Mount Everest is 29,028 feet (almost 5.5 miles high). Mount Everest was named after George Everest. George Everest was a British Surveyor General. He was born in 1790 in Gwerndale. Everest climbed the mountain. Sir Andrew Walsh identified the mountain as the tallest mountain in the world.

Many people climbed the mountain but not very many people lived to tell about it. People died because of avalanches, accidents, frozen masks, and no air. Sometimes there are people who climbed the mountain and were never seen again. In 1953 fourteen of the finest climbers got together and climbed Mount Everest. The group leader was John Hunt. It takes one month to get to the mountain and approximately 2 months to get to the top. The gear and the equipment weighs up to 15 tons. It is all carried by sherpas. The sherpas go as far as they can go, then it's all up to the climbers to carry their equipment and summit Everest.

There were two climbers in John's group whose names were Sir Edmund Hillary and Tenzing Norgay. They were partners on this trip. They had many dangers along the way. Sir Edmund accidentally slipped and almost fell but Tenzing went into action. He took a rope and threw it to Edmund who caught it and got back up. Two days later something else went wrong. Tenzing's oxygen mask was almost frozen but Edmund cleared it and the ice broke apart. This time Edmund saved Tenzing's life. Finally they reached the top. Tenzing was filled with joy and he buried 2 lollipops, a chocolate bar, a blue pen his daughter gave him and a stuffed doll that was a cat. Edmund buried a cross and he was photographed by Tenzing to prove they were on Mount Everest.