Mount Everest (Chomolungma): Formation and History

“Everest has one particular attribute shared by no other mountain – it is the highest peak in the world” – (P. 343) Unsworth, Walt. Everest: The Mountaineering History, Third Edition. The Mountaineers, 2000.

Mount Everest (Chomolungma) (8,848.86 meters) is the highest peak in the world, located on the border between Nepal and China. It is known as Chomolungma, which means “Goddess Mother of the World” in the local Sherpa language, and as Sagarmatha in Nepali, meaning “Head of the Sky”. Today, it is one of the most sought-after destinations in the world.

Geological Formation of Mount Everest

Geographically, Mount Everest is part of the Mahalangur Himal range, a sub-range of the Himalayas that stretches over 2,400 km from east to west and 250 to 300 km from north to south. The Himalayas are regarded as the youngest geological formations on Earth, formed as a result of tectonic movements. Approximately, 65 million years ago, the Indian Plate began moving northwards and collided with the Eurasian Plate about 40 to 50 million years ago.

It is said that Mount Everest was once underwater. There used to be a sea called the Tethys Sea where India lies today. Due to the collision between the Eurasian and the Indian Plates, the Tethys Sea drained about 30 million year ago. The collision caused the sediments and stones under the sea to rise, eventually forming mountains.

The Himalayas began forming 10 to 20 million years ago and became the world’s highest peak approximately 600,000 years ago. The Indian Plate is still moving northwards at a rate of approximately 5 cm per year, causing the Himalayas to rise by more than 1 cm per year. Tectonic movements are a major cause of earthquakes in Nepal.

The Discovery and Naming History of Mount Everest

During the 19^th century, when India was under British rule, the Great Trigonometrical Survey of India was established on April 10, 1802 and began surveying the Indian subcontinent. Because the Nepalese and Tibetan borders were closed to foreigners at that time, the surveyors measured the heights of the Himalayan peaks from a distance. Unable to approach the peaks or communicate with locals, they were unaware of the local names of these peaks and assigned them different official names.

One peak, which was discovered from 140 miles away, was initially named “Gamma.” At that time, Lieutenant Colonel Andrew Scott Waugh was the British Surveyor General of India. Gamma was the first official name given to the peak. In 1847, Gamma was renamed “Peak B”. Until then, Mount Kanchenjunga (8,586 m) was considered the highest peak in the world. Additional surveys were conducted to measure the height of Peak B. In 1852, a survey conducted by Radha Nath Sikdar and a Nepali corporal, Tej Bir Budhathoki, revealed that Peak B was higher than Kanchenjunga. After Peak B was recognized as the highest peak, it was renamed Peak XV.

Since the surveyors were unaware of the local name for Peak XV, in 1856, Surveyor General Andrew Waugh published a report proposing to rename it “Mount Everest” in honour of his predecessor, Sir George Everest, who was believed to have had little or no direct involvement in discovery and measuring height of the peak. In 1865, the Royal Geographical Society accepted Waugh’s recommendation and officially confirmed the name “Mount Everest.” The name Everest is now pronounced as /ˈevərəst/, which differs slightly from the original pronunciation of Sir George Everest, /ˈiːvərɪst/.

Today, Everest is the globally accepted name for the mountain. However, there are various traditional names used by the locals. Sherpas on the Nepalese side and Tibetans refer to it as Chomolungma, meaning “Goddess Mother of the World”. In 1956, Nepalese historian laureate Baburam Acharya coined the Nepalese name Sagarmatha, meaning “The Head of the Sky”.

Climbing History and World Records

The first expedition to Mount Everest took place in 1921, led by The British Reconnaissance Team under Lt. Col. Charles Howard Bury. The expedition was operated from the Tibetan side, as the Nepalese border was closed to foreigners. The primary goal was exploration rather than reaching the summit. George Leigh Mallory, a key figure in Everest’s climbing history, was part of the 1921 expedition. Mallory, along with his companion Andrew Irving, perished in 1924 while attempting to summit Everest. Mallory was last seen about 300 meters below the summit. His body was discovered 75 years later in 1999, approximately 690 meters below the summit. It remains unclear whether Mallory and Irving reached the summit before their deaths.

Following the 1921 expedition, numerous attempts to climb Everest were made, most of which were unsuccessful. Expeditions were conducted from the Nepalese side after Nepal opened its borders to foreigners in the early 1950s. On May 29, 1953, Sir Edmund Hillary of New Zealand and Tenzing Norgay Sherpa of Nepal made history by becoming the first people to reach the summit. They were part of the Tenth British Expedition, led by John Hunt from the Nepalese side.

Since 1953, Everest has been the site of numerous world records. In 1960, Wang Fu-chou and Chu Ying-hau of China became the first people to climb Everest from the Tibetan side. Until 1975, it was believed that only men could summit Everest, but Junko Tabei of Japan broke this convention on May 16, 1975, becoming the first woman to reach the summit. In 1978, Reinhold Messner, along with Peter Habler, made history by becoming the first people to climb Everest without the use of supplemental oxygen. A few years later, in 1980, Messner achieved another milestone by making the first solo ascent of Everest.

In 1988, Jean March Boivin of France became the first person to paraglide from the summit, descending to camp II in 11 minutes. On May 27, 1998, Tom Whittakar of the USA became the first disabled person to summit Everest. Similarly, Erik Weinhenmayer of the USA became the first blind person to summit in 2001. In October 2000, Davo Karnicar of Slovenia became the first person to ski from the summit, descending to the base camp in 5 hours. In addition to these achievement, numerous other exciting and unusual records have been set on Everest.

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