Mount Everest: interesting facts about the world's highest mountain

Mount Everest: the most interesting facts about the world's highest mountain - Getting to the top of Mt Everest is the dream for climbers all around the world. This mountain is a huge tourist attraction full of danger and bizarre stories. Find out all there is to know about the world's highest mountain in the gallery and surprise yourself with these fascinating facts!

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On top - More than 5,000 climbers have reached the summit of Mount Everest, including a blind man, a 70-year-old, and a 13-year-old.

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Bodies - There are approximately 200 corpses on the way to the top of the mountain. Some are even used as landmarks by climbers.

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Oldest - In 2013 a 70-year-old Japanese man named Yuichiro Miura became the oldest person to scale Mt Everest and complete the descent.

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Waste management - As well as the dead bodies on the way to the top, there are approximately 50 tonnes of trash on the mountain. This makes it the dirtiest mountain in the world.

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Estimates - Records show that, for every 100 people who make it to the top, around 4 die.

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Cost - Scaling Mount Everest can cost between 30 and 60 thousand dollars. It depends on the travel agency handling your trip.

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Cyclist - Göran Kropp, a famous Swedish cyclist, cycled from Sweden to Mount Everest. He had to give up just 91 meters from the summit.

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Growth - Several scientists have observed that Mount Everest gets taller every year, by around 4mm.

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Internet - If you want to climb Mt Everest and post a selfie straight away, you can! The mountain has 3G service all the way to the top.

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Paragliding - In 2011, two men reached the top of the mountain and descended by paragliding. They got to the bottom in 42 minutes and avoided the dangerous 3-day descent.

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Shrinking - Despite the fact that it is constantly growing, Everest shrunk by around 2.5 cm in 2015 due to an earthquake in Nepal.

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Records - In May of this year, a Spanish climber named Kilian Jornet managed to scale Mount Everest in 26 hours. However the record belongs to Italian Hans Kammerlander who reached the summit in just 16 hours and 45 minutes, without any kind of breathing apparatus, in 1996.

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Wedding - A lot of things have happened on this mountain, including even a wedding. In 2005 a Nepalese couple, Moni Mule Pari and Pem Dorjee Sherpa, got married on the top of Everest.

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Google Maps - You can see some of the routes and base camps on Google Streetview.

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Legless - In 2013, Arunima Sinha, 26-years-old, scaled Mount Everest with just one leg, after the other was amputated following a train accident.

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Rock on (top) - The rocks at the summit of Mt Everest are marine limestone, which are estimated to have been at sea level nearly 450 million years ago.

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Temperature - The temperature at the top of Mt Everest varies between -20 degrees Celsius and -35 in the Summer.

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One year without reaching the top - For the first time since 1974, in 2015 nobody managed to reach the top.

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First - The first mountaineers to officially reach the top of Mt Everest were Edmund Hillary and Tenzing Norgay on the 29th of May 1953.

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Sons - Nearly 50 years after this feat, the sons of those pioneering mountaineers, Peter Hillary and Janling Norgay also reached the summit, on the May 25 2002.

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Name - In Nepal, Mt Everest is known as Chomolungma, which means 'Holy Mother of Mountains'.

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Oxygen - At the summit, the air has approximately a third of the oxygen there is at sea level. This is why many climbers bring oxygen tanks to help them reach the top.

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Wind - The mountain is constantly hit by strong gusts of winds called jet streams, which can reach speeds of up to 200km/h.

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Authorization - Depending on which route you plan to take, adventurers need permission from either the Chinese or Nepalese government.

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Best months - Experts say the best months to climb Everest are April and May.

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Descent - Most of the deaths on Mt Everest occur on the way back down.

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Most dangerous - Despite its reputation, Everest is not the most dangerous mountain in the world. K2 is much more dangerous, as 1 out of every 4 people who attempt to reach the summit die.

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Sherpas - The guides are called Sherpas. Sherpa people belong to an ethnic group from the Himalayan mountains and are used to the high altitudes.

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Spiders of the mountain - Known as 'Himalayan jumping spiders', this species of spider hides in the slopes of Everest and are practically the only animal who live at such high altitudes.

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Main dangers - On this mountain the main danger is avalanches, which can happen several times during a descent.

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Numbers - Annually Mt Everest receives nearly 60 thousand tourists, with nearly 1300 venturing to the top.

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