route location elevation (ft) Basecamp 17,500 Khumbu Icefall 17,500-19,500 Camp I 19,500 Western Cwm 19,500-21,000 Camp II 21,000 Camp III 23,500 Camp IV 26,300 Balcony 27,500 Hillary Step 28,800 Everest 29,028 Lhotse 27,920 Nuptse 25,792 The South Col Route Mouse over the climbing route for info and click to see a photo from that spot on Everest.

	Annual Stats
		S	2	'53		D
		U		'54		E
		M		'55		A
		M	4	'56		T
		I		'57		H
		T		'58		S
		S		'59
			3	'60	1
				'61
				'62	1
			6	'63	1
				'64
			9	'65
				'66	1
				'67
				'68
				'69	1
			4	'70	8
				'71	1
				'72	1
			10	'73	1
				'74	6
			15	'75	2
			4	'76	1
			2	'77
			25	'78	2
			18	'79	6
			10	'80	3
			5	'81	1
			18	'82	11
			23	'83	3
			17	'84	8
			30	'85	7
			4	'86	4
			2	'87	4
			50	'88	10
			24	'89	8
			72	'90	4
			38	'91	2
			90	'92	5
			129	'93	8
			51	'94	5
			83	'95	3
			98	'96	15
			85	'97	9
	Data from The New York Times

Elevation: 29,028'; five miles up; the world's highest summit is at about the cruising altitude of a jet.

Local Names: Sagarmatha (Nepal), Chomolungma (Tibet). It means "mother goddess of the earth."

The Death Zone: Above 26,000' there's about a third of the oxygen available at sea level. Even acclimated, the body begins to shut down, and if a person stays that high long enough, they will die. Most climbers use oxygen here for climbing and sleeping.

First Ascent: 1953, Sir Edmund Hillary, NZ and Tenzing Norgay, Nepal, via the South Col Route. Neither has ever said who stepped on the summit first.

Because It's There: in 1924, George Mallory and Andrew Irvine, GBR, were last seen going strong for the top. It is unknown if they reached the summit before disappearing. In 1921, Mallory had led the first ever expedition to Everest.

Best and Worst Years on Everest: in 1993, 129 summitted and eight died (a ratio of 16:1); in 1996, 98 summitted and 15 died (a ratio of 6.5:1).

First Oxygenless Ascent: 1978, Reinhold Messner, ITL and Peter Habeler, AUS, via the South-East Ridge.

First Solo Ascent: 1980, Reinhold Messner, via the North Col to North Face.

First Ascent by a Woman: 1975, Junko Tabei, JAP, via the South-East Ridge.

First Ascent by an American: 1963, James Whittaker, via the South-East Ridge.

First Ascent by an American Woman: 1988, Stacey Allison, via the South-East Ridge.

Wind: climber Dave Breashears has compared the ominous sound of evening winds on the upper mountain to that of a 747 jet taking off endlessly.

Narrow Window: weather on Everest permits reasonable climbing only in May and October between winter snows and summer monsoons.