Mount Everest needs no introduction when it comes to mountaineering. Genuinely considered the most magnificent mountain globally, reaching the top is a dream for every climber. Mount Everest attracts many climbers, usually experienced mountaineers from around the globe, to Nepal for Mount Everest Expedition.
It is the most challenging climb, as the Mount Everest Summit poses a life threat. Many have died, including veterans. The summit is merciless.
Dive in to learn more about Mount Everest.
Mount Everest: Interesting Facts
At 60 million years old, Mount Everest holds a mesmerizing history and a little rocky. Although many people know about it, only a handful know about the courage, discipline, and training required to scale this mountain.
1. The First Mount Everest Expedition Attempt
The first attempted Mt. Everest Expedition was by George Mallory and Guy Bullock in 1921, a British Mount Everest reconnaissance expedition. Guy Bullock was the last-minute replacement for one of the team members who was asked to drop out. George Mallery suggested Guy Bullock. The trip was unsuccessful.
Eventually, two humans got a real taste of success when they were able to scale Everest in 1953.
2. The First Successful Mount Everest Expedition
The two brave alpinists made the first successful Mount Everest Expedition, Edmund Hillary, a New Zealander, and Tenzing Norgay Sherpa, a Nepali who was a Sherpa on the expedition team.
They were part of the ninth British expedition to Everest, which was led by John Hunt.
3. Everest is the tallest mountain in the world
Mount Everest has had a lot of disagreements over its exact height due to the variations in snow level, light refraction, gravity deviation, and more. However, after the earthquake in 2015, Nepal and China started working towards measuring its height again.
In 2020, Nepal and China declared that Mount Everest is 8,848.86 meters tall.
4. Mount Everest is over 60 million years old
According to scientists, Everest is over 60 million years old. It was formed by the upward force generated by the collision of Indian and Eurasian tectonic plates that pushed the rocks to create the highest mountain in the world.
Mount Everest is still growing by an inch every year.
5. The summit of Mount Everest is the size of a dining-room table
The summit of Everest is 8848.3 meters above sea level, which is the size of a dining-room table. The layers that make up the mountain include rock, ice, and snow, exclusively in that order. While the size of the rock and the ice layer remains almost the same, the thickness of snow varies every year.
The south summit is the closest to the peak of Everest.
If you reach the south summit, you can see the rare glimpse of the highest point on the planet only a few clicks away. However, there is one more obstacle you have to overcome. The knife ridge is a narrow and steep hill that could scare the life out of you.
Somewhere along the knife ridge is the Hillary step. The Hillary Step is, considered by many, to be the last challenging climb between the south summit and the true summit. Named after the brave alpinist Sir Edmund Hillary, it is known as the most technically challenging part of the ascent.
There is the usual danger of a drop from this height (3000 meters on the right and 2000 meters on the left). Mt. Everest is classified as a class 4 rock climb.
This part of the trek is trickier and unpredictable. It can get from right to worse according to changing circumstances.
6. Mount Everest is pronounced as “Ever-est.”
Mount Everest was first known as Peak 15 in 1841. Then, Sir George Everest had just revealed the mountain to the western world.
Later, the mountain was introduced to the world as “Mount Everest” in honor of the British surveyor.
Mount Everest is originally called Sagarmatha by the Nepalese. The name means “Goddess of the Sky.” On the other hand, Tibetans call it Chomolungma, which means “Goddess Mother of Mountains.”
7. Climbing costs anywhere from $28,000-$115,000
A standard supported climb to Mount Everest can cost somewhere from $28,000 to $85,000, depending on the support level you need. The cost can add up with the support and facilities you need.
These costs include transportation, food, base camp tents, guides, potters, and supplemental oxygen.
8. It takes around two months to summit Mount Everest
Summiting Mount Everest takes a total of two months. You will take 10-14 days trekking to the Everest Base Camp itself.
It takes a lot of time to summit Everest as your body needs to acclimatize to the altitude.
9. The fastest summit is 10 hours 56 minutes
A Nepali climber named Pemba Dorje Sherpa has climbed Mount Everest from the south side in 2004 at a record time of just 8 hours and 10 minutes.
10. 18 different routes to the summit
Mount Everest can be sumitted from 18 different routes, but most choose to climb it from one of the two major routes. Nepal’s side is known as the Southeast ridge, whereas; the Tibetan side is called the North Ridge.
Both of these routes have their challenges. The Southside has the dangerous Khumbu icefall but a shorter summit day and ease while descending in case of an emergency.
On the other hand, the North ridge requires crossing several kilometers of terrain above 27,000 feet above sea level. On the brighter side, you can drive all the way to the base camp.
11. The summit is made of marine limestone
Since Mount Everest was created by tectonic action, it consists of marine limestone at the top of the mountain. Marine limestone is a rock that was deposited on the seafloor some 450 million years ago.
12. Calorie intake increases as they go higher
The climbers need to snack a lot to maintain their energy levels while summiting Mount Everest. They need to eat 8,000-10,000 calories per day. The food includes meats, crackers, cheese, nuts, granola, fruits, and more.
The quantity of the food needs to increase as you get closer to the summit as you burn five times more than what you did at home.
13. It may not be the highest mountain on earth
Everest is the highest peak in the world when it is measured above sea level. However, the Mauna Kea volcano mountain in Hawaii is 10,200 meters high when measured from its base, located at the bottom of the ocean.
14. Junko Tabei was the first woman to scale Everest
Junko Tabei summitted Mount Everest on May 16, 1975. She summitted the mountain 22 years after Edmund Hillary and Tenzing Norgay.
She had almost died due to an avalanche twelve days before making the summit. Fortunately, the Sherpas dug her out on time, and thus, she made history.
15. Yuichiro Miura is the oldest person to scale Everest
Another Japanese climber, Yuichiro Miura, made history after summiting Everest at the age of 80.
16. Jordan Romero is the youngest person
The youngest person ever to scale Everest was an American named Jordan Romero. Jordan was only 13 years and ten months old when he achieved this impressive feat.
Among females, an Indian climber named Poorna Malavath has held the record by sumitting the mountain at 13 years and 11 months old.
17. You can climb without supplemental oxygen too
Yes, you read it right. Usually, mountaineers climb with bottled oxygen because the air density is very thin. However, you can climb the mountain without supplemental oxygen, too, but it takes a lot of practice and a lot of acclimatization.
Reinhold Messner and Peter Habeler were the first people to summit the mountain without supplemental oxygen in 1978. Messner stayed 40 minutes on Everest’s summit.
18. There are over 200 corpses on Mount Everest
Till 2021, there are 309 recorded deaths and over 200 corpses in Mount Everest. Many of the dead bodies serve as landmarks.
Leaving the body on the mountains is because removing it is impossible due to its weight. In addition, the bodies are frozen, and chipping one away from the icy tomb takes hours.
19. There is a place called Rainbow Valley on Mount Everest
Rainbow Valley is situated above 8,000 meters on Mount Everest. It is a place where many dead bodies of climbers are clothed in different colored jackets and equipment.
Movie made on Mount Everest
A lot of movies have been made surrounding the challenges faced by the climbers of Everest. In 2015, stars like Jason Clarke, Josh Brolin, John Hawkes, Robin Wright, Michael Kelly, Sam Worthington, Keira Knightley, Emily Watson, and Jake Gyllenhaal came forward.
They worked together to document the movie titled Everest.
Mount Everest: Training
The ascent to the tallest peak in the world is no joke. It requires a strong commitment and discipline on the part of the climber. The alpinist needs to be comfortable while also being extremely careful. It involves a lot of mental and physical coordination.
Before going on the wildest adventure of your life, you need to be in command of your physical and psychological self. You need to be appropriately motivated, as climbing takes an unimaginable toll on the climber.
Imagine you are in an environment with oxygen getting scarce with every step you take? Every step you take is equal to walking more than a mile. You are exhausted to the bone, but you need to keep walking.
You must practice staying inside the tent for hours without losing your composure. The most important aspect you should consider while training your body is to prepare it for the intense and unpredictable weather.
The challenges could weaken your resolve, and it might render you sick. You should prepare for the situation where your climbing partners get sick. You have to be strong enough to carry them.
All the hindrances would break a regular guy. It requires mental fortitude and a capability to adjust to changing circumstances.
You need to build up by scaling mountains and learning from these experiences. Have a realistic understanding of your current physical condition. The duration and intensity of the training will depend on it.
You should train based on your expectations and ambitions.
Mount Everest: Endurance
Lhakpa Sherpa is a Nepalese alpinist who has scaled Everest seven times. She is the record holder as a female for this feat. She even climbed Everest when she was two months pregnant and eight months after the birth of her child.
Having not received any formal training in mountaineering, she puts massive faith in her endurance. She says that perseverance should exist on both mental and physical levels. She explains that mental strength is the key to success.
A significant amount of people gear up for this dangerous expedition every year, but only 1 out of those four come back alive. While more and more people are getting involved, neither modern technology nor expert advice can eliminate the Everest expedition’s inherent threats.
The greatest skill-set you should polish is your endurance which can help you gain a safe trek.
Mount Everest: List of gears
1. Crampons
Regular mountaineering crampons will be the best choice. Crampons are better suited to the icy mountains because they create tractions. A 12 point crampon will generate more friction than 10 point crampon. Steel crampons are also superior to aluminum crampons as they stand up to the rigors of walking on the icy rocks.
2. Ice Axe
An ice ax is an important and versatile tool in mountaineering. While a general mountaineering ax will suffice, but you need the ax that best suits your needs.The length of the ax can be anywhere between 50 cm to 70 cm. The 50 cm ax is best for relatively short people, while the taller people feel comfortable using the 70 cm ax.
3. Accessory Cord
Accessory cords can be used for a couple of reasons, like climbing rigging and prussiking. We should use the standard 40 feet of 6 mm accessory cords.
4. Carabiner System
Two big oval wire gate carabiners, two small wire gate carabiners, one sizeable pear-shaped locking wire gate carabiners, and one large locking carabiner will be enough for a safe expedition.
5. Alpine climbing harness
The newer models of the alpine climbing harness are equipped with features like a belay loop and require no doubling back your waist-back models. Also, buy a harness that fits you and suits your needs.
6. Belay device
You would be better off using the modern-tube style belay device.
7. Trekking Poles
You should use the collapsible trekking/skiing poles.
8. Ascender
The ascender must be in excellent condition for the period of your climb, so chose carefully.
9. Footwear
For your feet, buy some pair of wool socks and thin liner socks to wear underneath your woolen socks. You can wear different shoes according to the situation. While sleeping in your tent, wear insulated camp boots. While passing across a dry trail, you might want to use light hiking boots. All these can be made obsolete using high-altitude all-in-one boots. However, you might want to take all of these for your comfort.
10. Technical clothing
At the base layer, you should wear lightweight pants, long-sleeved shirts, and short-sleeved shirts. Use non-cotton fabrics, and even better if you use woolen fabrics. You should also buy the heavy expedition-weight base layer bottoms used in icy conditions. You should also buy a midweight, form-fitting fleece layer for use over base layers. Hoods are also useful for the expedition. Also, buy 1-2 pairs of lightweight nylon trekking pants. We recommend simple models made with synthetic fabrics and offer pockets for convenience. Zip-off models are not required but are preferred by some.
11. Handwear
You should buy a pair of lightweight liner gloves and a pair of insulated shell gloves for handwear. Get a climbing helmet that perfectly fits your head. You should get a ski hat, facemask, and glacier glasses. High-quality ski goggles provide protection over the hot sun and the stormy snow-wind. While noseguards are optional, make sure you pack a modern outdoor LED headlamp.
While buying an internal frame climbing/trekking pack, make sure that it is light and comfortable on your back. You should carry a spoon, bowl, knife, and a pee bottle with you as well.
You must bring your medicines with you if you are a prescription. Carry a first-aid kit box involving painkillers, Moleskin, bandages, and antiseptic wipes.
Thus, these are all the things you need to know about Mount Everest.
