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Mt. Everest from space.
Source: NASA

One thing that strikes me right away about the picture of Everest from space is the fact that it looks somewhat like the picture of the so called pyramid on Mars. Below is another photograph from NASA with pointers to give you the exact location of Mt. Everest in the mountain range. You can click on it to enlarge it for a better view, as you can on the oyher photos on this page.

In this view the north wall and south face of Everest are visible
Source: NASA

Since Mt. Everest is the tallest mountain above water, many people desire to climb it, and many people have. Mt. Everest is strewn with trash of all sorts. There are empty oxygen bottles, tents, a crashed helicopter, food, clothes and other items. You can't just go to Nepal and climb the mountain. You have to pay a fee. The latest fee schedule I could find indicated that it was $50,000 per team, but if the team includes five or more members it will have to pay an additional fee of $10,000 per member. An additional fee of $20,000 is to be paid by the team willing to scale by the normal south - east ridge route. Of course these fees don't include anything else, like clothing, oxygen, supplies, shelter etc. You might say well how much could anyone charge for a cylinder of oxygen? The answer for Mt. Everest climbers is $450 per. The climbers are charged duty for the equipment they bring to use on the mountain, but they do get a partial exemption. Would you like to stay in Katmandu while getting ready for your climb? Here is a list of their 5 Star Hotels and the prices per day:

Soaltee Crowne Plaza Tahachal, Katmandu $280 - $1000
The Everest Hotel New Baneswor, Katmandu $200 - $700
Radisson Hotel Lazimpat, Katmandu $200 - $700
Hyatt Regency Taragaon, Boudha, Katmandu $280 - $1100
Hotel Yak & Yeti Durbar Marg, Katmandu $200 - $700

You could stay in a much cheaper hotel. There are budget hotels that rent rooms for as cheap as $60.00 per day.

Everest at sunrise
Source: USGS

In 1924 two Englishmen decided to form a team of climbers and attack Mt. Everest. They were George Mallory and Andrew Irvine. Mallory wanted to be the first person ever to climb the mountain. The two began their climb and disappeared into history. No one ever knew if they made it to the top or not. In 1999 Mallory's body was discovered a couple of thousand feet from the summit. He may have fallen there and it is possible he made it to the top, but this is something we will never know. Sir Edmund Hillary is credited as being the first man to the top in 1953.

Mt. Everest has become the world's highest cemetery. The bodies of many climbers rest on the mountain in perpetual preservation due to the freezing temperatures. It is estimated that over 100 tons of trash are littered all over the mountain.

When I said a lot of people wanted to climb Mt. Everest, the figures are 1,114 from the Nepal and Tibet side of the mountain. 167 people have died in the attempt. This means that about 15% of all climbers die, not the best odds are they? About three tons of garbage have been removed from the mountain and plans are being made to display the trash in Japan and Korea, to build public awareness of the trash problem on the mountain. The trash was sorted by nationality.

People don't just climb Mt. Everest on any date. The most popular time to climb is the month of May. It is so crowded that on May 10 in 1993, forty people made it to the summit. Maybe someone should put a hot dog stand up there. May also has sudden storms and eight people died in May 1996 trying to scale Everest.

A Yak is a very important animal in Nepal. It is sort of a Nepalese sheep. Yaks climb high and may be encountered as high as 17,600 feet.

There was supposed to be a primitive Kodak camera on the with Andrew Irvine. It is hoped that if this camera can be found, the film in it can still be developed. Kodak states that it should be possible, due to the cold weather conditions on the mountain. It is hoped that there may be a picture showing Mallory at the summit.

There is a Sherpa who has been to the summit of Mt. Everest TEN times and another that has been there EIGHT times. One Sherpa stayed at the summit or almost a day without the aid of oxygen.