... Here are some of the vital statistics of Mount Everest and
the people who have attempted to climb it. (Through May 2000):
Mount
Everest, locally known in Nepal as Sagarmatha, is considered
today as an icon of climbing achievements. It is not only the
tallest of our mountain peaks, it is a symbol that describes
the greatest of challenges, events, and monumental structures
in the world today. It is a household term that now symbolizes:
grandest, biggest, highest and best.
Sagarmatha
(means: goddess of the sky), In Tibet, Everest is called Chomolungma:
(means: mother goddess of the universe). Everest is named after
Sir George Everest in 1865 ,the British surveyor-general of
India. Once known as Peak 15 The first seven attempts on Everest,
starting with a reconnaissance in 1921, approached the mountain
from Tibet, where a route to the summit via the North Col and
North Ridge seemed possible. All were unsuccessful. George Mallory,
who spearheaded the first three expeditions, lost his life with
Andrew Irvine during a failed ascent in 1924. Unsuccessful attempts
continued through out 1938, then halted during World War II.
By the war's end, Tibet had closed its borders, and Nepal, previously
inaccessible, had done the opposite. Starting in 1951, expeditions
from Nepal grew closer and closer to the summit, via the Khumbu
Icefall, the Western Cwm, over the Geneva Spur to the South
Col, and up the Southeast Ridge. On May 29, 1953 Sir Edmond
Hillary of New Zealand and Tenzing Norgay of Nepal were the
first to reach the summit via the South Col Route.
Mount
Everest has received much attention over the years, not only
due to the ever increasing access to this once remote area,
or due to the televised coverage of recent expeditions, especially
when met with tragedy, but always as ranking amongst the most
challenging of human achievements on the planet.
We
consider Everest as the uppermost test for gauging our abilities,
our conditioning, our endurance and our commitment to achieving
our goals, and thus pushing our human abilities to the highest
level.
It
is for these reasons that we have assembled an outstanding team
to mount a successful climb and summit bid of the world's highest
mountain.
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Mount Everest is located at Latitude 27° 59' N and Longitude
86° 56' E It's summit ridge separates Nepal
and Tibet.
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In the 80 years since Mount Everest has been first attempted,
there have been a total of 1302 successful
ascents.
First
Solo Ascent: Aug. 20,1980, Reinhold Messner,
IT, via the NE Ridge to North Face
First
winter Ascent: Feb. 17,1980 -L.Cichy and K. Wielicki,
POL
First
Ascent by a Woman: May 16,1975, Junko Tabei,
JAP, via the South-Col
First
Oxygen-less Ascent: May 8, 1978- Reinhold Messner,
IT, and Peter Habeler, AUT, via the South-East Ridge
Fastest
Ascent from the South Side: Babu Chhiri Sherpa
34, NP-16 hours and 56 minutes (5-21-2000)
Fastest
Ascent from the North side: Hans Kammerlander,
IT, May, 24,1996, via the standard North Col Ridge Route,
16 hours 45 minutes from base camp
Most
Ascents: Eleven, 24th May 2000 Appa Sherpa became
the first person to climb Everest 11 times
Best
and Worst Years on Everest:
1993, 129 summitted and eight died (ratio: 16 to 1); in
1996, 98 summitted and 15 died (ratio: 6½ to 1)
Highest cause of death:
Avalanches (ratio: 2 to 1) over falls
Country
with most deaths on mountain: Nepal - 46
Most dangerous area on mountain:
Khumbu Ice Fall - 19 deaths
Climbers to summit, then die on
the descent: 37 (33 men, 4 women), ratio: 1 in
35
Total deaths: 163 (158
men, 5 women)
Year with the most ascents:
2000. 130 climbers summitted
Last year Everest was not climbed:
1974.
Most recent year with no deaths:
1977. Two climbers summitted
The Percentage of Oxygen at altitude:
- at
3000 m, 69 %
- at
6000 m, 47 %
- at
8000 m, 35 %
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Many of the Everest summiteers go on to climb the Seven
Summits of the World. And a precious few even go on to attempt
all 14 of the 8000 meter peaks
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