It is hard to imagine that the words "Chomolungma", "Everest", "Peak XV", "Sagarmatha" are the names of the same mountain, the highest point on the planet. Today, the height of Everest is 8848 meters, and this is far from the final figure - according to scientists, the peak increases by another 5 mm every year.
The height of Everest. Description of the object and general information
The planet rushes up among the eternal snows of the Himalayan mountain range on the border of two states: China and Nepal. Nevertheless, it is generally accepted that the peak itself is located on the territory of the Middle Kingdom.
One of the names - "Chomolungma" - translated from Tibetan sounds very beautiful "Mother of the Wind" or, according to some other sources, "Mother of the life force of the earth." The Nepalese are used to calling her "Sagarmatha", which means "Mother of the Gods."
The more familiar name for us "Everest" in 1856 was proposed by the Englishman Andrew Waugh, who at that time was the successor of D. Everest, the head of the geodetic department in British India... Before that in Europe the mountain was called "Peak XV".
It is noteworthy that from the Nepalese side it will hardly be possible to immediately see Everest - it is obscured from the outside world by the mountains Nuptse and Lhotse, whose height is no less impressive and is 7879 m and 8516 m, respectively.
The most courageous and hardy adventurers climb the Kala Pattar or Gokyo Ri peak to admire the top of the world and take breathtaking pictures.
The height of Everest. Climbing history
This mountain attracted and continues to attract climbers from all over the world. It is no exaggeration to say that Everest has become a place of "pilgrimage" for climbers. Every year hundreds of climbers come here, who strive, if not to visit the summit, then at least to see the legendary mountain with their own eyes.
Everest is considered difficult to climb: the peak has a pyramidal shape with a steeper slope on the south side. At an altitude of 5 thousand meters, the glaciers end, and on the steep slopes of the mountain, the snow does not linger at all.
The mountain was first conquered at the end of May 1953. The team consisted of thirty people who used - it is impossible without them. Almost 30 years later, Soviet climbers climbed up the southeastern wall. The Ukrainian athletes M. Turkevich and S. Bershov especially distinguished themselves - they made the first night ascent in history.
To date, according to the latest statistics, about 3000 climbers from all over the planet have already visited Everest. Unfortunately, the mountain did not release about 200 athletes - they died: someone on the ascent, someone during the descent from lack of oxygen, frostbite or heart failure, some fell off or fell under an avalanche.
This once again proves the fact that on such routes, as a rule, the decisive role is played not by expensive and modern equipment, but by accompanying luck, which can save the traveler from falls and hurricanes that demolish everything in its path.
The height of Everest. How realistic is it to be in the vicinity of the great mountain?
From year to year, the number of such pristine places as the Himalayas on the planet does not increase at all. Everyone who has recovered to conquer the peak will certainly find himself among the pristine places unspoiled by civilization and scientific progress.
Everest is a height for those who seek to conquer the irresistible. But, as they say, in this world nothing is impossible, the main thing is to want. For many years, the giant mountain has amazed with its grandeur, impresses with its formidableness and attracts millions of adventure seekers. Although not everyone goes to the very top. Why do they come to Everest? Photos taken at the foot or in the foothills, and the atmosphere itself, can hardly leave anyone indifferent. In addition, international rallies are held here every year, base camps are established and dating evenings are arranged.
Those who certainly want to see the earth from the highest point of the planet should hire a guide or get into the ad hoc group... However, I would like to warn right away that this pleasure is not cheap - the cost of the ascent will cost 45-60 thousand dollars.
Chomolungma(Tibetan name) or Everest(english) or Sagarmatha(Nepalese) - the highest mountain in the world (8848 m), located in the Mahalangur-Himal ridge in the Himalayas, on the border of Nepal and China (Tibet Autonomous Region), but the peak itself lies in China.
Everest has the shape of a triangular pyramid, the southern slope is steeper. Glaciers flow down from the massif in all directions, ending at an altitude of about 5 km.
Chomolungma is partly part of the Nepalese national park Sagarmatha.
Climate
At the top of Chomolungma there are strong winds blowing at a speed of up to 200 km / h. The air temperature at night drops to - 60 °
Etymology
Translated from Tibetan "Chomolungma" means "Divine (qomo) Mother (ma) of life (lung - wind or life force)", named after the Bon goddess Sherab Chamma. Translated from Nepali, the name of the peak "Sagarmatha" means "Mother of the gods".
The English name "Mount Everest" is given in honor of Sir George Everest, the head of the survey of British India in 1830-1843. This name was proposed in 1856 by George Everest's successor, Andrew Waugh, simultaneously with the publication of the results of his collaborator Radhanat Sikdar, who in 1852 first measured the height of "Peak XV" and showed that it is the highest in the whole world.
Climbing stories
The first ascent of Chomolungma was made on May 29, 1953 by Sherpa Tenzing Norgay and New Zealander Edmund Hillary through the South Col. The climbers used oxygen devices. In subsequent years, climbers from different countries the world - China, USA, India, Japan, Italy.
In the spring of 1975, Everest was attacked for the first time by a women's expedition. The first woman to conquer Chomolungma was the Japanese climber Junko Tabei (1976). The first Polish woman and the first European to climb the summit was Wanda Rutkiewicz (1978). The first Russian woman to reach the top was Ekaterina Ivanova (1990).
In May 1982, 11 members of the Soviet expedition of climbers conquered Everest, climbing the previously considered impassable southwestern slope, and 2 ascents were made at night. Prior to that, none of the climbers who were part of the expedition had climbed more than 7.6 km.
In subsequent years, climbers from Great Britain, Nepal, USA climbed Everest again along the classical path of first ascents, South Korea, Austria and other countries.
As a rule, all climbers climb Mount Everest wearing oxygen masks. At an altitude of 8 km, the air is thin, and it is very difficult to breathe. The first to reach the summit without oxygen were the Italian Reinhold Messner and the German Peter Habeler in 1978.
Flights over the summit
In 2001, a married couple from France, Bertrand and Claire Bernier, flew down from the summit in a glider. In May 2004, Italian Angelo D'Arrigo, for the first time in the history of aeronautics, made a hang-glider flight over the top of the highest mountain in the world.
On May 14, 2005, test pilot Didier Delsalle successfully landed a Eurocopter AS 350 Ecureuil helicopter on the top of the mountain. This was the first such landing.
In 2008, 3 paratroopers landed on the summit, jumping out of an airplane flying at an altitude of just under 9 km (142 m above the highest point of the mountain).
Ski slopes
The first attempt to descend from the top with alpine skiing was undertaken in 1969 by the Japanese Miura. It didn't end as he planned; Miura almost fell into the abyss, but miraculously managed to escape and survived. In 1992, a French skier, Pierre Tardevelle, skied down the slope of Everest. He left the southern summit, located at an altitude of 8571 m, and covered 3 km in 3 hours.
After 4 years, the Italian skier Hans Kammerlander descended from a height of 6400 m along the northern slope.
In 1998, Frenchman Cyril Desremo made the first descent from the summit on a snowboard.
In 2000, Slovenian Davo Karnichar left Chomolungma on alpine skiing.
Climbing now
From the moment of the first ascent to the summit (1953) to the present time (2011), more than 200 people have died on its slopes. The bodies of the dead often remain on the slopes of the mountain due to the difficulties associated with their evacuation. Some of them serve as a guide for climbers. The most common causes of death: lack of oxygen, heart failure, frostbite, avalanches. Even the most expensive and modern equipment does not always guarantee a successful ascent to the highest peak in the world. Nevertheless, an average of about 500 people try to conquer Chomolungma every year. In total, by the end of 2010, about 3,150 climbers climbed the mountain.
The ascent to the summit takes about 2 months - with acclimatization and the installation of camps. Weight loss after climbing - an average of 10-15 kg. The main climbing season is spring and autumn, as there are no monsoons at this time. Spring is considered the most suitable season for climbing the southern and northern slopes. In the fall, you can only climb from the south.
Currently, a significant part of the ascents are organized by specialized companies and are made as part of commercial groups. Clients of these companies pay for the services of guides who provide the necessary training, provide equipment and, as far as possible, ensure safety along the entire route.
The cost of all-inclusive climbing (equipment, transport, guides, porters, etc.) is on average from 40 to 80 thousand US dollars, and the only one permit for climbing, issued by the government of Nepal, costs from 10 to 25 thousand dollars per person (depending on the size of the group). The cheapest way to conquer Chomolungma is from Tibet.
A significant proportion of the hikers reaching the summit are now wealthy hikers with minimal mountaineering experience.
According to experts, the success of the expedition directly depends on the weather and the equipment of the travelers. Climbing the highest peak in the world continues to be a serious challenge for everyone, regardless of their degree of preparation.
Acclimatization before climbing Mount Everest plays an essential role. A typical expedition from the south takes up to two weeks to climb from Kathmandu to the base camp at an altitude of 5364 m, and it takes about a month to acclimatize to the altitude before making the first attempt to the summit.
The most difficult part of the ascent to Everest is the last 300 m, called by climbers "the longest mile on Earth". To successfully pass this section, you need to overcome the steepest smooth stone slope covered with powdery snow.
Ecology
The number of tourists visiting the mountain (not the summit) from Nepal and Tibet over the past ten years has numbered in the hundreds of thousands. The amount of garbage accumulated on the slopes of the mountain is so great that Everest is called "the highest landfill in the world." According to ecologists, after tourists, an average of 3 kg of garbage is left for each.
Mount Everest - the height of Mount Everest is 8848 meters!
Mount everest, is the most high mountain on the ground. Mountain height Everest is 8 848 meters above sea level. The mountain is part of the Himalayan Range in Asia and is located on the border of the countries: Nepal, Tibet and China. He is called Sagarmatha, Chomolungma. And in Nepal he is called Sagamantha, which means "goddess of the sky" and in Tibet - Chomolungma, which means "mother goddess of the Universe."
In 1856, when a large trigonometric study was carried out, the height of Mount Everest was established, it was 8,840 meters, the mountain was known as peak XV. And in 1865, on the recommendation of the British topographer Andrew Waugh, was awarded, official name"Everest". He could not come up with a suitable name for the mountain that would suit both Nepalese and Tibetans, so the decision was made to name it "Everest"
Mount Everest attracts climbers of all levels, experienced and inexperienced alike. These climbers come with money and are willing to pay well mountain guides (guides) to successfully climb the peak of the mountain. In the mountains, the climber is always faced with various dangers, such as low temperature, altitude sickness, oxygen starvation and wind. Despite such a height, its peak was stormed by 2436 people in the period up to 2007, 3679 ascents were carried out. This suggests that mountaineering are very popular species sports. And for the Nepalese a significant source of income. The government of Nepal requires to pay for the climbing permit $ 25,000 per person. Already 210 people have died on Mount Everest, including 8 during a snow storm in 1996.
The history of Mount Everest
Dating with Mount Everest, first started in 1808 by the British. This was during the great Trigonometric Study of India. To determine the location and height of the mountain, they used giant theodolites weighing up to 500kg. They reached the foothills of the Himalayas in 1830. But conditions were difficult due to weather conditions and diseases. The season of heavy rains and malaria began, but despite this they were forced to continue observations. Three officers died of malaria, and two others had to resign due to deteriorating health.
And only in 1856, Andrei Vaug measured the height of Mount Everest. According to him, the height of the mountain was 8840 meters. They came to the conclusion that the mountain itself is high point in the world.
Their next task was to determine the name of the peak, but they wanted to somehow preserve the local names: Kanchenjang or Dhaulagiri. But Waugh argued that he was unable to find a commonly used local name to appeal to both Nepalese and Tibetans. The most famous name of the mountain, which existed for several centuries, was Chomolungma. But Waugh argued that it would be difficult to find a consensus in favor of one specific name, and he proposed to name the peak XV George Everest.But George Everest himself was against such a name for the peak. And there was another problem with the name George Everest. This name was translated in Hindi as “native of India”. However, this name still prevailed, despite all objections. And in 1865 the name was officially adopted by the Royal Geographical Society as “Everest”, the tallest mountain in the world.
There are two main climbing routes: the southeastern ridge from Nepal and the northeastern ridge from Tibet. And also there were many other routes, due to the enormous height of Mount Everest and the laboriousness of the ascent, they are rarely used. In 1953, Edmund Hillary and Tenzing Norgay were the first to recognize fifteen routes to the summit of Mount Everest.
The history of climbing the height of Mount Everest
In 1885, Clinton Thomas Dent, who was the president of the Alpine Club, wrote in his book a description of climbing Mount Everest.
In 1921, the expedition was led by George Mallory. His first expedition was exploration, not equipped for serious ascents. They were forced to descend from the mountain due to unpreparedness for the ascent.
In 1922, George Finch climbed using active oxygen, which showed the first excellent climbing speed of Everest 290 meters per hour. Mallory and Cole-Felix-Nordon then made a second attempt to conquer the heights. But in this expedition seven people died, they were left under an avalanche.
1924 George Mallory and Andrew Irwin tried to climb the Northeast Ridge to the summit, they never came back. In 1999, Mallory's body was discovered by a research expedition. This expedition reached its goal, they conquered the height and climbed to the top of Everest.
1953, the ninth British expedition led by John Hunt began their ascent to the peak. They had to go back to Nepal. They made two passes. Tom Bourdillon and Charles Evans went in first pair to reach 100 meters and had to return. Further, the second call, two days later, went a pair of Edmund Hillary and Tenzing Norghei. They climbed to the summit and conquered the height of Everest on May 29, 1953 at 11:30 a.m., via the Southern Route, stopped to unfurl the British flag and take pictures at the summit of the peak, were buried in the snow before descending Everest.
1980 Reinhold Messner climbed to the altitude for three days all alone, from the base camp at 6500 meters, He reached mountain peak Mount Everest, for the first time without supplemental oxygen.
1996 turned out to be the deadliest year in the history of Mount Everest. Where, trying to descend from the top, as a result of the conquest of the height, fifteen people died.
2005 French pilot Didier Delsalle landed in a helicopter on the summit of Mount Everest.
In 2008, China paved 130 km of asphalt pavement on a dirt road from Tingri County to Everest Base Camp. It has become the most expensive road surface in the world. China Telecom, near the base camp, has built a tall cell tower that provides telephone coverage all the way to Mount Everest.
Etymology
"Chomolungma" - translated from Tibetan means "Divine". The Nepalese name of Chomolungma - "Sagarmatha" - means "Mother of the Gods".
The English name "Everest" (eng. Mount everest) awarded in honor of Sir George Everest (eng. George everest, 1790-1866), head of the Geodetic Survey of British India in 1830-1843. This name was proposed in 1856 by J. Everest's successor, Andrew Waugh (eng. Andrew Waugh, 1810-1878), simultaneously with the publication of the results of his collaborator R. Sikdar, who in 1852 first measured the height of "Peak XV" and showed that it is the highest in the region and probably in the whole world.
Climbing history
Highest peaks in the Chomolungma region
The first ascent was made on May 29, 1953 by Sherpa Tenzing Norgay and New Zealander Edmund Hillary.
Until 1950, there were about 50 expeditions to the Himalayas and Karakorum (to Chomolungma, Chogori, Kanchenjunga, Nanga Parbat and other peaks). Their participants managed to conquer several seven-thousanders of these mountainous areas, but not a single attempt to storm the peaks of the eight-thousandth giants was successful. The greatest results were achieved by English climbers when trying to climb Chomolungma: in 1924 Norton reached an altitude of 8565 m, and George Mallory and Andrew Irwin (as estimated by N. Odell) - more than 8600 m (there is a lot of evidence that they died already during the descent from the top, the dispute about whether they reached the top, or not, continues today), in 1933 P. Win-Harris, L. Weiger and F. Smith - 8565 m.
Annapurna I became the first "eight-thousander" conquered by man. In 1950, the French climbers M. Erzog and L. Lyashenal climbed it.
The victory over the first eight-thousander shattered the myth of the inaccessibility of a summit of such a height and was a signal for climbers in many countries in an effort to “not be late” in making the first ascents of the eight-thousanders. Over the next five years, six giants were conquered: Chomolungma (climbers in England), Nanga Parbat (Herman Buhl, Austria), Chogori (climbers in Italy), Cho Oyu (climbers in Austria), Kanchenjunga (climbers in England) and Makalu (climbers in France). In subsequent years, this desire grew. The climbers of the USA, Italy, Japan, Argentina, China, India, and later - Czechoslovakia, Poland, Yugoslavia, South Korea and, finally, the USSR were added to the traditional expeditions of such countries with developed mountaineering as Austria, England, Germany, France and Switzerland. , Russia, Kazakhstan and Ukraine.
The first woman to climb Chomolungma was the Japanese climber Junko Tabei;).
Literature
- Yonghezbend Francis. Struggle for Everest, ML., Gosizdat, 1930.
- John Hunt. Climbing Mount Everest (journal option), 1956. (About Hillary's 1953 expedition)
- Wilfrid Noyce. South Col (Everest). M., Thought, 1975
- Reinhold Messner. Everest: Expedition to the Ultimate, New York / London, 1979.
- Reinhold Messner. Everest Solo (English edition of The Crystal Horizon: Everest - The First Solo Ascent, 1980).
- Messner Reinhold. Crystal Horizon, M., 1990. (On the first single ascent of Everest without oxygen and during the monsoon period).
- Everest-82. (Ascent of Soviet climbers to the highest peak in the world), M, FiS, 1984.
- Everest, southwest wall: First owl. expedition to Everest - 8848 m., Himalayas-82 / Comp. L.M. Zamyatnin. - L .: Lenizdat, 1984 .-- 222 p.
- Fritz Rudolph. "Chomolungma and her children", M, Raduga, 1983. (About Everest and a good hundred peaks of the Himalayas).
- Kononov Y. Victory over Everest (The first Soviet expedition to Everest), Kiev, 1985.
- Kielkowski Jan, Mount Everest massif, EXPLO, 2000. (Everest environs).
see also
Sources of
Links
- Climbing Everest routes (eng.), When you click on the number appears brief information and route statistics
Coordinates: 27 ° 59′17 ″ s. sh. 86 ° 55'31 "in. etc. / 27.988056 ° N sh. 86.925278 ° E etc.(G)27.988056 , 86.925278
Wikimedia Foundation. 2010.
Everest - the highest mountain on our planet - rises among the eternal snows of the Himalayas at an altitude of 8,848 meters above sea level and is located on the border of Nepal and China. The summit itself lies on the territory of China (Tibet). The peak of Everest is crowned by the Main Himalayan Range.
In 1832, British Geodetic Surveyors in India, processing surveys of a number of Himalayan peaks, discovered that the mountain, listed as "Peak XV", is the highest in the region and probably in the entire world. The open summit was named by them in honor of the head of the geodetic service, Sir George Everest (pronunciation in the correct transcription: "I-ver-ist"). It is this name of the mountain that has become the most popular all over the world. In Tibet, she is called Chomolungma - "Mother Goddess of Life." In Nepal, the mountain is called Sagarmatha - "Mother of the Gods".
Sometimes Everest is called the third pole of the earth, because its climate is no less, and even more extreme and severe than at the poles. The temperature at the summit never rises above 0 ° C. average temperature in January it is -36 ° C and can drop to -60 ° C, and in July -19 ° C (for comparison, at the North Pole in January -40 ° C, in July - about 0 ° C). The wind speed at the top can be up to 200 km / h. In addition, the oxygen content in the rarefied atmosphere at an altitude above 8000 meters is three times less than at sea level. If the North and South poles were reached at the beginning of the twentieth century (the North, according to various sources - in 1908-1909, the South - in 1911), then Everest remained unconquered until the middle of the twentieth century (1953).
Everest is not easy to see even from afar, as it is lost in remote areas of the Himalayas and is obscured by other peaks. To only see the highest peak in the world, you need to walk a relatively long distance and climb one of the nearby peaks. On the Nepalese side, Everest is hidden behind two high mountains- Nuptse (7879 m) and Lhotse (8516 m), so in order for Everest to be seen well enough, you need to climb Mount Kala Pattar (5545 m) or Gokyo Ri (5483 m), from the peaks of which there is a good view of the top of the world.
Everest has the shape of a triangular pyramid, which is clearly visible from an airplane.
The southern slope of the summit is steeper. Glaciers flow down from the massif in all directions, ending at an altitude of about 5000 m. On the southern slope and edges of the pyramid, snow and ice are not retained, as a result of which they are exposed.
Attempts to conquer Everest began in 1921. Since that time, for 32 years, climbers from different countries have made fifteen attempts to conquer the "third pole". And only the sixteenth of them were crowned with victory. The last assault camp of Colonel John Hunt's expedition was pushed to the very top and was at an altitude of 8500 meters. It was listed at number 9 - the ninth intermediate camp on the way from the bottom to the top. On May 29, 1953, at 11:30 a.m. New Zealander Edmund Hillary and Sherpa Tenzing Norgay for the first time (according to the official version) stood at an altitude of 8848 meters - the highest peak in the world. There is another version, according to which the participants of the third expedition could ascend Everest first.
Now, annually, teams from all over the world gather under the southern and northern slopes of Everest, usually 300-500 people. Each of them is obsessed with a dream - to conquer the most famous peak on earth. For many of them, climbing Mount Everest, without exaggeration, becomes the main goal of life. And all of them, without exception, will have to withstand the extreme conditions of the "third pole".
The best time to climb Mount Everest is early May. The southeastern ridge, located in Nepal, is called the South Col route, and the northeastern ridge, the North Col, begins in Tibet. These are the two most popular climbing routes. For the first time, people climbed Everest from the south.
To the foot of the mountain from the North side, you will have to get to the base camp by jeeps, and then by yaks to the advanced base camp at an altitude of 6400 meters.
The ascent of the climber to the summit of Everest takes about 2 months. It is a constant "shuttle" up and down many times. Up - for acclimatization, setting up intermediate camps, fixing the ropes in difficult areas. Down - for rest and for a new consignment. They usually go to the top one by one - each for himself, relying only on his own strength. The last, decisive assault day of the climber lasts an average of 15-20 hours. At the same time, after climbing, climbers lose on average 10-15 kg of their own weight, or even more.
Climbing Mount Everest is expensive. Only a permit for a group of 20 to climb from the Tibet side costs $ 5,500, and from the Nepal side - $ 50,000 for a team of 7.
The history of climbing Mount Everest is full of both records and tragic events. Over the more than 60-year history of the conquest of Everest, over six thousand climbers have ascended the summit, of which 140 are Russians. Over the same years, the rebellious mountain did not let back more than 200 of its fans.
