Mount Everest

At 29,000 feet, or 8,848 meters, Mount Everest is the highest peak in the world. Named after Sir George Everest, Surveyor General of India, Tibetans call the peak Qomolangma, or the "Holy Mother". Geologically, both Everest and its parent mountain range, the Himalayas, are relatively young; only 70 million years old, the Himalayas arose from the collision of the Indian subcontinent into the rest of continental Asia. Nonetheless, the majestic, imposing Everest has long captured the imagination of generations of climbers, artists, and thinkers; the first to summit its peak was a New Zealander, Edmund Hilary, and his Sherpa guide and companion, Tenzing Norgay.