Mount Everest is the highest mountain in the world. Its elevation is 8,848 m (29,028ft.), as determined in 1954. Mount Everest is also known by the Nepali name Sagarmatha (Mother of the Universe) and Tibetan name Chomolangmo (Goddess Mother of the Snows).

The first seven attempts on Everest, starting with a reconnaissance in 1921, where a route to the summit via the North Col and North Ridge seemed possible but all were unsuccessful. George Mallory, who spearheaded the first three expeditions, lost his life with Andrew Irvine during a failed ascent in 1924. Unsuccessful attempts continued through 1938, Nepal previously inaccessible had started in 1951, expeditions from Nepal grew closer and closer to the summit, via the Khumbu Icefall, the Western Camp, over the Geneva Spur to the South Col , and up the Southeast Ridge. In 1953 Sir Edmund Hillary and Tenzing Norgay Sherpa reached the summit.

Since the first successful ascent, many other individuals have hunted to be the first at various other activities on Everest, including many alternative routes on both the north and south sides. Italy 's Reinhold Messner has climbed Everest twice without oxygen, once in four days. He is also the first to climb Everest singly, which he did in 1980. Ten years earlier, Yuichiro Miura of Japan had been the first person to descend the mountain on skis. In 1975, Junko Tabei, also of Japan , was the first woman to climb Everest. The first disabled person to attempt Everest was American Tom Whittaker, who climbed with a prosthetic leg to 24,000 feet in 1989, 28,000 feet in 1995, and finally reached the summit in 1998. The record for most ascents belongs to Ang Rita Sherpa, who has reached the summit sixteen times. Overall, more than 600 climbers from 20 countries have climbed to the summit by various routes from both north and south. Climbers aged have ranged from 14 years to seventy. At least 100 people have perished, most commonly by avalanches, falls in crevasses, cold and effect of thin air. Treks to Everest base camp are becoming increasingly popular on both the north and south sides of the mountain. On the north side, a Buddhist monastery stands at the foot of the Rongbuk Glacier, beneath Everest's spectacular north face. The monastery is one of two whose locations were selected specifically to allow religious contemplation of the great peak. The other is the Thyangboche Monastery in Nepal