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Scaling Mt.Everest

Pushing one's limit !


Image credit:pbs.org

On May 19, 2012, a 73-year old Japanese woman , Tamae Watanabe , reached the peak for the second time. She did scaled the peak when she was 63 year's old. So why do human's take on this treacheorous adventure? Is it because it is there? Such a feat has to be achieved against various odds - extreme weather, lack of oxygen, exhaustion, frost bite, frozen caverns, dangerous ice falls such as Khumbu ice fall. Don't discount the fact that it costs a lot of money to plan such an expedition. As Edmund Hillary rightly said "Strong motivation is the most important factor in getting you to the top". Every year approximately 4000 people attempt to scale the mountain but only around 1500 has reached the summit so far.

In this brain tickler section, let us explore some interesting aspects of the highest point on earth. Check yourself.


Image credit: blog.firstascent.com

What does the word "Everest" means?

a. God's mountain
b. Highest in excellence
c. Eponymn - a word based on a person
d. Beyond human's limit

Answer: [c]
Mt.Everest is named after the British Surveyor General of India Sir. George Everest who helped in recording the location and height of Peak 15 (later named as Mt.Everest) in 1875. Even though it is known as Mt.Everest for the world, it is known as "Sagarmatha (means: Goddess of the Sky)" in Nepal, "Chomolungma" or "Qomolangma (means: mother goddess of the universe)" in Tibet, "Shèngmu Feng (means: mother godess of the universe)" in Chinese and "Deodungha (means: Holy Mountain)" in Darjeeling.

Image credit: blog.firstascent.com

Do you know Mt. Everest is not the tallest mountain on the earth. One of the following mountain is taller than Mt.Everest. Find which one.

a. K2
b. Kangchenchunga
c. Nangaparbhat
d. Mauna Kea

Answer: [d]
The height of Mauna Kea is 10,200m from base however 5995m is below sea and only 4205m is above the sea. Mt.Everest is 8848m above the sea and none below sea.


Image credit: blog.firstascent.com

While the success rate for scaling Mt.Everest is very low, one Nepali climber could not really understand what the big fuss is about! He scaled the peak multiple times and holds the highest record for reaching Mt.Everest mutiple times. Do you know how many times he scaled the peak?

a. 7
b. 9
c. 11
d. 13

Answer: [c]
Nepal's Apa Sherpa, has climbed Everest 11 times so far. So what is the big fuss! How come he is not as popular as many of our other celebrities?


Image credit: blog.firstascent.com

Many of us can only imagine reaching the summit of Mt.Everest. How do you think the summit will look like?

a. a peak covered with snow
b. a rocky peak
c. a wide slope for two men to go side by side
d. a lump of feathery snow

Answer: [d]
While the pictures floating around makes us believe that the summit could be a peak covered with snow it is really a wide slope for two men to go side by side. This is what Tenzing wrote in his book "Tiger of the Snows, The Autobiography of Tenzing of Everest", "We are back among the snowy humps. They are curving off to the right, and each time we pass one I wonder, "Is the next the last one? Is the next the last?" Finally we reach a place where we can see past the humps, and beyond them is the great open sky and brown plains. We are looking down the far side of the mountain upon Tibet. Ahead of us now is only one more hump—the last hump. It is not a pinnacle. The way to it is an easy slope, wide enough for two men to go side by side. About thirty feet away we stop for a minute and look up. Then we go on...."


Image credit:: blog.firstascent.com

Which of the following things you think might be TRUE?

a. a couple married at the top of the mountain
b. a mountaineer stayed at the summit for 21 and half hours
c. one mountaineer descended the summit in a record 11 minutes
d. Both India and Nepal claimed Tenzing to be its citizen once he conquered the summit

Answer: [a],[b],[c],[d]
a. Nepalese Mona Mulepati and Pem Dorje Sherpa married at the top of the mountain on May 30th 2005
b. Babu Chiri Sherpa stayed at the summit for 21.5 hours.
c. Mr. Jean-Marc Boivin of France descended from the top to bottom in just 11 minutes by paragliding in 1988.
d. There was much controversy and political intrigue after Tenzing's summit of Everest. Nepalese government wanted him to claim he was Nepalese while the Indian government wanted him to say he was an Indian citizen. In fact, he was both. As he said to the press at the time: "I was born in the womb of Nepal and raised in the lap of India."


Hope you had fun!