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Mount Everest • Vol. 19: #47 • (11-19-2023) Tidbits of Coachella Valley
• At 29,035 feet, Mount Everest is the highest point on Earth. Located between Nepal and Tibet in the Himalayan Mountains, the mountain’s Tibetan name is Qomolangma, which means “Mother Goddess of the World.” The Nepalis refer to Everest as Sagarmatha or Deodungha, which translates “Holy Mountain.” The Sherpa people regard Everest as sacred, and in ancient times, believed that gods and demons resided within its peaks.
• Although Everest is the highest point on Earth, technically speaking, it’s not the tallest. Hawaii’s Mauna Kea, is about 33,500 feet tall, measuring from the bottom of the ocean floor, but only 13,796 feet of that is visable above sea level. Mauna Kea is a dormant volcano that last erupted an estimated 4,000 years ago.
• Everest is named after a man who never saw it. George Everest was the first British Surveyor General from 1830 to 1843. He hired Andrew Waugh, who made the first formal observations of the mountain, and named it after Everest in 1856. Everest’s surname was pronounced “Eve-rest,” not “Ever-rest.”
• The first recorded attempt to conquer the peak was in 1921 by a British expedition. Although it's doubted they ever succeeded in reaching the peak, it's not known for certain. The expedition climbers never returned, and it's presumed they all perished in their effort.
• On May 29, 1953, Sir Edmund Hillary and Sherpa guide Tenzing Norgay became the first documented people to reach the summit. From then until January 2023, the summit has been successfully reached by more than 630 different climbers.
• More than 300 people have died during Everest expeditions from causes that include falls, blizzards, lack of oxygen, altitude sickness, and fatigue, a death rate of about one percent. At least one person has died every year since 1969, except for 1977, which has been dubbed Everest’s safest year.
• A Nepali Sherpa guide named Kami Rita Sherpa holds the record for the most successful climbs, completing his 28th ascent in 2023. Other milestones include the first woman to reach the top, (a Japanese teacher in 1975), the first blind person to climb Everest (Erik Weihenmayer, an American motivational speaker in 2001).
• The first couple to marry on the top was a couple from Nepal whose ceremony took about 10 minutes. The youngest was a 13-yearold American who reached the summit in 2010. In 1999, Babu Chiri Sherpa remained on the summit for 21 hours, setting a record for the longest anyone has remained on the summit. On May 23, 2019, a record was set for the most climbers reaching the top in one day, when 358 attained the summit.
• The name of Yuichiro Miura has enormous significance in connection with Everest. In 2003, this Japanese climber, at age 70, became the oldest person to reach the summit. In 1970, he had been the first person to ski on the mountain. He skied 6,600 feet in just over two minutes, stopping just 250 feet from the edge of a large, deep crevasse.
• A documentary film of this event, “The Man Who Skied Down Everest,” was produced and won the Academy Award for Best Documentary Feature. If that wasn’t enough, in 2013, Muira broke his own record of the oldest person, completing the trek at age 80.
• It’s definitely a spendy venture to climb Everest. The licensing permit fee itself, paid to the government of Nepal, is $11,000. Add to that equipment, transport, oxygen, supplies, and Sherpa guide services, a service that averages $5,000 per guide per trek. Depending on the number of guides, the cost for a climber varies between $35,000 and $100,000. In 2023 to date, the Nepalese government has issued a recordhigh 454 permits for attempting the climb.
