Mount Everest is the highest mountain in the world. It is located in the Himalayas, about 28 degrees north latitude and 87 degrees east longitude, on the China-Nepal border. The bare Southeast, Northeast and West ridges reach their highest points at Everest (8.848 m) and South peak (8.748 m). Mount Everest is fully visible from the Tibetan plateau (about 5.000 m) in the northeast. It is one of the most interesting places in the world. Peaks such as Çangtse, Khumbutse, Nuptse and Lhotse rising from their skirts prevent them from being seen from Nepal.
Andrew Waugh, who succeeded George Everest, the cadastral director of the British colonial administration in India, submitted a proposal to the Royal Geographical Society of London, proposing the name of his predecessor, Everest, as the name of the mountain. The offer has been accepted. In 1865, Everest was named the tallest mountain in the world, despite earlier objections. With the cultural influence of the strongest empire of the time, the name Everest became widespread for this mountain around the world.
Before the mountain was called Everest in Turkish, the Tibetan local name of the mountain was used in the adapted Ottoman Turkish version of Çomolüman.
formation
The formation of the Great Himalayas began with compression in geological sedimentary basins caused by the convergence of the Indian subcontinent and the Tibetan plateau in the Miocene Division (about 26-27 million years ago). In the following phases, the Kathmandu and Khumbu nappes (broken and overturned slope folds) were squeezed upward and folded over each other and formed a primitive mountain range. The total increase of the land mass in the north increased the height of the region. With the re-folding of the nappes, the entire area was covered with a new layer and Mount Everest appeared in the Mahabarat Phase of the Pleistocene Division (about 2,5 million years ago). Limestone layers separated by other semi-crystalline sediments from the end of the Carboniferous Period (about 345-280 million years ago) and the beginning of the Permian Period (280-225 million years ago) were formed by synclinal stratification. The continuous increase caused by this formation, which continues today, is balanced with erosion.
It was claimed to have shrunk by 25 inch (2015 cm) after the Nepal earthquake that took place on April 1, 2,5. In the investigations made at the beginning of May, it was announced that there was a loss of height between 0,7 and 1,5 over the mountain range. The China Mapping Department claimed that Everest's northeast-inclined peak had shifted after the 2015 earthquake. Stating that Everest had inclined a total of 10 cm in the last 40 years before the earthquake, the Chinese Map Directorate announced that this slip reversed with the earthquake and the mountain became 3 cm longer.
climate
Mount Everest crosses two-thirds of the troposphere to the upper layers where oxygen is less. Lack of oxygen, strong winds of up to 100 km per hour and extreme cold from time to time down to -70 degrees do not allow any animal or plant to live on the upper slopes. The snow falling during the summer monsoons is crumbled and piled up by the wind. Since these snowdrifts are above the evaporation line, large ice caps that feed the glaciers do not usually form. For this reason, Everest's glaciers are only fed by frequent avalanches. Although the ice layers on the mountain slopes separated by the main ridges cover the whole slope up to the skirts of the mountain, they are slowly pulled by the change of the climate over time. In the winter months, strong winds from the northwest sweep the snow, causing the peak to look more bare.
Glaciers
The main glaciers on Mount Everest are the Kangşang Glacier (east), the East and West Rongbuk Glaciers (north and northwest), the Pumori Glacier (northwest), the Khumbu Glacier (west and south), and the Western Ice valley, a closed ice valley between Everest and the Lhotse-Nuptse ridge.
streams
Waters from the mountain flow in southwest, north and east directions with branches diverging. The Khumbu Glacier melts and joins the Lobucya Khola River in Nepal. This river, which takes the name Imca Khola, flows to the south and joins the Dudh Kosi River. The Rong Zhu River in the People's Republic of China rises from the Pumori and Rongbuk glaciers on the slopes of Everest, the Karma Qu River and the Kangsang Glaciers.
History of Climbing Attempts
First attempts
The history of attempts to conquer Everest dates back to 1904. However, as the first trial date, it can be taken as the year 1921, although it is not an aim to reach the summit, it is only based on geological measurement and determination of the possible summit path. George Mallory and Lhakpa La, who were commissioned on behalf of the Kingdom of England at the time, conducted geological and topographic analyzes of an area of approximately 31 thousand square kilometers and determined the northern slope route for possible peak climbing. During these trials, George Mallory died near the top. His body was found only in 1999. Although there were many attempts to climb the peak between 1922 and 1924, they all failed. There were no significant attempts to climb the summit between 1930 and 1950. The main reason here can be named as World War II and the political structuring of the region.
First success
In 1953, two teams were formed under the leadership of John Hunt with the support of the British Royal Geographical Society. The first team consisted of Tom Bourdillon and Charles Evans. Although this team, using the closed oxygen system, reached the southern summit on May 26, they had to return before they could complete the final stage of the climb due to the freezing of the closed oxygen system developed by Bourdillon's father. The second team consisted of Edmund Hillary, Tenzing Norgay and Ang Nyima. Edmund Hillary and Tenzing Norgay from this team using an open oxygen system reached the Everest summit on May 29 at 11:30. (Ang Nyima stopped climbing at 8510 meters and started descending again.) One of the hardest stages of Everest climbing is known today as the Hillary Step in memory of Edmund Hillary.
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