MOUNT EVEREST

China/Nepal (8,848 m) – Tallest Mountain in the World/Asia

At 8,848 meters above Sea Level, Mount Everest is general acknowledged as the highest peak on Earth, though this distinction is challenged by the standards of prominence, base-to-cone and distance from the center of the Earth.  Located at the heart of the Himalayan Mountains of Central Asia, it is in one of the remotest and most inaccessible places in the world.  Lacking a generally accepted local nomiker, the mountain was named in 1865 in honor of Colonel George Everest, the Surveyor General of India in 1830s.

Located on the frontier between Tibetan China and Nepal, Everest’s peak lies immediately on the border of the two countries.  The Mountain is immense, and has numerous subpeaks, notably Mount Lhotse, the fourth highest mountain in the world.  In 1953, after numerous attempts dating back over three decades, Everest was successfully climbed by New Zealand mountaineer Edmund Hillary and local Sherpa guide Tenzing Norgay.  Since then it the mountain has become the gold-standard for mountain climbing bragging rights, although to-date more than two-hundred have died trying to scale to the peak.

Although climbing to the top is not for everyone, visiting the area and viewing Everest from a distance has become increasingly popular among adventure travelers.  This typically involves traveling to one of the two base camps, Tibet to the north or Nepal to the south.  The more popular camp is the one in Nepal, which requires a one-week hike from the nearest town of Lukla.