- Even high in the sky, with barely enough air to breathe, we still can’t hide from spiders. Euophrys omnisuperstes (“standing above everything”), better known as Himalayan jumping spiders, hide in nooks and crevices on the slopes of Everest, making them one of the Earth’s highest permanent residents. Climbers have spotted them as high as 6,700 meters (22,000 ft).
Two Sherpas, Apa Sherpa and Phurba Tashi, hold the joint record for most Everest ascents. The pair have each managed to reach the summit an impressive 21 times. Phurba reached the top of the world three times in 2007 alone, and Apa has successfully summited the mountain almost every year between 1990 and 2011.
Although the Himalayan Mountains formed 60 million years ago, Everest’s history actually goes back a lot further. The limestone and sandstone rock at the summit of the mountain was once part of sedimentary layers below sea level 450 million years ago.
Over time, ocean floor rocks were forced together and pushed upward at a speed of up to 11 centimeters (4.5 in) per year, eventually reaching the current position. The upper formations of Everest now contain marine fossils of sea creatures and shells that once occupied the earlier ocean.
Explorer Noel Odell first discovered the fossils embedded within Everest’s rocks in 1924, proving that the mountain had once been below sea level. The first rock specimens from Everest were brought back by Swiss climbers in 1956 and by an American climbing team in 1963.
A research team discovered in 1994 that Everest continues to grow approximately 4 millimeters (0.16 in) every year. The Indian subcontinent was originally an independent landmass that collided with Asia, forming the Himalayas, and the continental plates are still moving, pushing the mountains ever higher.
Although we know the mountain as “Everest,” Tibetan natives have called the mountain by the ancient name “Chomolungma” (also spelled “Qomolangma”) for centuries. The Tibetan name means “Goddess Mother of Mountains.” But that isn’t the only other name it goes by. The Nepalese people know it as “Sagarmatha,” meaning “Forehead in the Sky,” so the mountain is now a part of the Nepalese “Sagarmatha National Park.”
Reinhold Messner was the first to climb the mountain without oxygen, along with Peter Habeler, in 1978. Two years later, Messner surpassed the achievement, reaching the summit solo – again without bottled oxygen.
Did you know that everest actually has 4 names!?!?!
1. Nepalese name: Sagarmatha : Forehead[or goddess] of the sky
2. Tibetan name: Chomolungma: Mother Goddess of the Universe
3. Zhumulangma Feng : The chinese version of Chomolungma
4. Everest: All 3
- Even high in the sky, with barely enough air to breathe, we still can’t hide from spiders. Euophrys omnisuperstes (“standing above everything”), better known as Himalayan jumping spiders, hide in nooks and crevices on the slopes of Everest, making them one of the Earth’s highest permanent residents. Climbers have spotted them as high as 6,700 meters (22,000 ft).