Time Tangled Island: Mount Everest

Factropica Fast Facts and quizzes

by Beth Rowen

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Factropica Fast Facts

• Climbers first attempted to climb Everest in 1921, after Tibet opened its borders to outsiders.
• On May 29, 1953, Edmund Hillary, a New Zealand beekeeper, and Tenzing Norgay, an acclaimed Sherpa climber, became the first to reach the summit of Mt. Everest, which is called the "roof of the world."
• Tenzing Norgay spoke seven languages, but could not write.
• Sherpas are a people of Tibetan ancestry who migrated to Nepal about 600 years ago. They are renowned for their ability to tolerate high altitudes, their mountaineering abilities, and their extraordinary bravery.
• According to National Geographic, Mount Everest grows about 4 millimeters a year. The official height of Everest, as of Nov. 11, 1999, is 29,035 feet.
• Mount Everest is also called "Chomolungma" by Tibetans and Sherpas. It means "Mother Goddess of the Earth."
• In 1963, the first American, James Whittaker, summits Mount Everest.
• The Japanese-run Everest View Hotel is at 12,779 feet the highest hotel in the world.
• In 1975, Japan's Junko Tabei became the first woman to summit Mount Everest.
• Reinhold Messner was the first climber to summit Everest alone. Later, he became the first to reach the top without oxygen.

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