Mount EVEREST 8848 m

Mount EVEREST (8848 m)

Mt Everest (Chomolungma Goodess mother of the world)

first climbed by Edmund HILLARY in 1953

location: Nepal, Himalayas(east); the peak is 8848m / 29108 ft high.

Everest, Mount

Mount Everest, the world's highest mountain, rises in the eastern

HIMALAYAS between Nepal and Tibet, about 160 km (100 mi)

northeast of Katmandu. A young, limestone mountain not yet worn

by erosion, it has two peaks, one of which reaches 8,872 m

(29,108 ft). Everest is covered with snow except for its bare,

gale-swept summits. Many glaciers, including spectacular

Rongbuk, feed rivers that rise near Everest's base. The mountain

supports little life, although spiders and insects have been

found as high as 6,100 m (20,000 ft). The mountain's name, given

in 1865, honors Sir George Everest, the British surveyor general

of India who established the location and approximate altitude of

the mountain. The Tibetan name Chomolungma means 'goddess mother

of the world.'

Climbing attempts began in the early 1920s, and several

expeditions came within 300 m (1,000 ft) of the top. Success

came after the development of special equipment to cope with the

low oxygen supply, high winds, and extreme cold. On May 29,

1953, Edmund HILLARY of New Zealand and Tenzing Norgay, a

Nepalese Sherpa tribesman, members of an expedition led by

British Col. John Hunt, reached the top. Since then Everest has

been conquered many times, with the first successful U.S. attempt

in 1963.

Bibliography: Ahluwalia, H. P., Faces of Everest (1978);

Hillary, Edmund, High Adventure (1955); West, J. B., Everest:

The Testing Place (1985).

Picture Caption[s]

Mount Everest, the world's highest mountain, rises in the eastern

Himalayas between Nepal and Tibet. It has two peaks, one of

which reaches 8,872 m (29,108 ft). (T. Spencer/Colorific)

K2 (8611 m)

K2 (Godwin Austen)

first climbed by Ardito Desio in 1954

location: Pakistan, Himalayas (west); the peak is 8611m / 28268 ft high.

Copyright - 1992 Grolier Electronic Publishing, Inc.

Godwin Austen

Godwin Austen, officially named K2, is the world's second highest

peak and is located in northern Kashmir, Pakistan, in the

KARAKORAM RANGE of the Himalayas. It has an elevation of 8,616 m

(28,268 ft). It was the second peak to be measured in the 1856

survey of the Karakoram Range (hence, K2) and was originally

named for its first surveyor, Henry Haversham Godwin-Austen

(1834-1923). Numerous attempts to reach its snow- and

glacier-covered summit failed until an Italian team, led by the

geologist Ardito Desio, succeeded in 1954.

To the north the land rises to elevations between

300 and 600 m (1,000 and 2,000 ft) in the Himalayan foothills and

elevations of more than 6,000 m (20,000 ft) in the rugged

mountains of the HINDU KUSH and Kashmir's KARAKORAM RANGE, where

GODWIN AUSTEN (K2), the world's second highest peak, rises to

8,611 m (28,250 ft).

Copyright - 1992 Grolier Electronic Publishing, Inc.

Mc Kinley (6195 m)

Mount McKinley (Denali): location: North America, Alaska;

two peaks: South Peak (6190 m/20320 ft) first climbed by Hudson STUCK in 1913.

North Peak (5934 m/19470 ft) first climbed by the Sourdough party in 1909.

Copyright - 1992 Grolier Electronic Publishing, Inc.

McKinley, Mount

Mount McKinley (or Denali), in south central Alaska, is the

highest mountain in North America. Located in the Alaska Range

about 240 km (150 mi) south of Fairbanks, Mount McKinley is a

twin-peaked mountain; the higher South Peak (6,190 m/20,320 ft)

was first climbed by the Hudson STUCK expedition in 1913, and the

North Peak (5,934 m/19,470 ft) was first climbed by the Sourdough

party in 1909. The mountain was named for future President

William McKinley in 1896 by W. A. Dickey, a prospector; the peak

was previously called Densmore's Peak. The mountain has severe

weather, and the upper two-thirds is permanently snow-covered,

with winds to 160 km/h (100 mph) near the summit. Earthquakes

sheared off much of the south face in 1912. Wildlife includes

Dall sheep and caribou. The peak is included in Denali National

Park which was established in 1917 as McKinley National Park.

Picture Caption[s]

Mount McKinley (or Denali), in south central Alaska, is the

highest mountain in North America. Named for future President

William McKinley in 1896, its South Peak (6,190 m/20,320 ft) was

first climbed by the Hudson Stuck expedition in 1913. (ZEFA)

Kilimanjaro (5894 m)

Kilimanjaro location: Africa, Tanzania

first climbed by Johannes Rebmann and Ludwig Krapf in 1848.

two peaks: Kibo 5895 m / 19340 ft high

Mawenzi 5149 m / 17564 ft

Copyright - 1992 Grolier Electronic Publishing, Inc.

Kilimanjaro

Kilimanjaro, the highest mountain in

Africa, is a snow-covered inactive volcano on the plains of

northeastern Tanzania close to the border with Kenya. It has two

peaks: the taller, Kibo, is 5,895 m (19,340 ft) high, and the

lower, Mawenzi, is 5,149 m (17,564 ft). Kibo and Mawenzi are

connected by a ridge. The crater of Kibo, 2 km (1.2 mi) wide and

up to 300 m (984 ft) deep, is covered by a thick, slowly

decreasing ice cap. Members of the Masai tribe inhabit the lower

parts of the mountain, where there are also coffee plantations.

The first Europeans to discover Kilimanjaro, the legendary burial

place of King Solomon, were two German missionaries, Johannes

Rebmann and Ludwig Krapf, in 1848. Their tales of a snow-covered

peak near the equator, however, were not initially believed.

Later two other Germans were the first to reach (1889) the Kibo

summit.