Mount Everest is the highest mountain in the world. Situated as the highest peak out of many in the Himalayas mountain range in Nepal, it extends to the sky as high as 29 002feet (8,848m) or so. Shifting tectonic plates continue to push Everest upward, along with the whole Himalaya mountain range, at 1.6 to 3.9 inches (4 to 10 centimeters) per year. In 1841, Sir George Everest, Surveyor General of India from 1830 to 1843, first recorded the location of Everest. It was subsequently named "Peak XV". In 1865, it was renamed Mt. Everest to honor Sir George. Everest is also called Chomolungma in Tibet and Sagarmatha in Nepal.
The summit of Everest is the point at which the Earth's surface reaches the greatest distance above sea level. Several other mountains are sometimes claimed as alternative "tallest mountains on Earth". Mauna Kea in Hawaii is tallest when measured from its base; it rises over 10,200 m (6.3 mi) when measured from its base on the mid-ocean floor, but only attains 4,205 m (13,796 ft) above sea level. By the same measure of base to summit, Mount McKinley, in Alaska, is also taller than Everest. Despite its height above sea level of only 6,193.6 m (20,320 ft), Mount McKinley sits atop a sloping plain with elevations from 300 m (980 ft) to 900 m (3,000 ft), yielding a height above base in the range of 5,300 to 5,900 m (17,400 to 19,400 ft); a commonly quoted figure is 5,600 m (18,400 ft). By comparison, reasonable base elevations for Everest range from 4,200 m (13,800 ft) on the south side to 5,200 m (17,100 ft) on the Tibetan Plateau, yielding a height above base in the range of 3,650 to 4,650 m (11,980 to 15,260 ft). The summit of Chimborazo in Ecuador is 2,168 m (7,113 ft) farther from the Earth's centre (6,384.4 km (3,967.1 mi)) than that of Everest (6,382.3 km (3,965.8 mi)), because the Earth bulges at the Equator. However, Chimborazo attains a height of only 6,267 m (20,561 ft) above sea level, and by this criterion it is not even the highest peak of the Andes.
Mount Everest has an extreme climate. The summit temperature never rises above freezing or 32° F (0° C). Its summit temperatures in January average -33° F (-36° C) and can drop to -76° F (-60° C). In July, the average summit temperature is -2° F (-19° C). The best time to climb Everest is in early May before the monsoon season. As the altitude increases, the oxygen content of the air decreases dramatically. At 9,800 feet, for example, there's about 2/3 of the oxygen in the air than at sea level. At 20,000 ft, there is roughly half the oxygen content in the air. At 29,035ft, the summit of Everest, there is only a third of the oxygen in the air. Mountaineers climbing Everest establish a camp at the base of the mountain, and four higher camps before reaching the summit. For the next 30 days or so, they will move up, then down again, allowing their bodies to get used to the reduced oxygen content of the air. This process is called acclimatization. Each climber has a different opinion about what is the most difficult part of climbing Everest. Most would agree, though, that the altitude is tough to deal with. And most will also have stories about crossing the infamous Khumbu Icefall going from Base Camp to Camp One. Mountaineers climb through this moving sea of ice using ordinary aluminum garden ladders.
On May 29, 1953, Tenzing Norgay Sherpa of Nepal & Edmund Percival Hillary of New Zealand climbed to the summit of Everest via the Southeast Ridge Route. The first woman to climb Everest was Junko Tabei of Japan. She also climbed via the Southeast Ridge on 16 May, 1975. Appa Sherpa has made the most successful ascents of Everest. He has reached the top 11 times. On May 8, 1978, Peter Habeler of Austria and Reinhold Messner of Italy climbed made the first ascent without bottled oxygen via the Southeast Ridge. Reinhold Messner climbed for 3 days completely alone from his base camp at 6,500m without the use of artificial Oxygen. Messner climbed via the North Col to the North Face and the Great Couloir. Babu Chiri Sherpa set the speed record from the Nepal side. Davo Karnicar made the first true ski descent. At age 16 Temba Tsheri Sherpa become the youngest person to Summit Everest in 2001. American Sherman Bull, at age 64, is the oldest person to summit Mount Everest, also in 2001. Anna Czerwinska was born on 7/10/49 and climbed Everest from Nepal side, making her the oldest woman to reach the summit. On 24 May, 1996, Hans Kammerlander of Italy Hans made the fastest ascent of Everest via the standard North Col-North Ridge-North Face. He left base camp at 6,400m on 23 May at 5pm and was on the summit 16 hours, 45 minutes later at 9:45 am the next day. He descended most of the route on skis.
As for the flora and fauna found near Mount Everest, Euophrys omnisuperstes, a minute black jumping spider, has been found at elevations as high as 6,700 metres (22,000 ft), possibly making it the highest confirmed non-microscopic permanent resident on Earth. It lurks in crevices and may feed on frozen insects that have been blown there by the wind. It should be noted that there is a high likelihood of microscopic life at even higher altitudes. Birds, such as the Bar-headed Goose, have been seen flying at the higher altitudes of the mountain, while others, such as the Chough, have been spotted as high as the South Col (7,920 m) scavenging on food, or even corpses, left by prior climbing expeditions.
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