Mount Everest Facts
- At 8,848 m (29,029 ft), Mt. Everest is the highest mountain in the world.
- Mt. Everest is located in the Himalayas mountain range on the border of Nepal and Tibet (China).
- In 1865, The Royal Geographical Society gave Mt. Everest its English name in honour of George Everest, a Welsh surveyor who was the British Surveyor General of India from 1830 to 1843. He actually pronounced his name, Eve-rest, with the emphasis on 'Eve', so we've been pronouncing it incorrectly all along!
- The height of Mt. Everest was first published in 1856, when it was known as Peak XV.
- In 1953 the first successful ascent to the summit of Mt. Everest was achieved by New Zealander Edmund Hillary and Nepali sherpa Tenzing Norgay.
- There are two main climbing routes and many others that are are less frequently used. Since the first successful ascent in 1953, thousands have climbed to the summit of Mt. Everest, hundreds have also died while attempting to do so.
- Dangers that await climbers on Mt. Everest include high winds, bad weather and altitude sickness.
- In recent times the number of climbers attempting to reach the summit of Mt. Everest has increased dramatically, causing concerns for both safety and the state of the mountain as climbers routinely leave litter, gear and other debris behind.
- Altitudes above 8,000 m (26,000 ft) are often referred to as the "Death Zone", a height that humans struggle to survive at for more than a few days.
- Although Mt. Everest is the highest mountain on Earth above sea level, its summit is only the 5th farthest from the Earth's centre. Because the Earth bulges at the equator, mountains such as Mt. Chimborazo in Ecuador have summits that are farther away.
- You may be surprised to learn that Mt. Everest is not the tallest mountain on Earth, either. That honor belongs to Mauna Kea, a volcano on the Big Island of Hawaii. Mauna Kea originates deep beneath the Pacific Ocean, and rises more than 33,500 feet from base to peak.
Click on the link below (only if you are in 5th/6th class) to answer a question based on Mount Everest! You will be in with a chance to win a homework pass! Best of luck everybody!
https://docs.google.com/forms/d/e/1FAIpQLSc4Di9RVyvnsEk1A8YwKEbtzeIol9T_vM1oK_n6LfVmeNTZRQ/viewform?usp=sf_link