subject: The Magnificent Mount Everest [print this page] The Magnificent Mount Everest The Magnificent Mount Everest
The world's highest summit, Mount Everest lies above sea level at 8,848 meters or 29,029 feet in the mountain range of Himalayas on the Sagarmatha zone at the Nepal-Tibet (China) border. The peak is also known as Sagarmatha and Chomolungma in Nepali and Chinese respectively meaning goddess of the sky' and mother goddess of the universe'. The world's highest mountain attracts various renowned and highly experienced mountaineers and climbers from all around the globe. Since 1953 to date, several successful ascents and records have been made by climbers of different countries as the mountain poses no technical climbing difficulty through its standard routes as compared to death zones of eight thousanders such as K2 or Nanga Parbat. However, yet the underlying dangers of high altitude and freezing weather have caused several unsuccessful attempts and deaths of mountaineers.
By estimation, there have been 4,102 ascents to the Mount Everest crown by about 2,700 climbers by the end of climbing season of year 2008, whereas till 2009 records have claimed 216 deaths out of which many corpses have not been recovered from the slopes and are still visible from the standard climbing routes. One of the inherent dangers is the high altitude, which leads to a decrease in oxygen content in the air significantly. The lower atmospheric pressure and decreased oxygen makes climbing difficult and exhausting. Also, the temperature is several degrees below freezing and can result in frostbite or frostnip of any organ that is exposed to the weather. Even then, many hardcore climbers and novice mountaineers gets attracted by the magnanimity of Mount Everest and pay significant sums of money to experienced guides in order to fulfill there dream of a successful ascent by climbing Mount Everest.
The height of the mountain was first recorded by the British India Great Trigonometric Survey' in 1856. The mountain was then named as Peak XV and later in 1865 it was given its official name Mount Everest' by the Royal Geographical Society on the name of its former head, Sir George Everest. Chomolungma or Sagarmatha had been in common use by local people of Tibet and Nepal for centuries and still is used by its traditional old name picturing its glory and resplendence. According to a calculation made by world's foremost mountain cartographer of Boston Museum of Science, Professor Brad Washburn, and his team recorded that the earth's highest elevation for Everest is actually seven feet higher than the former recordings. This made the official height of the summit as 8850m/29,035ft. He had also employed the latest high tech radar and global positioning satellite technology to come up with the most accurate details of the height, on top and underneath the snow cap on the summit.
The team had also determined that the mountains in the Himalayan range are still growing higher every year, this is because of the movement of earth plates giving a rise of about 2.4 inches or up to 6cm per year. This growth rate is twice as fast as previously considered. Though this elevation rate doesn't impart substantial increase but if pay a thought then one can be bedazzled by the calculation that in the last three thousand years the mountains have risen more than a mile into the higher reaches of the earth's ambience. And if the Mount Everest is considered to be formed 60 million years ago according to mountain cartographic records, then it's today's height is because of these yearly elevations of earth's plates.
Whether the magnanimity of Mount Everest is due to its ever-going millions of years' small elevations or because of its natural crest, the summit is mystifying for different people of different thoughts.
