अAmarnepalNepal Data
Mahalangur Himal · World #1

Mount Everestसगरमाथा

The highest mountain on Earth at 8,848.86 m (2020 Nepal–China joint survey). Known as Sagarmatha in Nepali and Chomolungma in Tibetan, it crowns Sagarmatha National Park and anchors Nepal's mountaineering economy.

Height

8,848.86 m

Sagarmatha (Nepali) · Chomolungma (Tibetan)

World rank

#1

among the world's highest mountains

First ascent

1953

29 May 1953

District

Solukhumbu

Koshi Province

Border
Nepal–China (Tibet) border
Standard route
Southeast Ridge via South Col (Nepal); Northeast Ridge (Tibet)
The first ascent

29 May 1953

Summit party

Edmund Hillary (NZ) & Tenzing Norgay Sherpa (Nepal)

British expedition led by John Hunt

The mountain

What the record shows

  • The official height of 8,848.86 m was announced in December 2020 by a joint Nepal–China geodetic survey, settling decades of competing figures (8,848 m Survey of India 1954; 8,844.43 m rock height, China 2005).

  • Through December 2025 the Himalayan Database records 13,737 summits by 7,563 individuals (6,656 members, 7,081 hired staff) and 339 deaths — 229 on the Nepal side and 110 on the Tibet side.

  • Kami Rita Sherpa holds the all-time summit record (32, latest 17 May 2026); Lhakpa Sherpa holds the women's record (11, also 17 May 2026); the youngest summiteer is Jordan Romero (13, in 2010 from Tibet) and the oldest Yuichiro Miura (80, in 2013).

  • From 1 September 2025 Nepal raised the spring royalty for foreigners from USD 11,000 to USD 15,000 (autumn USD 7,500; winter/monsoon USD 3,750), banned solo climbs, required a certified Nepali guide, and — under the April 2025 law — proof of a prior 7,000 m summit in Nepal.

  • Spring 2026 set records: ~492 permits issued (previous record 478 in 2023), 274 summits on 20 May alone, and over USD 6 million in Everest royalties; five climbers died during the season.

  • Defining tragedies: the 1996 storm (15 deaths), the 18 April 2014 Khumbu Icefall serac collapse (16 Nepali workers killed), the 25 April 2015 earthquake avalanche through Base Camp (≥19 killed — the deadliest single day on the mountain) and the crowded 2019 season (11 deaths).

Milestones

Firsts & records

  • First winter ascent: 17 February 1980 — Leszek Cichy & Krzysztof Wielicki (Poland)

  • First woman: Junko Tabei (Japan), 16 May 1975

  • First without supplemental oxygen: Reinhold Messner & Peter Habeler, 8 May 1978

  • First solo, no oxygen: Reinhold Messner, 20 August 1980 (north side)

  • First Nepali woman: Pasang Lhamu Sherpa, 22 April 1993 (died on descent)

  • Most summits: Kami Rita Sherpa — 32 (as of 17 May 2026)

  • Most summits by a woman: Lhakpa Sherpa — 11 (as of 17 May 2026)

Safety record

339 deaths against 13,737 summits through December 2025 — ≈1.06 deaths per 100 summits (Himalayan Database via Alan Arnette, 2026).

Fatality 'rates' are summits-to-deaths ratios that shift as traffic grows — the year of each figure is stated.

Most visitors experience this region not by climbing but on foot: Nepal's trekking routes reach base camps and viewpoints beneath Mount Everest without the technical risks of the summit.

Location

The peak in context

The highlighted marker is this mountain; the others show all eight of Nepal's eight-thousanders.

Next lower peak →Kanchenjunga8,586 m · world #3
Questions

Mount Everest — frequently asked

How tall is Mount Everest?+

Mount Everest is 8,848.86 m high, making it the 1st-highest mountain in the world. It lies in the Mahalangur Himal on the Nepal–China (Tibet) border.

When was Mount Everest first climbed, and by whom?+

Mount Everest was first summited on 29 May 1953 by Edmund Hillary (NZ) & Tenzing Norgay Sherpa (Nepal), as part of the British expedition led by John Hunt.

How dangerous is Mount Everest?+

339 deaths against 13,737 summits through December 2025 — ≈1.06 deaths per 100 summits (Himalayan Database via Alan Arnette, 2026).

Where is Mount Everest located in Nepal?+

Mount Everest sits in Solukhumbu district of Koshi Province. The standard climbing line is the Southeast Ridge via South Col (Nepal); Northeast Ridge (Tibet).

Sources & data note

Profile of Mount Everest compiled from the listed sources. Heights follow UIAA-accepted surveys; ascent and fatality statistics derive from Himalayan Database compilations and are dated in the text.