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Hello Everyone! And, welcome to this special edition, from KidSenz!
Today we will cover..
scaling Mt. Everest - the highest peak in the Himalayas and the tallest mountain on
Earth! Located in Asia, Mount Everest rises right on the border between Nepal and China.
At over 29,000 feet, it's peak is higher than any bird can soar and close to the cruising
altitude of planes!
The year 2013 marks the 60th anniversary of the first successful ascent, when New Zealander
Edmund Hillary and Nepalese Tenzing Norgay reached the top of Mount Everest.
Every year, thousands of men and women try to climb it, to capture the peak and stand
at the highest point on Earth.
Can you imagine what that would be like?
Climbers train for a long time to build the strength needed to climb Mt. Everest.
In addition to just climbing, one has to carry lots of gear.
Now, climbers can get some basic supplies from the villages on the way but not much
else; so they carry everything in. They get help from the local very experienced climbers,
named sherpas and furry sure-footed animals called yaks.
The yaks are very useful but can difficult animals to manage; The sherpas take very good
care of them.
People usually climb in teams and stay together in tents at areas called base camps .
Now, to the climb itself - The first major part of climbing Mount Everest
is to traverse a glacier called the Khumbu Icefall.
A glacier is a mass of snow and ice that is moving very slowly down a hill as it is pulled
by the Earth's gravity. The ice makes the climb very slippery, and there are a number
of big cracks in the ice that climbers have to step across.
These cracks were formed due to the slow movement of the glacier. The cracks, called crevasses
can be very deep. So deep that sometimes one cannot even see the bottom!
The climbers have to be very careful not to fall into one. Now, to protect against this
event, they usually tie a rope to each other so that if a climber were to fall into a crevasse
one of their teammates can pull them out.
After traversing Khumbu Icefall glacier, next is the climb up a very steep wall of ice called
the Lhotse Face. This wall is covered by thick ice and snow that never melts. Not even in
the summer.
The Sherpas are very skilled and it is they that climb up the wall first, to attach the
ropes to the mountain, for the rest of the team - this is called lead climbing.
People wear a special belt called a harness that is connected to the ropes to help with
the climb. The harness prevents anyone who slips from falling too far.
If you thought cold weather, glaciers, and ice walls were challenging, there is more.
As people climb up, the air gets thinner, which means the available oxygen reduces drastically.
Many climbers carry oxygen cylinders in their backpacks.
They look like spacemen with the masks on their faces!
An interesting detail I learnt was that climbers prefer to climb at night when the snow is
hard and frozen.
After months of preparation and weeks of climbing, the climbers reach the top only if all goes
well.
Any of you want to try? You can start with trekking, rock climbing
and building strength. You could become one of the kids that climbs to the top.
Did you know? In 2010, Jordan Romero, a 13 year old American
boy became the youngest climber to reach the top of Mount Everest. He was only nine when
he climbed Mount Kilimanjaro in Africa! He says he was inspired by a painting in the
hallway of his school that showed the highest summits of the seven continents.
Very inspiring! That is all we have for today! hope you enjoyed
learning about it. Goodbye!