Mount Everest

Why Mount Everest is special
Mount Everest - whose summit is crossed by the border between Nepal and Tibet, China - is the world's tallest mountain.

Costly
Climbing Mount Everest is not cheap
Commercial expeditions can cost climbers $60,000 to $75,00 each.

Dangerous
Hefty death toll
More than 200 climbers have died. A few of them scaled the Mount Everest peak but met their demise during the descent.

Perils
Climbers face many deadly dangers on Mount Everest, including:

• Avalanches
• Slippery ice
• Collapsing crevasses
• Sudden storms
• Strong winds
• Subzero temperatures
• Oxygen deprivation

Then why do people climb Mount Everest?
Certainly, challenge and prestige are two answers. Another is "Because it is there", as famed mountaineer George Mallory stated.

Among the successful
First ascent
In 1953, Edmund Hillary and Tenzing Norgay became the first humans to scale Mount Everest. Some say two climbers accomplished this feat in 1924, but the evidence is weak.

Since 1953
More than 2,000 people have successfully reached the summit.

These accomplishments may surprise you
A blind person, a double-leg amputee, a 15-year- old, and a 70-year-old have successfully made it to the top. And other adventurers have skied, snowboarded and hang glided down the mountain.

When to climb Mount Everest
Window of opportunity
The annual window for ascending Mount Everest is short. Normally, conditions in this part of the Himalayan Mountains are the most favorable in April and May. Before then, the freezing winds are too strong. After May, the stormy monsoon season arrives.

Best route
Southern Ridge
It is the most popular (and easiest) route to the summit.

Viewing without scaling
Non-climbing hikers
Mount Everest is seen up close annually by tens of thousands of hardy adventurers who trek to breathtaking vantage points.

Non-hikers
They can see Mount Everest, too (though from greater distances). China and Nepal have sites for them. Darjeeling in India also has a special viewing spot.

Flight-seeing
Alternatively, you can take a flight-seeing tour. Some fly within a couple of miles of Mount Everest.

Location in China