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Where is/are...?

Where Is Mount Everest?

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As the recent deaths of sixteen Sherpas underscore, climbing Mount Everest remains a daunting challenge. Located in the Himalayas, Everest is the highest mountain in the world at a whopping 29,028 feet. In this compelling narrative, Nico Medina guides readers through the mountain’s ancient beginnings, first human settlers, historic climbs, and the modern commercialization of mountain-climbing. With stories of expeditions gone wrong and miraculously successful summit climbs, this is a thrilling addition to the Where Is? series!

112 pages, Library Binding

First published May 19, 2015

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Nico Medina

28 books25 followers

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Displaying 1 - 30 of 46 reviews
Profile Image for الف‌م‌ی‌ر.
38 reviews12 followers
July 12, 2024
اورست الهه آسمان، در نپالی ساگارماتا به معنی سر آسمان و در تبتی چومولونگما به معنی مادر مقدس نامیده می‌شود.
بلندترین نقطه، قله، گورستان، زباله‌دانی و شاید عبادتگاه کره زمین است که در قلب رشته کوه‌های هیمالیا در کشور نپال واقع شده است.
این کتاب اگرچه می‌توانست بهتر و کامل‌تر نگاشته شود اما با وضعیت فعلی هم اطلاعات جالبی از شکل‌گیری، کشف، نام‌گذاری و اولین صعود‌ها به اورست به ما می‌دهد.
کوهنوردی برای من همیشه علاوه بر ورزش نوعی مسلک جسمانی و عرفانی هم بوده
این‌که چطور تاکنون بیش از ۳۰۰ نفر زندگی خود را برای رسیدن به نوک تیزی بام جهان قربانی کرده‌اند،
این‌که چطور عده‌ی محدودی مثل عظیم قیچی‌ساز توانسته‌اند در هوای رقیق منطقه مرگ (که اکسیژن یک سوم سطح دریاست) نفس کشیده، قدم از قدم برداشته و با همین شرایط و پا بر هر چهارده قله‌ی بالای ۸۰۰۰ متر بگذارند،
این‌که چطور بیش از ۴۰ کوهنورد از مقابل دیوید شارپ گذشتند، حتی از او عکس گرفتند اما نفهمیدند که در حال احتضار است و در جوار گرین‌بوت چمباتمه بر مرگ زده است،
نشان می‌دهد پای چیزی جز ورزش و تندرستی در میان است و عشق و جنون توأمان پای چپ و راست مردمانی می‌شود که رویاهایشان حتی از اورست هم رفیع‌تر است.
این کتاب خواندنی است و من یکی را به سمت خواندن چنین آثاری تشویق کرد.
Profile Image for Sophie Crane.
5,271 reviews179 followers
December 1, 2022
Great book for kids. It was a great book I understand everything I need to know about Mount Everest and so will the kids who read this book.
Profile Image for Emma.
4,965 reviews12 followers
September 3, 2019
Yeah, I have no desire whatsoever to climb that mountain.
Profile Image for Nazanin Albk.
62 reviews18 followers
August 27, 2019
this book is very good and I like it.
l learned a lot from reading it.
Profile Image for itchy.
2,975 reviews33 followers
January 4, 2023
eponymous-ey sentence:
p7: April 18, 2014, was the deadliest day in the history of Mount Everest.

This is quite informative, with a few bits regarding fauna, even.

It's good to know they've begun to clean up the place, too.
Profile Image for Jocelyn.
113 reviews
January 17, 2016
Where is Mount Everest? is a book about the history of Mount Everest. Here are ten facts I learned from reading this book.

(1). The discoverers of Mount Everest were William Lambton (the man who started the expedition to map India), George Everest (the man who took Lambton's place after Lambton died), and finally Andrew Waugh ( the man who took Everest's place after he retired.)
(2). Andrew Waugh is the man who discovered Everest, but he decided to name it after George Everest.
(3). If anyone wanted to climb Mount Everest from Tibet the Dalai Lama had his border closed until 1921.
(4). Explorer John Mallory decided to climb Everest "becase it's there".
(5). Mallory was part of the first three expeditions to the mountain. He led 3 himself.
(6). Mallory's life ended on that mountain however. Him and his climbing partner were last seen at 12:50 in the afternoon. They discovered Mallory's body seventy-five years later.
(7). The Dalai Lama closed Tibet again due to the many tragedies that happened while it was open.
(8). On May 29, 1953 Tenzing Norway and Edmund Hillary made it to the top of Mount Everest. The first two people to make it to the top!
(9). Junko Tabei was the first woman to climb Mount Everest in 1975.
(10). Finally Mount Everest is over fifty million years old.

This is a good book to take with you if you are traveling. I really enjoyed learning about the tallest mountain in the world and its history.
-Jocelyn Kuntz
Profile Image for Sandy.
1,293 reviews23 followers
October 23, 2020
The Sherpas call the mountain Chomolungma, Mother Goddess of the World. The people of Nepal call the mountain Sagarmatha, Sky Goddess. And Mount Everest was named after a man who didn't want the mountain to be named after him, George Everest. He respected the names it already had.

This book was full of information about the mountain, the people of the area, and the people who came to get to the summit. I learned quit a bit. This book is a part of the Where Is series and I plan to read more.

I know the dates read says almost a month but I read this in one day.
Profile Image for Natalie.
3,394 reviews187 followers
January 17, 2021


George Mallory, one of the first mountaineers to try and conquer Everest was asked why he wanted to climb the behemoth. He famously responded, "Because it's there." George Mallory perished on his last attempt to scale the mountain.

I have never felt the need to put myself in any amount of danger for anything, so I don't really feel that push that Mallory did, but apparently lots of people do. It's crazy to me how many people will spend the time and money required to tackle Everest.

One part I found interesting, was that Sir George Everest did not like that the mountain was named after him. He was a surveyor for many years and his successor thought to name the mountain in his honor. Everest wasn't pleased. He believed in using the local names for the mountains. (Smart man!) To the Sherpa, Mt. Everest will always be called Chomolungma, which means "Mother of the World." That's a beautiful name.

Another random fun fact. Lord Everest pronounced his name "Eve-rest." Over time it's switched to the current pronunciation.

I also found it amusing that the Sherpa thought all these guys were nuts for wanting to go up there. I have to agree with the Sherpa!

As usual, I love these books! It's fun to get a snapshot about cool people, events, and places. It often leads me into seeking out more detailed books.
Profile Image for Sue.
1,698 reviews1 follower
June 9, 2016
It was a sweet, well-written little book, it's just that I think mountain climbing to be self-imposed stupidity. So any "hardships" are to be expected because they put themselves in that idiotic predicament.
Profile Image for Cheryl.
418 reviews
June 10, 2016
I have learned that it costs $25,000 for a permit to climb Mt. Everest.

Just the permit. . .

Imagine all the supplies that are required.

So basically, only rich people can get to ridiculously risk their lives trying to reach this mountaintop.

Good to know.
Profile Image for Δάσκαλος.
146 reviews
October 26, 2023
1. To the Sherpas, Everest is known as Chomolungma. That means “Mother Goddess of the World.” They revere and respect her. (p. 8)
2. Now imagine stacking one Empire State Building on top of another. You would have to stack twenty of them to reach the height of Mount Everest. (p. 9)
3. Three hundred million years ago, there was no Asia or Africa, no North or South America. This is because all the land on Earth was part of a single “supercontinent” that we now call Pangaea. (p. 15)
4. Himalaya means “snow home” in the ancient Indian language of Sanskrit. When Himalayan snow melts, it feeds great rivers—the Ganges, Indus, Yangtze, Mekong, and others. From Afghanistan to Thailand, these rivers provide water for more than one billion people—one out of every five people in the world! (p. 18)
5. The religion of the Sherpa people is a form of Buddhism in which many deities, or gods and goddesses, exist. The Sherpas also believe in demons. Their gods can protect people from these demons. (p. 22)
6. The Buddha is often depicted in art and statues as a smiling figure with his hands in his lap. These figures are not meant to be worshipped. Instead, they serve as a reminder to strive for the Buddha’s level of happiness and enlightenment. Bowing to a Buddha statue is meant to express thanks for his valuable lessons. (p. 23)
7. Until Westerners began visiting the Khumbu Valley in the twentieth century, the Sherpas had never climbed Mount Everest. It was considered taboo—forbidden. They believed the mountain was sacred. It was the home of gods and demons. (p. 23)
8. Prayer flags—colorful pieces of cloth with prayers written on them—are strung up. Sherpas believe that the wind lets loose spiritual energy within the flags, sending blessings of peace and love across the land. These prayer flags can be found at the top of the mountain, too, and all around the Khumbu Valley. (p. 24)
9. India had been trading spices such as black pepper, nutmeg, ginger, and cinnamon with Europe since ancient times. Then in the late 1400s, the Ottoman Empire in modern-day Turkey blocked land routes from Europe to Asia. So Europeans had to go by sea. Nothing would stop the spice trade. (p. 26)
10. George Everest did not want the mountain named after him. Because during the great mapping project, it had been common practice to use only names that the local people would use. Still, Waugh decided to name the mountain after him. In 1865—one year before Everest’s death—the Royal Geographic Society accepted Waugh’s suggestion. Peak XV was now “Mount Everest.” (p. 29)
11. In 1970, Yuichiro Miura became the first man to ski down Mount Everest! Miura skied more than 6,500 feet down the mountain. A film about him, The Man Who Skied Down Everest, won an Academy Award. (p. 52)
12. The higher up the mountain, the harder it becomes to breathe. That’s because oxygen is more scattered—more spread out. A person near the top of Everest breathes in only about a third as much oxygen as they would at sea level. The less oxygen the body receives, the more dangerous climbing becomes. (p. 53)
Profile Image for Liesl.
1,937 reviews
June 25, 2019
Very informative! This book does a nice job of not only relaying information about the Everest's history, notable climbing expeditions and the risks involved with scaling the mountain, but also details the formation of the Himalayas and Sherpa culture. I have long been fascinated by the stories of Everest, even more so after reading Into Thin Air: A Personal Account of the Mount Everest Disaster and watching its film adaptation, and my son seemed very interested in learning more about it as well. It was perfect timing to finish reading this book to him on the same night that Last Week Tonight with John Oliver aired a segment dedicated to the Everest tourist industry and how it has become dangerously popular.
Profile Image for David.
1,630 reviews179 followers
February 24, 2020
Where Is Mount Everest? by Nico Medina is another book in the Where Is...series. In it the author explains how the Himalayas and Mount Everest specifically came to be. Located in the Himalayas, Everest is the highest mountain in the world at 29,029 feet. The author takes us through the mountain's ancient beginnings resulting from the collision of land masses that pushed up and formed the mountain range we know today as the Himalayas. Only in recent history was this range explored resulting in the discovery of the highest mountain on earth that was ultimately named for George Everest, one of the early explorers. The book also covers first human settlers, historic climbs, and the modern commercialization of mountain-climbing.
2 reviews2 followers
November 7, 2017
In the book you go to a place name Mount Everest. Mount Everest is located on the border of China and Nepal. On the mountain there's story's of the brave and the daring. One of the story's is the George Mallory story in 1921 George went to climb the mountain. In the climb George climbed with a team of climbers most of the climbers dead from coldest or frost bite. But George still made it to the top of the mountain and George and the team are one of the first people to make it to the top of the mountain. But there's more story's in the book but you should read them.
Profile Image for Volkan Güven.
11 reviews
January 15, 2018
As a former alpinist I dont like the book. Because it starts with "death" and continue with "death" also. Climbing high altitude is dangerous thing but Kids who want to read and learn adventurous alpinism stories, scared and move away this sport. I won’t advise this book to my daughter.

In summary, not for kids
Profile Image for Moksh Juneja.
59 reviews6 followers
October 19, 2019
Loved reading this book to my kids. They had so many questions like can we fly in aeroplane to reach Mount Everest? How cold it is at Everest? Why do we need oxygen? Ok some kids are 3 and 5 and it was fun reading to them and answering these question. Love the illustration it made simpler to explain but it had many more curious minds asking questions.
Profile Image for Lisa Houston.
525 reviews2 followers
June 27, 2018
I absolutely love the “Where is,” “Who was,” and “Who is” nonfiction books. This book has been my favorite thus far. This book was jam packed with lots of information about Mount Everest that I did not know.
Profile Image for Sarah.
3,652 reviews
November 2, 2020
Information on Mount Everest both past and present. Mainly focuses on the history of people trying to climb to the summit. Also covers some local traditions and lore, as well as modern-day problems, caused by too much traffic on Everest. A great basic informative read.
Profile Image for Kara.
Author 28 books96 followers
April 30, 2023

An excellent book on Mount Everest, laying out both the scientific history and human history of the mountain, explaining both the macro-political picture and deeply personal histories, as well as pulling no punches on the many dangers of trying to climb the world's tallest mountain.
Profile Image for Yvonne.
578 reviews5 followers
October 8, 2019
Great book about the area, the culture, the Sherpa's, the wildness of the mountain, and the first adventurers who climbed to the summit. Very educational.
65 reviews
who-hq
May 5, 2020
News of Edmund Hillary and Tenzing Norgay’s first summit reached Great Britain on same day of Elizabeth II’s coronation. Hillary would become first man to reach all Three Poles.
Profile Image for Laura Serrao.
45 reviews2 followers
May 1, 2021
One of the best in this series. Well written. Lots of fun facts without making it dull.
Profile Image for Alex.
6,671 reviews1 follower
August 29, 2021
This was very fascinating. Also, who knew the man who named Mount Everest actually pronounced his last name as "Eve-rest"?
Displaying 1 - 30 of 46 reviews

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