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© Copyright 1997, Jim Loy
A few years ago, I read in the World Almanac that Mt. Everest was no longer the tallest mountain on earth, K2 was.
K2 (sometimes called Godwin-Austen) hadn't grown (much), and Everest hadn't shrunk. (Incidentally, all of those mountains in and around the Himalayas are increasing in height, but only a fraction of an inch per year.) Instead, a new measurement of K2's height (supposedly more accurate) had shown that K2 was some hundreds of feet taller than had previously been thought. K2 was previously thought to be the second tallest mountain in the world. It seems that an airplane flew over K2 (see addendum #1), and measured the distance from the plane to the top of K2 by radar. And, the position of the plane was measured by radar. And, supposedly these measurements were accurate to within inches.
This pointed out how rough measurements of the past could be. And some of the mountains of that region were then measured by radar from a satellite. And, Everest leaped into the lead again. Whew.
The original measurement of Everest's height, made by Sir George Everest (see addendum #2), was 29,002 feet. He was the surveyor who mapped and surveyed much of the Himalayas, from a great distance away in India. The story goes that he actually measured Mt. Everest's height as 29,000 feet (averaging several measurements), to the nearest few feet. But, he feared that people would take that as a rough estimate, maybe even plus or minus 1000 feet. So, he added 2 feet, so people would know, just by looking at the number, that it was not a rough estimate.
Everest is called Chomo-Lungma, by the local Tibetans. Everest is on the border between Tibet and Nepal. I don't see any mention of what it is called by the local Nepalis (see addendum #2). Supposedly, K2 is now called Kaytu (sounding like "K2"), by the locals in Kashmir. K2 is more difficult to climb than is Everest. Many climbers have died on both mountains.
Of the world's tallest mountains, Annapurna (in Nepal) was the first to be climbed, in 1950, by Maurice Herzog. Everest was first climbed, in 1953, by Sir Edmund Hillary and Tenzing Norgay (Norkay). K2 was first climbed, in 1954, by Ardito Desio.
Mt. Everest is, of course, the highest point above sea level. But, in some ways, it is not the tallest mountain. Several undersea mountains are apparently taller, from base to peak. Mauna Kea, on the island of Hawaii, is the tallest mountain in the world, from base to peak (about 32,000 feet), its base being some 19,000 feet under water.
Addendum #1:
My account of the radar measurements, above, is not entirely accurate. National Geographic did have a story in which a plane measured the height of K2. But, the measurement that surprised the world was done with a radar device which was carried to near the top of K2, where it used satellite data to measure its altitude. This was tentative, since the batteries ran down right away. But, the measurement seems to have been accurate. The older measurements of all of the tallest mountains were pretty far off. And Everest is still tallest (above sea level).
Addendum #2:
Ivan Lehecka sent me email saying that the Microsoft Encarta 98 Encyclopedia says "Most Nepali people refer to the mountain as Sagarmatha, meaning 'Forehead in the sky.'"
Apparently, Sir George Everest did not discover that Mt. Everest was the tallest mountain. Some sources say that he was the head of the survey project. Others say that he was the former head of the project.
Hillary is often mis-credited with saying that he climbed Mt. Everest, "Because it's there." Evidently, this was instead said by George Mallory. Mallory and Andrew Irvine disappeared near the top of Mt. Everest, in 1924. Mallory's body was discovered recently, near the top. He had apparently been over 1000 vertical feet from the top when he fell. It is possible that he made it to the top. We will probably never know for sure.
See my review of the book Into Thin Air - by Jon Krakauer, about the tragic 1996 season on Mt. Everest. Also see my review of K2: The 1939 Tragedy - by Andrew Kauffman and William Putnam.
See http://www.leica-geosystems.com/corporate/en/solutions/other/lgs_2709.htm.