NOTE: Due to year-round climbing activity along more than a dozen routes up the mountain, statistics on ascents change constantly. Figures given are approximate.
There are over 60 mountains in the Himalayas and neighboring regions, from Kashmir to India, that are higher than the highest mountains on any of the other continents.
Ten Highest Mountains in the World:
All of these, as well as the next 57 highest mountains, are part of the Himalayas or in ranges that were formed by the same geologic processes.
Peak Location (')Elevation
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Everest Nepal/Tibet 29,028
K2 Kashmir 28,250
Kanchenjunga India/Nepal 28,208
Lhotse I Nepal/Tibet 27,923
Makalu Nepal/Tibet 27,824
Lhotse II Nepal/Tibet 27,560
Dhaulagiri Nepal 26,810
Manaslu I Nepal 26,760
Cho Oyu Nepal/Tibet 26,750
Nanga Parbat Kashmir 26,660
First successful ascent:
May 29, 1953. 11:30 a.m.
First to reach the summit:
Edmund Hillary and Tenzing Norgay
Number of porters used for the 1953 expedition:
350
Number of expeditions since 1921:
300 (approximate)
Current expeditions each year via Nepal:
3 per route (5 routes) per season
Successful expeditions since 1953:
over 60
Unsuccessful expeditions:
over 240
Odds for an expedition to place at least one climber on the summit:
1/4
Number of people who have reached the summit:
over 300
Number of women who have reached the summit:
over 8
First woman to reach the summit:
Junko Tabei (Japan), May 16, 1975
Number of people who made more than one ascent:
over 30
Most ascents by one person:
6 (Ang Rita, a Sherpa)
Most successful ascents during one expedition:
17 (Norwegian, 1985, via South Col).
Oldest successful climber:
Richard Bass (USA), 55 years 130 days
The three nations with the most successful ascents:
#1 Japan, #2 USA, #3 France
Number of people killed on Everest:
over 103
Number of Sherpas killed:
over 41
Nation (apart from Nepal) with most climbers killed on Everest:
Japan
Ratio of deaths to successful ascents:
1:3
Odds death by avalanche on Everest:
1:2
Site of most deaths:
Khumbu Icefall (approximately 1/5 of total)
Year with highest fatalities:
1982 (11 dead)
Years since 1969 without at least one fatality:
1
Highest living permanent resident on Everest:
the jumping spider (22,000 feet)
Three ways (other than walking) people have descended from the summit: