Mt Everest
The Mt Everest is known all around the world for its great height. The truth is that from many years many people wondered and tried to figure it out the exactly measurements. These days, we know for sure the exact height of 29,035 ft or 8850m because we have better tools to measure, like the global positioning satellite technology. But the official altitude of the Mt. Everest that was approved by the Nepali government is 29,029 feet. But the interesting fact is that it is believed that the height of Mt Everest will grow in the future furthermore, because the tectonic plates are moving bit by bit as we speak, and so it is believed that they produce an average difference in the height of almost ten centimeters per year.
Everybody has heard of Mount Everest and few dared to even climb it because it is the highest mount. It has a height of 8,848 metres. In the 19th century , the Great Trigonometric Survey of India were the first that tried to measure the height of the Mount Everest. The Royal Geographical Society was the one that gice this name to the peak, after one of its predecesor ruler.
If you want to climb the mount Everest there are several trails available, some of them are easy or some are more difficult..Many climbers come every year and try to suceed. But this is not easy, because many of them get ill because of the altitude. The cold weather makes many victims, and the wind is not easy to bear. K2 i one of the most difficult trail and normal climbers need to be accompanoed by a professional mountain guide. This professional mountain guide costs prety much. The people from Nepal many most of their many from tourism, for example any climber need to obtain a permit that may cost even $20 000.
Most of the untrained climbers have problems in the “death zone”. This are is situated where the mountain has more then 8000 metres hight. If they are not careful how they are equiped, the climbers may suffer frostbite on the extremites of teir body, because the temperatures can get very low. On this part of the trails snow and ice is available, so the tourists may slip and fall. The winds also make many problems to the climbers. Because of the atmospheric pressure the oxygen level in the air is low and cause also problems to the tourists that managed to get thru this zone. This is why it is better that climbers use supplementary oxygen, with some special masks and bottled oxygen. In 1922 was the first time that some climbers succeeded to climg the Mount Everest with the help of bottled oxygen.
The flora and fauna is poor on this mount, because of its high altitude. Some species of birds have benn seen here, as for example the Bar-headed Goose and Chough.
It is interesting to know that the tibetansdon’t name this peak Mount Everest (named by the British after George Everest), but instead they have their own name, they call it Chomolangma. They consider this mount as beeing holy and maybe this is why for so many years they didn’t want any strangers to climb it.
Mount Everest is in fact a part of the Himalaya Mountain. The Himalaya mountain is situated near the border with Tibet. Mt Everest got its name after the person (Sir George Everest) that first tried to locate the exact position of the peak. Until then, it was named simply “Peak XV”. You should know that there are four available camps, situated at heights of 6,100m, 6,500m, 7,400m and 8,000m and of course the summit, at 8850m. Here, at the summit, you can expect temperatures of minus 100 degrees Fahrenheit, but if you have luck the temperature can reach also minus 15 degrees Fahrenheit. But the real problem for the climbers is not the low temperature, but the reduced level of oxygen of the air, because of the high altitude. The climbers need to go through a process called acclimatization. They have a camp at the base of the mount. They climb for some hundred feet and then they go down again, to rest. The idea is to get used better and safer with the low level of oxygen and then get fresh oxygen. And also every time they go down again, they have the chance to get some proper sleep and eat food.
It is importing that climbers know there are many dangers that can affect them. At the summit the oxygen level is so low that it is believed that it is only 1 per 3 of the level near the sea. The wind is also very powerful, striking with almost 118 miles/hour. This powerful wind is locally called the “Jet Stream” and many times he is the one that don’t allow the climbers to reach the summit.
