事实也是如此。早在五月花号载着一船新教徒于1620年11月11日在Cape Cod登陆之前，欧洲各国争相在新世界（那时候还不叫美国）建立殖民地的激烈竞争早已开始，首当其冲者当属大英帝国。在经历了多次失败的尝试后，一个由英国国王詹姆士一世亲自授权的名叫伦敦弗吉尼亚公司的公司（Virginia Company of London）终于捷足先登了。
登陆后，船队的船员们即后来被称为首批定居者又按照伦敦弗吉尼亚公司事先的部署，继续乘船沿着Chesapeake Bay向内陆进发，以寻找一个即易于固守又便于永久居住的根据地。1607年5月14日，也就是400年前的今天，他们最终选定了一个被他们取名为Jamestown（詹姆斯镇）的地方作为他们的最终定居点，这批船员也就理所当然地成了这片新大陆的第一批正式定居者。1607年5月14日的这一天也就成了英国人乃至后来的欧洲人最早在美洲新大陆正式建立永久性定居点的纪念日。Jamestown这一地名也是当时的定居者为纪念他们的国王King James I 而起的。他们的这一永久性定居的历史事件在美国历史上被称作是“Jamestown Settlement”。这一历史事件对美国人的意义和重要性不亚于中国之辛亥革命于汉人的意义和重要性。而14年后的五月花号载着一船新教徒在Cape Cod登陆，其实只不过是这一过程的又一延续而已。由于当时航船因大风而严重偏离航向，五月花号最终不得不在离Cape Henry以北数百英里的Cape Cod登陆，由此歪打正着地建立了不是屯的革命圣地的历史地位。
这是离军营不远处的公共沙滩，沙滩上的沙子细腻，海水质量也非常不错，可以游泳。如果在没有救生员在场的时候游泳，the risk is on your own（后果自负）。
这是俺在海边卧底的地方。 别以为在海边露营是件多么浪漫的事，I can tell you why。 第一，伴随着海浪声不容易入眠，半夜还会被海浪声吵醒；第二，早晨的第一缕阳光和鸟叫声不到5点半就会把您从香喷喷的睡梦中惊醒；第三，任您带的装备再全再好，条件也不会比家里更好更舒适。当然，在海边露营的最大的好处就是能在夏天的晚上在海边听涛声、看星星，看满天的星星，看满天亮晶晶的星星，卧看牛郎织女星……
Together, the Himalaya mountain system is the planet's highest and home to the world's highest peaks: the Eight-thousanders, including Mount Everest. To comprehend the enormous scale of Himalayan peaks, consider that Aconcagua, in the Andes, at 6,962 m, is the highest peak outside the Himalaya, while the Himalayan system has over 100 separate mountains exceeding 7,200 meters.
The Himalayas stretch across six nations: Bhutan, China, India, Nepal, Pakistan and Afghanistan. It is the source of three of the world's major river systems, the Indus Basin, the Ganga-Brahmaputra Basin and the Yangtze Basin. An estimated 750 million people live in the watershed area of the Himalayan rivers, which also includes Bangladesh. The himalayas, geologically young and structurally fold mountains stretch over the northern borders of India.These mountain ranges run in a west-east direction from the Indus to the Brahmaputra.The Himalayas represent the loftiest and one of the most rugged mountain barriers in the world. They form an arc, which covers a distance of about 2,400 Km.Their width varies from 400Km in Kashmir to 150Km in Arunachal Pradesh.The altitudinal variations are greater in the eastern half than those in the western half.The himalayas consists of three parallel ranges in its longitudinal extent.A number of valleys lie between these ranges.The northern-most range is known as the Great or Inner Himalayas or the 'Himadri'.
The flora and fauna of the Himalayas varies with climate, rainfall, altitude, and soils. The climate ranges from tropical at the base of the mountains to permanent ice and snow at the highest elevations. The amount of yearly rainfall increases from west to east along the front of the range. This diversity of climate, altitude, rainfall and soil conditions generates a variety of distinct plant and animal communities, or ecoregions.
Above the alluvial plain lies the Terai strip, a seasonally marshy zone of sand and clay soils. The Terai has higher rainfall than the plains, and the downward-rushing rivers of the Himalaya slow down and spread out in the flatter Terai zone, depositing fertile silt during the monsoon season and receding in the dry season. The Terai has a high water table, and the central part of the Terai belt is occupied by the Terai-Duar savanna and grasslands, a mosaic of grasslands, savannas, deciduous and evergreen forests that includes some of the world's tallest grasslands. The grasslands of the Terai belt are home to the Indian Rhinoceros(Rhinoceros unicornis).
Above the Terai belt is an upland zone known as the Bhabhar, with porous and rocky soils, made up of debris washed down from the higher ranges. The Bhabhar and the lower Siwalik ranges have a subtropical climate. The Himalayan subtropical pine forests occupy the western end of the subtropical belt, with forests dominated by Chir Pine(Pinus roxburghii). The central part of the range is home to the Himalayan subtropical broadleaf forests, dominated by sal(Shorea robusta).
The Himalayas are among the youngest mountain ranges on the planet. According to the modern theory of plate tectonics, their formation is a result of a continental collision or orogeny along the convergent boundary between the Indo-Australian Plate and the Eurasian Plate. The collision began in the Upper Cretaceous period about 70 million years ago, when the north-moving Indo-Australian Plate, moving at about 15 cm/year, collided with the Eurasian Plate. By about 50 million years ago this fast moving Indo-Australian plate had completely closed the Tethys Ocean, whose existence has been determined by sedimentary rocks settled on the ocean floor and the volcanoes that fringed its edges. Since these sediments were light, they crumpled into mountain ranges rather than sinking to the floor. The Indo-Australian plate continues to be driven horizontally below the Tibetan plateau, which forces the plateau to move upwards. The Arakan Yoma highlands in Myanmar and the Andaman and Nicobar Islands in the Bay of Bengal were also formed as a result of this collision.
The Indo-Australian plate is still moving at 67 mm/year, and over the next 10 million years it will travel about 1,500 km into Asia. About 20 mm/year of the India-Asia convergence is absorbed by thrusting along the Himalaya southern front. This leads to the Himalayas rising by about 5 mm/year, making them geologically active. The movement of the Indian plate into the Asian plate also makes this region seismically active, leading to earthquakes from time to time.
The Himalayan range encompasses a very large number of glaciers, notable among which is the Siachen Glacier, the largest in the world outside the polar region. Some of the other more famous glaciers include the Gangotri and Yamunotri (Uttarakhand), Nubra, Biafo and Baltoro (Karakoram region), Zemu (Sikkim) and Khumbu glaciers (Mount Everest region).
The higher regions of the Himalayas are snowbound throughout the year in spite of their proximity to the tropics, and they form the sources for several large perennial rivers, most of which combine into two large river systems:
This image shows the termini of the glaciers in the Bhutan-Himalaya. Glacial lakes have been forming rapidly on the surface of the debris-covered glaciers in this region during the last few decades.
The western rivers combine into the Indus Basin, of which the Indus River is the largest. The Indus begins in Tibet at the confluence of Sengge and Gar rivers and flows southwest through Pakistan to the Arabian Sea. It is fed by the Jhelum, the Chenab, the Ravi, the Beas, and the Sutlej rivers, among others.
Most of the other Himalayan rivers drain the Ganga-Brahmaputra Basin. Its two main rivers are the Ganges and the Brahmaputra. The Ganga originates as the Bhagirathi from the Gangotri glacier and flows southeast through the plains of northern India, fed by the Alaknanda and the Yamuna among other tributaries. The Brahmaputra originates as the Tsangpo in western Tibet, and flows east through Tibet and west through the plains of Assam. The Ganga and the Brahmaputra meet in Bangladesh, and drain into the Bay of Bengal through the world's largest river delta.
The eastern-most Himalayan rivers feed the Ayeyarwady River, which originates in eastern Tibet and flows south through Myanmar to drain into the Andaman Sea.
The Salween, Mekong, the Yangtze and the Huang He (Yellow River) all originate from parts of the Tibetan plateau that are geologically distinct from the Himalaya mountains, and are therefore not considered true Himalayan rivers. Some geologists refer to all the rivers collectively as the circum-Himalayan rivers.[2]
In recent years scientists have monitored a notable increase in the rate of glacier retreat across the region as a result of global climate change. Although the effect of this won't be known for many years it potentially could mean disaster for the hundreds of thousands of people that rely on the glaciers to feed the rivers of northern India during the dry seasons.
Pangong Tso the largest Himalayan lake located at an altitude of 4,600 meters.
Gurudogmar, India, a high Himalayan lake at an altitude of 5,148 meters.
The Himalaya region is dotted with hundreds of lakes. Most lakes are found at altitudes of less than 5,000 m, with the size of the lakes diminishing with altitude. The largest lake is the Pangong Tso, which is spread across the border between India and Tibet. It is situated at an altitude of 4,600 m, and is 8 km wide and nearly 134 km long. A notable high (but not the highest) lake is the Gurudogmar in North Sikkim at an altitude of 5,148 m (16,890 feet) (altitude source: SRTM). Other major lakes include the Tsongmo lake, near the Indo-China border in Sikkim and Tilicho lake, a large lake in an area that was closed to outsiders until recently.
The mountain lakes are known to geographers as tarns if they are caused by glacial activity. Tarns are found mostly in the upper reaches of the Himalaya, above 5,500 metres. For more information about these, see here.
The Himalayas have a profound effect on the climate of the Indian subcontinent and the Tibetan plateau. It prevents frigid, dry Arctic winds from blowing south into the subcontinent, which keeps South Asia much warmer than corresponding temperate regions in the other continents. It also forms a barrier for the monsoon winds, keeping them from traveling northwards, and causing heavy rainfall in the Terai region. The Himalayas are also believed to play an important part in the formation of Central Asian deserts such as the Taklamakan and Gobideserts.
The mountain ranges also prevent western winter disturbances from Iran from traveling further, resulting in snow in Kashmir and rainfall for parts of Punjab and northern India. Despite being a barrier to the cold northernly winter winds, the Brahmaputra valley receives part of the frigid winds, thus lowering the temperature in the northeast Indian states and Bangladesh. These winds also cause the North East monsoon during this season for these parts.
In turn, the weather phenomenon called Jet Stream affects our image of the highest peaks on earth. The strong stream of winds from the west pass through Everest, creating a familiar plume of snows blowing from the summit, and visible from a great distance.
The road from Srinagar in Kashmir via Leh to Tibet. This pass is now less used because of regional troubles. Many people are affected.
Mohan Pass is the principal pass in the Siwalik Hills, the southern most and geologically youngest foothills running parallel to the main Himalayas in Sikkim.
Mountain sheds like these are used by the rural populace as shelter for cattle in summer months as they take them for grazing in higher altitudes.
The Himalayas, due to their large size and expanse, have been a natural barrier to the movement of people for tens of thousands of years. In particular, this has prevented intermingling of people from the Indian subcontinent with people from China and Mongolia, causing significantly different languages and customs between these regions. The Himalayas have also hindered trade routes and prevented military expeditions across its expanse. For instance, Genghis Khan could not expand his empire south of the Himalayas into the subcontinent.
Mount Everest or Qomolangma or Sagarmatha (सगरमाथा) or Chomolungma (ཇོ་མོ་གླང་མ) pronounced as (Jongmalunga) is the highest mountain on Earth, as measured by the height of its summit above sea level. The mountain, which is part of the Himalaya range in High Asia, is located on the border between Nepal and China.
The Tibetan name for Mount Everest is Chomolungma or Qomolangma (ཇོ་མོ་གླིང་མ, meaning "Mother of the Universe"), and the related Chinese name is Zhūmùlǎngmǎ Fēng (Simplified Chinese: 珠穆朗玛峰; Traditional Chinese: 珠穆朗瑪峰) or Shèngmǔ Fēng (Simplified Chinese: 圣母峰; Traditional Chinese: 聖母峰). According to English accounts of the mid-19th century, the local name in Darjeeling for Mount Everest was Deodungha, or "Holy Mountain."[1]. In the 1960s, the Government of Nepal gave the mountain an official Nepali name: Sagarmatha (सगरमाथा), meaning "Head of the Sky".
I was taught by my respected chief and predecessor, Colonel Sir George Everest to assign to every geographical object its true local or native appellation. But here is a mountain, most probably the highest in the world, without any local name that we can discover, whose native appellation, if it has any, will not very likely be ascertained before we are allowed to penetrate into Nepal. In the meantime the privilege as well as the duty devolves on me to assign…a name whereby it may be known among citizens and geographers and become a household word among civilized nations.
Waugh chose to name the mountain after George Everest, first using the spelling Mont Everest, and then Mount Everest. However, the modern pronunciation of Everest (IPA: ˈɛvərɪst or ˈɛvərɨstEV-er-est) is in fact different from Sir George's own pronunciation of his surname, which was ˈiv;rɪst (EAVE-rest).
In the early 1960s, the Nepalese government realized that Mount Everest had no Nepalese name. This was because the mountain was not known and named in ethnic Nepal (that is, the Kathmandu valley and surrounding areas). The government set out to find a name for the mountain (the Sherpa/Tibetan name Chomolangma was not acceptable, as it would have been against the idea of unification (Nepalization) of the country. The name Sagarmatha (सगरमाथा) was thus invented by Baburam Acharya.
In 2002, the Chinese People's Daily newspaper published an article making a case against the continued use of the English name for the mountain in the Western world, insisting that it should be referred to by its Tibetan name. The newspaper argued that the Chinese (in nature a Tibetan) name preceded the English one, as Mount Qomolangma was marked on a Chinese map more than 280 years ago.[4]
Measurement
Aerial view of Mount Everest from the south
Another aerial view of Mount Everest from the south
Radhanath Sikdar, an Indian mathematician and surveyor from Bengal, was the first to identify Everest as the world's highest peak in 1852, using trigonometric calculations based on measurements of "Peak XV" (as it was then known) made with theodolites from 240 km (150 miles) away in India. Measurement could not be made from closer due to a lack of access to Nepal. "Peak XV" was found to be exactly 29,000 feet (8,839 m) high, but was publicly declared to be 29,002 feet (8,840 m). The arbitrary addition of 2 feet (0.6 m) was to avoid the impression that an exact height of 29,000 feet was nothing more than a rounded estimate.
More recently, the mountain has been found to be 8,848 m (29,028 feet) high, although there is some variation in the measurements. The mountain K2 comes in second at 8,611 m (28,251 feet) high. On May 22, 2005, the People's Republic of China's Everest Expedition Team ascended to the top of the mountain. After several months' complicated measurement and calculation, on October 9, 2005, the PRC's State Bureau of Surveying and Mapping officially announced the height of Everest as 8,844.43 m ± 0.21 m (29,017.16 ± 0.69 ft). They claimed it was the most accurate measurement to date.[5] But this new height is based on the actual highest point of rock and not on the snow and ice that sits on top of that rock on the summit, so, in keeping with the practice used on Mont Blanc and Khan Tangiri Shyngy, it is not shown here. The Chinese also measured a snow/ice depth of 3.5 m,[6] which implies agreement with a net elevation of 8,848 m. But in reality the snow and ice thickness varies, making a definitive height of the snow cap, and hence the precise height attained by summiteers without sophisticated GPS, impossible to determine.
The elevation of 8,848 m (29,028 ft) was first determined by an Indian survey in 1955, made closer to the mountain, also using theodolites. It was subsequently reaffirmed by a 1975 Chinese measurement.[7] In both cases the snow cap, not the rock head, was measured. In May 1999 an American Everest Expedition, directed by Bradford Washburn, anchored a GPS unit into the highest bedrock. A rock head elevation of 8,850 m (29,035 feet), and a snow/ice elevation 1 m (3 ft) higher, were obtained via this device.[8] Although it has not been officially recognized by Nepal,[9] this figure is widely quoted. Geoid uncertainty casts doubt upon the accuracy claimed by both the 1999 and 2005 surveys.
A detailed photogrammetric map (at a scale of 1:50,000) of the Khumbu region, including the south side of Mount Everest, was made by Erwin Schneider as part of the 1955 International Himalayan Expedition, which also attempted Lhotse. An even more detailed topographic map of the Everest area was made in the late 1980s under the direction of Bradford Washburn, using extensive aerial photography.
It is thought that the plate tectonics of the area are adding to the height and moving the summit north-eastwards. Two accounts,[8][10] suggest the rates of change are 4 mm per year (upwards) 3-6 mm per year (northeastwards), but another account mentions more lateral movement (27 mm),[11] and even shrinkage has been suggested.[12]
Everest is the mountain whose summit attains the greatest distance above sea level. Two other mountains are sometimes claimed as alternative "tallest mountains on Earth". Mauna Kea in Hawaii is tallest when measured from its base; it rises over 10,203 m (about 6.3 mi) when measured from its base on the mid-ocean floor, but only attains 4,205 m (13,796 ft) above sea level. The summit of Chimborazo in Ecuador is 2,168 m (7,113 ft) farther from the Earth's centre (6,384.4 km or 3,967.1 mi) than that of Everest (6,382.3 km or 3,965.8 mi), because the Earth bulges at the Equator. However, Chimborazo attains a height of 6,267 m (20,561 ft) above sea level, and by this criterion it is not even the highest peak of the Andes.
The deepest spot in the ocean is deeper than Everest is high: the Challenger Deep, located in the Mariana Trench, is so deep that if Everest were to be placed into it there would be more than 2 km (1.25 mi) of water covering it.
The Mount Everest region, and the Himalayas in general, are thought to be experiencing ice-melt due to global warming.[13] The exceptionally heavy southwest summer monsoon of 2005 is consistent with continued warming and augmented convective uplift on the Tibetan plateau to the north.[citation needed]
Mt. Everest has two main climbing routes, the southeast ridge from Nepal and the northeast ridge from Tibet, as well as many other less frequently climbed routes. Of the two main routes, the southeast ridge is technically easier and is the more frequently-used route. It was the route used by Hillary and Tenzing in 1953 and the first recognised of fifteen routes to the top by 1996. This was, however, a route decision dictated more by politics than by design as the Chinese border was closed to foreigners in 1949. Reinhold Messner (Italy) summited the mountain solo for the first time, without supplementary oxygen or support, on the more difficult Northwest route via the North Col to the North Face and the Great Couloir, on August 20 1980. He climbed for three days entirely alone from his base camp at 6500 meters. This route has been noted as the 8th climbing route to the summit.
Most attempts are made during April and May before the summer monsoon season. A change in the jet stream at this time of year reduces the average wind speeds high on the mountain. While attempts are sometimes made after the monsoons in September and October, the additional snow deposited by the monsoons and the less stable weather patterns makes climbing more difficult.
Southeast ridge
The ascent via the southeast ridge begins with a trek to Base Camp at 5,380 m (17,600 ft) on the south side of Everest in Nepal. Expeditions usually fly into Lukla (2,860 m) from Kathmandu and pass through Namche Bazaar. Climbers then hike to Base Camp, which usually takes six to eight days, allowing for proper altitude acclimatization in order to prevent altitude sickness. Climbing equipment and supplies are carried by yaks, dzopkyos (yak hybrids) and human porters to Base Camp on the Khumbu Glacier. When Hillary and Tenzing climbed Everest in 1953, they started from Kathmandu Valley, as there were no roads further east at that time.
A view of Everest southeast ridge base camp. The Khumbu Icefall can be seen in the left. In the center are the remains of a helicopter that crashed in 2003.
Climbers will spend a couple of weeks in Base Camp, acclimatizing to the altitude. During that time, Sherpas and some expedition climbers will set up ropes and ladders in the treacherous Khumbu Icefall. Seracs, crevasses and shifting blocks of ice make the icefall one of the most dangerous sections of the route. Many climbers and Sherpas have been killed in this section. To reduce the hazard, climbers will usually begin their ascent well before dawn when the freezing temperatures glue ice blocks in place. Above the icefall is Camp I or Advanced Base Camp (ABC) at 6,065 m (19,900 ft).
From Camp I, climbers make their way up the Western Cwm to the base of the Lhotse face, where Camp II is established at 6,500 m (21,300 ft). The Western Cwm is a relatively flat, gently rising glacial valley, marked by huge lateral crevasses in the centre which prevent direct access to the upper reaches of the Cwm. Climbers are forced to cross on the far right near the base of Nuptse to a small passageway known as the "Nuptse corner". The Western Cwm is also called the "Valley of Silence" as the topography of the area generally cuts off wind from the climbing route. The high altitude and a clear, windless day can make the Western Cwm unbearably hot for climbers.
From Camp II, climbers ascend the Lhotse face on fixed ropes up to Camp III, located on a small ledge at 7,470 m (24,500 ft). From there, it is another 500 metres to Camp IV on the South Col at 7,920 m (26,000 ft). From Camp III to Camp IV, climbers are faced with two additional challenges: The Geneva Spur and The Yellow Band. The Geneva Spur is an anvil shaped rib of black rock named by a 1952 Swiss expedition. Fixed ropes assist climbers in scrambling over this snow covered rock band. The Yellow Band is a section of sedimentarysandstone which also requires about 100 metres of rope for traversing it.
On the South Col, climbers enter the death zone. Climbers typically only have a maximum of two or three days they can endure at this altitude for making summit bids. Clear weather and low winds are critical factors in deciding whether to make a summit attempt. If weather does not cooperate within these short few days, climbers are forced to descend, many all the way back down to Base Camp.
From Camp IV, climbers will begin their summit push around midnight with hopes of reaching the summit (still another 1,000 metres above) within 10 to 12 hours. Climbers will first reach "The Balcony" at 8,400 m (27,700 ft), a small platform where they can rest and gaze at peaks to the south and east in the early dawn light. Continuing up the ridge, climbers are then faced with a series of imposing rock steps which usually forces them to the east into waist deep snow, a serious avalanche hazard. At 8,750 m (28,700 ft), a small table-sized dome of ice and snow marks the South Summit.
From the South Summit, climbers follow the knife-edge southeast ridge along what is known as the "Cornice traverse" where snow clings to intermittent rock. This is the most exposed section of the climb as a misstep to the left would send one 2,400 m (8,000 ft) down the southwest face while to the immediate right is the 3,050 m (10,000 ft) Kangshung face. At the end of this traverse is an imposing 12 m (40 ft) rock wall called the "Hillary Step" at 8,760 m (28,750 ft).
Hillary and Tenzing were the first climbers to ascend this step and they did it with primitive ice climbing equipment and without fixed ropes. Nowadays, climbers will ascend this step using fixed ropes previously set up by Sherpas. Once above the step, it is a comparatively easy climb to the top on moderately angled snow slopes - though the exposure on the ridge is extreme especially while traversing very large cornices of snow. After the Hillary Step, climbers also must traverse a very loose and rocky section that has a very large entanglement of fixed ropes that can be troublesome in bad weather. Climbers will typically spend less than a half-hour on "top of the world" as they realize the need to descend to Camp IV before darkness sets in, afternoon weather becomes a serious problem, or supplemental oxygen tanks run out.
Northeast ridge
Everest North Face
The northeast ridge route begins from the north side of Everest in Tibet. Expeditions trek to the Rongbuk Glacier, setting up Base Camp at 5,180 m (17,000 ft) on a gravel plain just below the glacier. To reach Camp II, climbers ascend the medial moraine of the east Rongbuk Glacier up to the base of Changtse at around 6,100 m (20,000 ft). Camp III (ABC - Advanced Base Camp) is situated below the North Col at 6,500 m (21,300 ft). To reach Camp IV on the north col, climbers ascend the glacier to the foot of the col where fixed ropes are used to reach the North Col at 7,010 m (23,000 ft). From the North Col, climbers ascend the rocky north ridge to set up Camp V at around 7,775 m (25,500 ft). The route goes up the north face through a series of gullies and steepens into downsloping slabby terrain before reaching the site of Camp VI at 8,230 m (27,000 ft). From Camp VI, climbers will make their final summit push. Climbers must first make their way through three rock bands known as First Step: 27,890 feet - 28,000 feet, Second Step: 28,140 feet - 28,300 feet, and Third Step: 28,510 feet - 28,870 feet. Once above these steps, the final summit slopes (50 to 60 degrees) to the top.
In 1999, the Mallory and Irvine Research Expedition found Mallory's body in the predicted search area near the old Chinese camp. Controversy has raged in the mountaineering community as to whether the duo may have summited 29 years before the confirmed ascent (and of course, safe descent) of Everest by Sir Edmund Hillary and Tenzing Norgay in 1953. The general consensus among climbers has been that they did not, though recent findings may indicate otherwise.[citation needed]
Mallory had gone on a speaking tour of the United States the year before in 1923; it was then that he exasperatedly gave the famous reply, "Because it is there," to a New Yorkjournalist in response to hearing the question, "Why climb Everest?" for seemingly the thousandth time. Comprehensive information is available at Mallory and Irvine: The Final Chapter including critical opposing viewpoints.
Early expeditions ascended the mountain from Tibet, via the north face. However, this access was closed to western expeditions in 1950, after the Chinese reasserted control over Tibet. However, in 1950, Bill Tilman and a small party which included Charles Houston, Oscar Houston and Betsy Cowles undertook an exploratory expedition to Everest through Nepal along the route which has now become the standard approach to Everest from the south.
First successful ascent by Tenzing and Hillary
In 1953, a ninth British expedition, led by John Hunt, returned to Nepal. Hunt selected two climbing pairs to attempt to reach the summit. The first pair (Tom Bourdillon and Charles Evans) came within 300 feet of the summit on 26 May, but turned back after becoming exhausted. The next day, the expedition made its second and final assault on the summit with its second climbing pair. The summit was eventually reached at 11:30 a.m. local time on May 29, 1953 by the New ZealanderEdmund Hillary and SherpaTenzing Norgay from Nepal climbing the South Col Route. At the time, both acknowledged it as a team effort by the whole expedition, but Tenzing revealed a few years later that Hillary had put his foot on the summit first. They paused at the summit to take photographs and buried a few sweets and a small cross in the snow before descending. News of the expedition's success reached London on the morning of Queen Elizabeth II'scoronation. Returning to Kathmandu a few days later, Hillary and Hunt discovered that they had been promptly knighted for their efforts.
1996 disaster
During the 1996 climbing season, fifteen people died trying to reach the summit, making it the deadliest single year in Everest history. The disaster gained wide publicity and raised questions about the commercialization of Everest.
Journalist Jon Krakauer, on assignment from Outside magazine, was in one of the affected parties, and afterwards published the bestseller Into Thin Air which related his experience. Anatoli Boukreev, a guide who felt impugned by Krakauer's book, co-authored a rebuttal book called The Climb. The dispute sparked a large debate within the climbing community. In May 2004, Kent Moore, a physicist, and John L. Semple, a surgeon, both researchers from the University of Toronto, told New Scientist magazine that an analysis of weather conditions on that day suggested that freak weather caused oxygen levels to plunge by around 14%.[14][15]
The storm's impact on climbers on the mountain's other side, the North Ridge, where several climbers also died, was detailed in a first hand account by British filmmaker and writer Matt Dickinson in his book The Other Side of Everest.
2003 - 50th Anniversary of First Ascent
2003 marked the 50th anniversary of the first ascent, and a record number of teams, including some very distinguished climbers, climbed or attempted to climb the mountain.
2005 - Helicopter landing
On 14 May2005, pilot Didier Delsalle of France landed a EurocopterAS 350 B3 Helicopter on the summit of Mount Everest[16] and remained there for two minutes. (His rotors were continually engaged; this is known as a "hover landing".) His subsequent take-off set the world record for highest take-off of a rotorcraft — a record that of course cannot be beaten.[17] Delsalle had also performed a take-off two days earlier from the South Col, leading to some confusion in the press about the validity of the summit claim. This event does not count as an "ascent" in the usual fashion.
2006 - North Face ski descent
On 16 May2006, adventurer Tormod Granheim skied the Norton Couloir from the summit to the North Col.
2006 - David Sharp controversy
Double-amputee climber Mark Inglis revealed in an interview with the press on May 23, 2006, that his climbing party, and many others, had passed a distressed climber, David Sharp, on May 15, sheltering under a rock overhang 450 meters below the summit, without attempting a rescue. The revelation sparked wide debate on climbing ethics, especially as applied to Everest. The climbers who left him said that the rescue efforts would be useless and only cause more deaths because of how many people it would have taken to pull him off.
Much of this controversy was captured by the Discovery Channel while filming the television program Everest: Beyond the Limit. A crucial decision affecting the fate of Sharp is shown in the program, where an early returning climber is descending and radios to his base camp manager that he has found a climber in distress. He is unable to identify Sharp, and Sharp had chosen to climb solo without any support, so he did not identify himself to other climbers. The base camp manager assumes that Sharp is part of a group that will take responsibility for his rescue, and instructs his climber to leave Sharp to his own group, unaware that Sharp is unsupported.
As Sharp's condition deteriorates through the day and other descending climbers pass him, his opportunities for rescue diminish: his legs and feet curl from frost-bite, preventing him from walking; the later descending climbers are lower on oxygen and lack the strength to offer aid; time runs out for any Sherpas to return and rescue him. Most importantly, Sharp's decision to forgo all support leaves him with no margin for recovery.
As this debate raged, on May 26, Australian climber Lincoln Hall was found alive, after being declared dead the day before. He was found by a party of four climbers (Dan Mazur, Andrew Brash, Myles Osborne and Jangbu Sherpa) who, giving up their own summit attempt, stayed with Hall and descended with him and a party of 11 Sherpas sent up to carry him down. Hall later fully recovered.
Facts
As of the end of the 2006 climbing season, there have been 3,050 ascents to the summit, by 2,062 individuals, and 203 people died while summitting. The conditions on the mountain are so difficult that most of the corpses have been left where they fell; some of them are easily visible from the standard climbing routes.
Most expeditions use oxygenmasks and tanks[18] above 26,246 feet (8,000 m); this region is known as the death zone. Everest can be climbed without supplementary oxygen but this increases the risk to the climber. Humans do not think clearly with low oxygen, and the combination of severe weather, low temperatures, and steep slopes often require quick, accurate decisions.
Mountain climbers are a significant source of tourist revenue for Nepal; they range from experienced mountaineers to relative novices who count on their paid guides to get them to the top. The Nepalese government also requires a permit from all prospective climbers; this carries a heavy fee, often more than $25,000 per person. [2]
While conditions for any area classified as a death zone apply to Mount Everest (altitudes higher than 8,000 m), it is significantly more difficult for a climber to survive at the death zone on Mount Everest. Temperatures can dip to very low levels, resulting in frostbite of any body part exposed to the air. Because temperatures are so low, snow is well-frozen in certain areas and death by slipping and falling can also occur. High winds at these altitudes on Everest are also a potential threat to climbers. The atmospheric pressure at the top of Everest is about a third of sea level pressure, meaning there is about a third as much oxygen available to breathe as at sea level.[19]
Bottled oxygen controversy
The use of bottled oxygen to ascend Mount Everest has been controversial. George Mallory himself described the use of such oxygen as unsportsmanlike, but he later concluded that it would be impossible to summit without it and consequently used it.[citation needed] When Tenzing and Hillary made the first successful summit in 1953 they used bottled oxygen. For the next twenty-five years, bottled oxygen was considered standard for any successful summit.
Reinhold Messner was the first climber to break the bottled oxygen tradition and in 1978, with Peter Habeler, made the first successful climb without it. Although critics alleged that he sucked mini-bottles of oxygen - a claim that Messner denied - Messner silenced them when he summited the mountain, without supplemental oxygen or support, on the more difficult northwest route, in 1980. In the aftermath of Messner's two successful ascents, the debate on bottled oxygen usage continued.
The aftermath of the 1996 Mount Everest disaster further intensified the debate. Jon Krakauer's Into Thin Air (1997) expressed the author's personal criticisms of the use of bottled oxygen. Krakauer wrote that the use of bottled oxygen allowed otherwise unqualified climbers to attempt to summit, leading to dangerous situations and more deaths. The May 10 disaster was partially caused by the sheer number of climbers (33 on that day) attempting to ascend, causing bottlenecks at the Hillary Step and delaying many climbers, most of whom summited after the usual 2 p.m. turnaround time. He proposed banning bottled oxygen except for emergency cases, arguing that this would both decrease the growing pollution on Everest—many bottles have accumulated on its slopes—and keep marginally qualified climbers off the mountain. The 1996 disaster also introduced the issue of the guide's role in using bottled oxygen.[20] Guide Anatoli Boukreev's decision not to use bottled oxygen was sharply criticized by Jon Krakauer. Boukreev's supporters (who include G. Weston DeWalt, who co-wrote The Climb) state that using bottled oxygen gives a false sense of security.[citation needed] Krakauer and his supporters point out that, without bottled oxygen, Boukreev was unable to directly help his clients descend.[21] They state that Boukreev said that he was going down with client Martin Adams,[21] but when Adams slowed down[citation needed], Boukreev later descended faster and left him behind.[21]
Life-threatening thefts
Other climbers have reported life-threatening thefts from supply caches. Vitor Negrete, the first Brazilian to climb Everest without oxygen and part of David Sharp's party, died during his descent, and theft from his high-altitude camp may have contributed.[22] The climbers who left him said that the rescue efforts would be useless and only cause more deaths because of how many people it would have taken to pull him off.
Euophrys omnisuperstes, a minute black jumping spider, has been found at elevations as high as 6,700 meters, possibly making it the highest confirmed permanent resident on Earth. They lurk in crevices and possibly feed on frozen insects that have been blown there by the wind. It should be noted that there is a high likelihood of microscopic life at even higher altitudes.
Birds, such as the bar-headed goose have been seen flying at the higher altitudes of the mountain, while others such as the Chough have been spotted at high levels on the mountain itself, scavenging on food, or even corpses, left over by climbing expeditions.
Together, the Himalaya mountain system is the planet's highest and home to the world's highest peaks: the Eight-thousanders, including Mount Everest. To comprehend the enormous scale of Himalayan peaks, consider that Aconcagua, in the Andes, at 6,962 m, is the highest peak outside the Himalaya, while the Himalayan system has over 100 separate mountains exceeding 7,200 meters.
The Himalayas stretch across six nations: Bhutan, China, India, Nepal, Pakistan and Afghanistan. It is the source of three of the world's major river systems, the Indus Basin, the Ganga-Brahmaputra Basin and the Yangtze Basin. An estimated 750 million people live in the watershed area of the Himalayan rivers, which also includes Bangladesh. The himalayas, geologically young and structurally fold mountains stretch over the northern borders of India.These mountain ranges run in a west-east direction from the Indus to the Brahmaputra.The Himalayas represent the loftiest and one of the most rugged mountain barriers in the world. They form an arc, which covers a distance of about 2,400 Km.Their width varies from 400Km in Kashmir to 150Km in Arunachal Pradesh.The altitudinal variations are greater in the eastern half than those in the western half.The himalayas consists of three parallel ranges in its longitudinal extent.A number of valleys lie between these ranges.The northern-most range is known as the Great or Inner Himalayas or the 'Himadri'.
作者: raindrops 时间: 2007-5-14 17:41 标题: brother,u r such a nice man[:-Q][>:D<]
需要说明的是，俺的这些资料大多是来自米国历史教科书和有关的宣传资料，如有不实之处或任何差错，俺一概推卸得一干二净。
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？ 以团长为代表的粉丝MM恨不得以身相许
中文版内容太少，想查的经常查不到，质量也太差。
