Why Climb Mount Everest? , Tuesday, July 28, 2009 at 11:06 PM, in

You'll find it in history and geography textbooks. You'll see it in travel websites and magazines, and maybe even in a painting hung on the wall of a diner or restaurant. As one of the world's 7 wonders, Mount Everest is known to be the highest mountain on Earth, with a summit of approximately 8,848 meters above sea level.  It is found in the Himalayan range on the border between Sagarmatha Zone, Nepal and Tibet, China and is known by many other names such as Sagarmatha, Qomolangma, and Chomolungma.  Despite it being the highest mountain on the planet many experienced and well-renowned climbers have made it to the mountain's peak, claiming that being in Mount Everest is definitely being on top of the world.
People have wondered why these climbers pay large sums of money and spend countless of hours in training just to be able to climb Mount Everest.  The fact that this is the highest mountain in the entire planet inspires these people to try their best at conquering this magnificent mountain, and throughout history many have made it to the top successfully.  Not only will a successful climb make it in the history books, but so will the climber himself as he is one of the very few who have made it to the top and have lived to remember it.



Others who have been unsuccessful either gave up due to lack of strength, experience, and courage to climb the summit or have been injured or died while ascending or descending the great mountain.  Though Mount Everest has many routes leading toward the top, there are always inherent dangers that have led to these unsuccessful summit climbs such as lack of oxygen, carelessness, altitude sickness, the overall weather, and even camp thefts.
But no one can deny the honor and prestige of being able to climb Mount Everest.  In fact, in spring 2009, four well-known mountain climbers gathered together and with a goal to conquer Mount Everest once again.  The climb commenced in March 30, 2009, its climbers composed of Peter Whittaker, who is the nephew of legendary explorer Jim Whittaker, Ed Viesturs, a veteran mountaineer who was able to summit all 14 of the world's highest peaks, Dave Hahn who aimed to make a record of 11 Everest ascents, and Melissa Arnot, who succeeded in becoming the first female American mountaineer to summit Mount Everest without the help of bottled or supplemental oxygen.  Their entire journey was monitored by the mainstream media and ended with a thank you blog post on Day 65 by Dave Han himself.





If visiting any of the world's 7 wonders or conquering at least one of them is a personal dream of your own, the possibilities of being able to make that dream come true are endless.  Being able to summit Mount Everest successfully, especially without supplementary oxygen as an aid, will always be a feat that will never be forgotten by the world.