International Everest Day is annually observed across the globe on 29th May to commemorate the first-ever successful summit of Mount (Mt) Everest in 1953 by Sir Edmund Hillary, a mountaineer from New Zealand, and Tenzing Norgay, a Sherpa from Nepal.
- This Day also honours the accomplishments of mountaineers around the world and recognise their efforts.
29th May 2024 marks the 71st anniversary of the 1953 Mt Everest Summit.
- International Everest Day has been celebrated since 2008, following the death of Sir Edmund Hillary on 11th January 2008.
Significance:
i.This Day has been mainly celebrated across New Zealand and Nepal in memory of the 1st summit of Everest.
ii.Everest Day is an important tourism event in Nepal and different programs and competitions are organised to celebrate Everest Day.
iii.During International Everest Day, the Everest Marathon, an annual international high-altitude adventure sports event held from Mt. Everest Base Camp crisscrosses the high Sherpa trails of Khumbu Valley.
2024 Everest Marathon:
i.The 2024 marks the 19th edition of the Everest Marathon, with categories such as 70 kilometers (km) Extreme Ultra, 42 km Full Marathon, and 21 km Half Marathon.
iii.With a new Mt Everest Height of 8848.86 meters (m), from the Government of Nepal, the 2024 Marathon runs as the “New Higher Mount Everest Marathon.”
- It marks the new increase in Mt Everest height after the 2015 Earthquake in Nepal.
About Mt Everest:
i.Mt Everest is the highest of the Himalayan mountains, and at 8848.86m (29,031 feet), it is considered the highest point on Earth.
ii.It is located between Nepal and Tibet, an autonomous region of China.
Naming:
i.In the 19th century, the mountain was named after George Everest, a former Surveyor General of India.
ii.The Tibetan name of the peak is Chomolungma, which means “Mother Goddess of the World.”
iii.The Nepali name of the peak is Sagarmatha, meaning, “Goddess of the Sky”.
About 1st Mt Everest Summit:
i.Tenzing Norgay and Sir Edmund Hillary scaled Mt Everest as part of the 9th British expedition to the mountain led by Sir John Hunt, a British Army Officer.
ii.It included 350 porters, 20 Sherpas, and tons of supplies to support a vanguard of only 10 climbers.
iii.In 1959, the Government of India (GoI) honoured Tenzing with the Padma Bhushan for Sports.
Recent Mt Everest Records:
i.Nepali climber and sherpa guide Kami Rita Sherpa, popularly known as ‘Everest Man’, broke his record by climbing the world’s highest peak, Mount Everest, for the 30th time. This is his second ascent in 10 days He climbed the peak for the 29th time on 12th May 2024. This ascent earned him the title ‘Most Successful Ascent of Mt. Everest by an Individual’.
- He is a native of Thame village in Solukhumbu, Nepal, working as a Senior Guide at Seven Summit Treks.
ii.Kaamya Karthikeyan(16 year old) successfully summitted Mt Everest (8849 M) on 20 May 2024 and became the 2nd youngest girl in the world and the youngest Indian Mountaineer to summit the world’s highest peak from Nepal side.
- With this, she has completed six milestones in her mission to summit the highest peak of all seven continents. She is set to summit Mt Vinson Massif in Antarctica in December 2024 to become the youngest girl to accomplish the 7 summits challenge.
iii.Nepal’s Purnima Shrestha(32-year-old) has become the first woman in the world to climb Mt Everest thrice in 13 days.
Additional info:
i.So far, there have been over 4000 climbers who have effectively climbed the summit up to this point.
ii.Two sherpas, Apa and Phurba Tashi hold the record of arriving at the mountain peak on 21 occasions.
iii.An Indian mathematician and surveyor, Radhanath Sikdar was the first person to distinguish the range of mountains which were perceived as the tallest mountain eventually.
