing for NPR:

A Nepalese mountain climber has now climbed Mount Everest a record 24 times — and he’s hoping to do it one more time before he retires. Kami Rita Sherpa, 49, has been climbing Everest since 1994.

“It’s also the second time in a week that he’s made the arduous trek,” NPR’s Sushmita Pathak reports from Mumbai. “The 49-year-old Sherpa guide had already broken his own record on May 15, when he scaled the summit for the 23rd time.”

Rita started his most recent climb just three days after his 23rd summit of Everest. Early Tuesday morning, he stepped on the tallest peak in an area known as the roof of the world, leading a team of Indian police officers on the climb, according to The Kathmandu Post.

Read More…

China closes Mount Everest base camp to tourists

2019.02.19 /

The new restrictions are directed at regular tourists. Mountaineers, scientific researchers, and geological disaster researcher are still be allowed inside the reserve.

Karson Yiu, writing for ABC News:

Tourists will now no longer have access to the research base camp and can only reach as far as the Rongbuk Monastery at 16,400 feet above sea level. Only those with proper permits will be able to access base camp just over a mile away — and, with that, go beyond base camp onto the mountain.

And

Tibet Autonomous Region Sports Bureau said in a statement that during last year’s climbing season, they collected 8.4 metric tons of waste including garbage and human waste from the core area.

The People’s Daily reported that this year, authorities are restricting permits to only 300 climbers and the mountain is only open to climbing during the spring.

China will also now charge a $1,500 per climber rubbish collection fee and each climber will be required to bring down 8 kilograms (17.6 pounds) of garbage back down with them to hand over to authorities.

More at ABC News

Watch: Loved By All: The Story of Apa Sherpa, the Man Who Climbed Everest 21 Times

2018.12.16 /

“The true beauty of Nepal is not the mountains, but the people who live in their shadow.” ~ Apa

From Vimeo:

Every spring the summit of Mount Everest draws people from around the world. But in its shadow live the Sherpa, a resilient, religious people, who, despite the riches surrounding the highest peak on earth, are still quite poor and uneducated.

A child of the Khumbu, Apa Sherpa climbed Everest 21 times. Pulled away at the age of 12 to work as a high altitude porter, like so many others, he would leave his family for months, risking his life on the mountain. Through his work at the Apa Sherpa Foundation, he aims to create a different future for his people.

As Apa says, “without education we have no choice.”

Visit the Apa Sherpa Foundation to learn more.

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