Is Mount Everest Still the World's Highest Mountain?

Nepal has ordered a new measurement of Mount Everest to determine its exact height and end a series of disputes.

For decades Nepal has claimed the height is 29,028 feet or 8,448 meters, but western and Chinese climbers and geologists have started to contest these measurements, the Associated Press has reported.

Nepal and China, whose boarders share the mountain, have had disputes about the way in which the mountain is measured. The Chinese have said it should be measured by the height of the mountain's rock, while Nepal believes it should be measured according to the height of the snow, which is roughly 4 meters higher.

During an annual budget speech last week the Nepal government decided to carry out a new measurement, which the Land Reforms Minister Spokesman Gopal Giri said would take up to two years.

We have begun the measurement to clear this confusion. Now we have the technology and the resources, we can measure ourselves, Giri said.

Measurements of the Mountain will be carried out by placing a device on the peak, which will measure the height using satellite technology. The current widely accepted measurement was taken by an American expedition in 1999 that used GPS to determine the position of the Mountain's peak.It is used by the US National Geographic Society, but has not been accepted by Nepal.

This will be the first time Nepal takes their own measurement of the mountain.

Mount Everest Facts

Source: www.mnteverest.net

Age of Everest:

Everest was formed about 60 million years ago

Elevation:

29,035 (8850m)-found to be 6' higher in 1999

Name in Nepal:

Sagarmatha (means: goddess of the sky)

In Tibet:

Chomolungma: (means: mother goddess of the universe)

Named after:

Sir George Everest in 1865 ,the British surveyor-general of India. Once known as Peak 15

Location:

Latitude 27° 59' N.....Longitude 86° 56' E It's summit ridge separates Nepal and Tibet

First Ascent:

May 29,1953 by Sir Edmund Hillary, NZ and Tenzing Norgay, NP, via the South Col Route

First Solo Ascent:

Aug. 20,1980, Reinhold Messner, IT, via the NE Ridge to North Face

First winter Ascent:

Feb. 17,1980 -L.Cichy and K. Wielicki, POL

First Ascent by an American:

May 1,1963, James Whittaker, via the South-Col

Mt. Everest rises a few millimeters each year due to geological forces

Everest Name:

Sir George Everest was the first person to record the height and location of Mt. Everest, this is where Mt.Everest got its name from(In american language)

First Ascent by a Woman:

May 16,1975, Junko Tabei, JAP, via the South-Col

First Ascent by an American Woman:

Sep.29,1988, Stacey Allison, Portland, OR via the South-East Ridge

First Oxygenless Ascent:

May 8, 1978- Reinhold Messner, IT, and Peter Habeler, AUT, via the South-East Ridge

First woman to reach the summit of Mount Everest from both north & south sides:

Cathy O'Dowd (S.A.) South May 25,1996/North '99

Fastest Ascent from South:

Babu Chhiri Sherpa 34, NP-16 hours and 56 minutes (5-21-2000)

Fastest Ascent (north side):

Hans Kammerlander (IT) May,24,1996, via the standard North Col Ridge Route, 16 hours 45 minutes from base camp

Youngest person:

Temba Tsheri (NP) 15 on May,22,2001

Oldest Person:

Sherman Bull May,25,2001 -64 yrs

First Legally Blind Person:

Erik Weihenmeyer May,25,2001

Most Ascents:

Eleven, 24th May 2000 Appa Sherpa became the first person to climb Everest 11 times-Ten, Ang Rita Sherpa, Babu Chiri Sherpa all ascents were oxygen-less.

Best and Worst Years on Everest:

1993, 129 summitted and eight died (a ratio of 16:1); in 1996, 98 summitted and 15 died (a ratio of 6½:1)

Highest cause cause of death:

Avalanches-about a (2:1) ratio over falls

Country with most deaths on mountain:

Nepal-46

Most dangerous area on mountain:

Khumbu Ice Fall-19 deaths

First ski descent:

Davo Karnicar (Slovenia) 10-7-2000

Last year without ascent:

1974