8Mount+Everest

Mount Everest By:Kirsten       Mount Everest is considered a Modern Wonder of the World because it is the tallest mountain in the world. This giant mountain’s height is 29,035 feet tall, or five and a half miles above sea level. It is part of the Himalaya Mountain Range and is on the border of Nepal and Tibet, China. Not only is this mountain tall it is also very old. The approximate age of Mount Everest is sixty million years old.  The highest mountain in the world draws many different climbers of all abilities to this majestic site. Mount Everest is not considered to be a difficult climb along the standard route. Mount Everest’s environment, however, makes it a very dangerous climb. Those that make the climb may suffer from altitude sickness, hypothermia, and physical exhaustion. Battling the severe weather and wind conditions are also challenges climbers face while trying to make it to the peak of Mount Everest. At the end of the 2008 climbing season there had been approximately 2,700 individuals who climbed the icy slopes of Mount Everest. Sir Edmund Hilary was the first person to successfully climb Mount Everest in 1953. The first American to complete the icy hike up Mount Everest was James W. Whittaker, and the first woman to make it to the summit was Junkeo Tabei from Japan. Most climbers do not die while climbing the mountain, but approximately 200 people have died making the assent. Improvements in technology, in recent years, have lessened the risk of death on Mt. Everest.  Not only is there a history of the people who have successfully climbed Mount Everest, but there is also a history about its name. In Tibet, Mount Everest is known as Chomolungma, which means goddess mother of the world. In Nepal it is called Sagarmatha, which translates to goddess of the sky. Westerners originally referred to Everest as Peak XV, and it was only after the British Surveyor Sir George Everest, who performed the original survey of the mountain, that the name changed. Sir Everest discovered that Peak XV was the highest mountain on earth, and his discovery lead to the mountain being renamed, Mount Everest in his honor.  Mount Everest is a natural wonder of the World because it is the tallest mountain in the world. People from all over travel to China to attempt the climb of the highest mountain in the world. It provides a 29,035 feet hike that many climbers manage to complete each year. Climbers face many environmental challenges while trying to complete the hike to the top of Everest. Some hikers have died making this climb, but most survive and live to tell stories of this Natural Wonder of the World.  