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Common name: Everest

Original name: Jomolungma/Chomolungmu/Zhumulangma (Tibetan/Chinese for “holy mother”)

Location: Mahalangur Himal, Himalayas, Solukhumbu District, Sagarmatha Zone, Nepal and Tingri County, Xigazê Prefecture, Tibet Autonomous Region, People's Republic of China

Altitude: 8,848 meters (29,029 feet)

First (western) ascent: Edmund Hillary, 1953

Facts and trivia: After having been named Peak XV in Britain’s search for the highest mountain on Earth, Everest was given its official English name in 1865 after former Royal Geographical Society chief Sir George Everest.

The highest mountain in the world attracts many well-experienced mountaineers as well as novice climbers who are willing to pay substantial sums to professional mountain guides to complete a successful climb. The mountain, while not posing substantial technical climbing difficulty on the standard route still has many inherent dangers such as altitude sickness, weather, and wind.

Mt. Everest has two main climbing routes: the southeast ridge from Nepal and the northeast ridge from Tibet. The former is technically easier and is the more frequently used route (Edmund Hillary and Tenzing Norgay climbed this route in 1953).

Most Everest attempts are made in May, before the summer monsoon season which reduces the average wind speeds high on the mountain.