Mount Everest is Earth's highest mountain above sea level, located in the Mahalangur Himal sub-range of the Himalayas. The China–Nepal border runs across its summit point. Its elevation of 8,848.86 m was most recently established in 2020 by the Chinese and Nepali authorities.
The Sherpa are one of the Tibetan ethnic groups native to the most mountainous regions of Nepal, Tingri County in the Tibet Autonomous Region and the Himalayas. The term sherpa or sherwa derives from the Sherpa-language words ཤར shar ("east") and པ pa ("people"), which refer to their geographical origin in eastern Tibet.
Cho Oyu is the sixth-highest mountain in the world at 8,188 metres (26,864 ft) above sea level. Cho Oyu means "Turquoise Goddess" in Tibetan. The mountain is the westernmost major peak of the Khumbu sub-section of the Mahalangur Himalaya 20 km west of Mount Everest. The mountain stands on the China Tibet–Nepal Province No. 1 border.
The International Mountaineering and Climbing Federation (UIAA) recognises eight-thousanders as the 14 mountains that are more than 8,000 metres (26,247 ft) in height above sea level, and are considered to be sufficiently independent of neighbouring peaks. There is no precise definition of the criteria used to assess independence, and, since 2012, the UIAA has been involved in a process to consider whether the list should be expanded to 20 mountains. All eight-thousanders are located in the Himalayan and Karakoram mountain ranges in Asia, and their summits are in the death zone.
Alan Hinkes OBE is an English Himalayan high-altitude mountaineer from Northallerton in North Yorkshire. He is the first British mountaineer to claim all 14 Himalayan eight-thousanders, which he did on 30 May 2005.
Edward Michael "Bear" Grylls is a British adventurer, writer, television presenter and businessman. He first drew attention after embarking on a number of adventures, and then became widely known for his television series Man vs. Wild (2006–2011). He is also involved in a number of wilderness survival television series in the UK and US, such as Running Wild with Bear Grylls and The Island with Bear Grylls. In July 2009, Grylls was appointed as The Scout Association’s youngest-ever Chief Scout of the United Kingdom and Overseas Territories at age 35, a post he has held for a second term since 2015.
Jake Julian Barrington Meyer is a British mountaineer and adventurer. He achieved fame by becoming the youngest Briton to climb Mount Everest in 2005, aged 21 years 4 months. In doing so, Meyer also became the youngest man in the world to complete the Seven Summits. More recently in 2018 he summited K2, the second highest mountain in the world, and climbed Everest a second time. He has taken part in over 30 expeditions around the world.
Mark Joseph Inglis is a New Zealand mountaineer, researcher, winemaker and motivational speaker. He holds a degree in Human Biochemistry from Lincoln University, New Zealand, and has conducted research on leukaemia. He is also an accomplished cyclist and, as a double leg amputee, won a silver medal in the 1 km time trial event at the 2000 Summer Paralympics in Sydney. He is the first double amputee to reach the summit of Mount Everest, the highest mountain in the world above sea level.
Sibusiso Vilane OIB is a South African adventurer, motivational speaker, and the author of the book To the Top from Nowhere. An adventurer, marathon runner, mountaineer, and expedition leader, he has also served as the Chief Scout of Scouts South Africa.
Kenton Edward Cool is an English climber and mountain guide. He is one of Britain's leading alpine and high altitude climbers and has reached the summit of Mount Everest 17 times, including leading Sir Ranulph Fiennes' 2008 and 2009 Expeditions.
Arjun Vajpai is an Indian mountaineer, who became the world's youngest mountaineer to summit six peaks over 8,000 meters in the year 2018.
PHASE is a partnership between several international non-governmental organisations (NGOs) registered in Austria, Nepal, the United Kingdom (UK) and the United States of America (USA). The organisations specialise in improving health and education services and livelihood opportunities for disadvantaged populations and most of this work takes place in Nepal. The acronym, PHASE, stands for "Practical Help Achieving Self Empowerment" and describes the working ethic of the organisations.
Matt Moniz is an American mountaineer and speaker noted for his ascents of 8,000 meter peaks and several of the Seven Summits.
On 18 April 2014, seracs on the western spur of Mount Everest failed, resulting in an ice avalanche that killed sixteen climbing Sherpas in the Khumbu Icefall. This was the same icefall where the 1970 Mount Everest disaster had taken place. Thirteen bodies were recovered within two days, while the remaining three were never recovered due to the great danger of performing such an expedition. Many Sherpas were angered by what they saw as the Nepalese government's meager offer of compensation to victims' families, and threatened a protest or strike. On 22 April, the Sherpas announced they would not work on Everest for the remainder of 2014 as a mark of respect for the victims.
Sean Burch is an American explorer, leadership performance specialist, and filmmaker. He is the author of the book, Hyperfitness: 12 Weeks to Reaching Your Inner Everest and Getting into the Best Shape of Your Life . He holds 8 World Records within fitness and adventure, and was the winner of National Geographic Channel’s Ultimate Survival Alaska TV show. Burch is the creator and founder of Hyperfitness, a wellness program. He was named Goodwill Ambassador to Nepal by the country's government. He resides within the Washington DC area.
During the afternoon of 25 April 2015, a MW 7.8 earthquake struck Nepal and surrounding countries. Shaking from the quake triggered an avalanche from Pumori into Base Camp on Mount Everest. At least twenty-two people were killed, surpassing an avalanche that occurred in 2014 as the deadliest disaster on the mountain.
After World War II, with Tibet closing its borders and Nepal becoming considerably more open, Mount Everest reconnaissance from Nepal became possible for the first time culminating in the successful ascent of 1953. In 1950 there was a highly informal trek to what was to become Everest Base Camp and photographs were taken of a possible route ahead. Next year the 1951 British Mount Everest reconnaissance expedition reconnoitred various possible routes to Mount Everest from the south and the only one they considered feasible was the one via the Khumbu Icefall, Western Cwm and South Col. In 1952, while the Swiss were making an attempt on the summit that nearly succeeded; the 1952 British Cho Oyu expedition practised high-altitude Himalayan techniques on Cho Oyu, nearby to the west.
The 1951 British Mount Everest reconnaissance expedition ran between 27 August 1951 and 21 November 1951 with Eric Shipton as leader.
The Mount Everest climbing season of 2013 included 658 summits and 8 deaths. Due to avalanches in 2014 and 2015, this was the last big summiting year until 2016.
