Have you ever heard that Mount Everest was once under the sea?! Here are five magnificent Mount Everest facts for kids.
Mount Everest stands at 8848 metres tall, meaning its peak is 8848 metres above sea level. Climbing to the top of Mount Everest is a big achievement for mountain climbers but it is a very big climb. Mount Everest even gets a little bit bigger every year. That means that Mount Everest is growing. This is caused by the two tectonic plates which create the mountain pushing together. Every year Mount Everest grows around 44 millimetres, that means that every hundred years Mount Everest gets 40 centimetres taller.
Climbers want to climb Mount Everest to prove that they can make the perilous journey and thousands of people have successfully reached the top. However it is still a very difficult feat which takes a lot of time. To start the climb to the summit, or peak, of Mount Everest you first have to hike to the base camp. This first part of the journey takes between 10 days and two weeks. Then the climb up the mountain can take another 40 days. That’s a lot of climbing.
Mount Everest was formed millions of years ago when two tectonic plates collided, before this collision the area where Mount Everest is now was an ocean. Scientists have found sandstone and evidence of sea life at the tip of the mountain. There have even been fossils of fish and shells found at the peak of Mount Everest 8848 metres from sea level.
People who climb Everest mostly do so during April, May, or September. This is because of the environment on Mount Everest that makes it dangerous. Everest has very strong winds for most of the year called jet streams. These winds make it nearly impossible to climb. In winter there is heavy snowfall and storms which make it dangerous to climb. Only 15 people have ever made it to the summit of Mount Everest in winter.
The Sherpa people are a group of people who live in Eastern Tibet near Mount Everest. They know the area and the mountains due to generations of them living there. The title ‘Sherpa’ is now given to anyone who guides people up Mount Everest because of the skill and expertise of the Sherpa people. These people are experts that help make sure tourists are able to take on the climb safely.
We hope you enjoyed learning more things about Mount Everest as much as we loved teaching you about it. Now that you know how majestic this Mount Everest is, you can move on to learn more about our amazing Earth like: Water, Four Seasons, Seas and Lakes, Miraculous Atmosphere, Tallest Mountain vs Deepest Ocean, Earth and Earthquakes.
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