Mount Everest
Everest from Kala Patthar in Nepal

Mount Everest or Qomolangma or Sagarmatha (सगरमाथा) or Chomolungma (ཇོ་མོ་གླང་མ) pronounced as (Jongmalunga) is the highest mountain on Earth, as measured by the height of its summit above sea level. The mountain, which is part of the Himalaya range in High Asia, is located on the border between Nepal and Tibet, China. As of the end of the 2006 climbing season, there have been 3,050 ascents to the summit, by 2,062 individuals, and 203 people have died on the mountain. The conditions on the mountain are so difficult that most of the corpses have been left where they fell; some of them are easily visible from the standard climbing routes.^{[citation needed]}

Climbers are a significant source of tourist revenue for Nepal; they range from experienced mountaineers to relative novices who count on their paid guides to get them to the top. The Nepalese government also requires a permit from all prospective climbers; this carries a heavy fee, often more than $25,000 (USD) per person. ^[4]

Naming

The Tibetan name for Mount Everest is Chomolungma or Qomolangma (ཇོ་མོ་གླིང་མ, meaning "Mother of the Universe"), and the related^{[citation needed]} Chinese name is Zhūmùlǎngmǎ Fēng (Simplified Chinese: 珠穆朗玛峰; Traditional Chinese: 珠穆朗瑪峰) or Shèngmǔ Fēng (Simplified Chinese: 圣母峰; Traditional Chinese: 聖母峰). According to English accounts of the mid-19th century, the local name in Darjeeling for Mount Everest was Deodungha, or "Holy Mountain."[1]. In the 1960s, the Government of Nepal gave the mountain an official Nepali name: Sagarmatha (सगरमाथा), meaning "Head of the Sky".

In 1865, the mountain was given its English name by Andrew Waugh, the British surveyor-general of India. With both Nepal and Tibet closed to foreign travel, he wrote:

I was taught by my respected chief and predecessor, Colonel Sir George Everest to assign to every geographical object its true local or native appellation. But here is a mountain, most probably the highest in the world, without any local name that we can discover, whose native appellation, if it has any, will not very likely be ascertained before we are allowed to penetrate into Nepal. In the meantime the privilege as well as the duty devolves on me to assign…a name whereby it may be known among citizens and geographers and become a household word among civilized nations.

Waugh chose to name the mountain after George Everest, first using the spelling Mont Everest, and then Mount Everest. However, the modern pronunciation of Everest (IPA: /ˈɛvərɪst/ or /ˈɛvərɨst/ (EV-er-est)) is in fact different from Sir George's own pronunciation of his surname, which was /ˈiːvrɪst/ (EAVE-rest).

In the early 1960s, the Nepalese government realized that Mount Everest had no Nepalese name. This was because the mountain was not known and named in ethnic Nepal (that is, the Kathmandu valley and surrounding areas). The government set out to find a name for the mountain (the Sherpa/Tibetan name Chomolangma was not acceptable, as it would have been against the idea of unification (Nepalization) of the country. The name Sagarmatha (सगरमाथा) was thus invented by Baburam Acharya.

In 2002, the Chinese People's Daily newspaper published an article making a case against the continued use of the English name for the mountain in the Western world, insisting that it should be referred to by its Tibetan name. The newspaper argued that the Chinese (in nature a Tibetan) name preceded the English one, as Mount Qomolangma was marked on a Chinese map more than 280 years ago.

Kangchenjunga
Kangchenjunga early in the morning, from Chouda Pheri

Kangchenjunga (Nepali:कञ्चनजङ्घा) SewaLungma (Limbu language) is the third highest mountain in the world (after Mount Everest and K2) with an altitude of 8,586 metres (28,169 feet). Kangchenjunga is the highest mountain in India ^[2] and the second highest peak in Nepal. Kangchenjunga translated means "The Five Treasures of Snows", as it contains five peaks, four of them over 8,450 metres. The treasures represent the five repositories of god, which are gold, silver, gems, grain, and holy books. Kangchenjunga is also called Sewalungma in local Limbu language and considered sacred in Kirant religion. Three of these five peaks (main, central, and south) are on the border of North Sikkim district of Sikkim, India and Taplejung District of Nepal, while the other two are completely in Taplejung District. Nepal is home to the Kangchenjunga Conservation Area Project run by the World Wildlife Fund [2] [3] [4] [5] [6], in association with the Nepal Mountaineering Association [7] and HMG in Nepal, the sanctuary is also home to the Red Panda and other snow animals, birds and plants. India's side of Kangchenjunga also has a protected park area called the Kangchenjunga National Park .

Although Kangchenjunga is the official spelling adopted by Douglas Freshfield, A.M. Kellas, and the Royal Geographical Society that gives the best indication of the Tibetan pronunciation, there are a number of alternative spellings which include Kangchen Dzö-nga, Khangchendzonga, Kanchenjanga, Kachendzonga, Kanchenjunga or Kangchanfanga. The final word on the use of the name Kangchenjunga came from His Highness Sir Tashi Namgyal, the Maharaja or chogyal of Sikkim, who stated that "although junga had no meaning in Tibetan, it really ought to have been Zod-nga (treasure, five) Kang-chen (snow, big) conveyed the meaning correctly". Following consultations with a Lieutenant-Colonel J.L.R. Weir (HMG political agent to Sikkim), he agreed that it was best to leave it as Kangchenjunga, and thus the name remained so by acceptance and usage.

Until 1852, Kangchenjunga was assumed to be the highest mountain in the world, but calculations made by the British Great Trigonometric Survey in 1849 came to the conclusion that Mount Everest was the highest and Kangchenjunga the third-highest. Kangchenjunga was first climbed on May 25, 1955 by George Band and Joe Brown of a British expedition. The British expedition honoured the beliefs of the Sikkimese, who hold the summit sacred, by stopping a few feet short of the actual summit. Most successful summit parties since then have followed this tradition.

The five peaks of Kangchenjunga are as follows:

The huge massif of Kangchenjunga is buttressed by great ridges running roughly due east to west and north to south, forming a giant 'X'. These ridges contain a host of peaks between 6,000 and 8,000 meters. On the east ridge in Sikkim, is Siniolchu (6,888 m/22,600 ft). The west ridge culminates in the magnificent Jannu (7,710 m/25,294 ft) with its imposing north face. To the south, clearly visible from Darjeeling, are Kabru North (7,338 m/24,075 ft), Kabru South (7,316 m/24,002 ft) and Rathong peaks (6,678 m/21,910 ft). The north ridge, after passing through the minor subpeak Kangchenjunga North (7741 m/25,397 ft), contains The Twins and Tent Peak, and runs up to the Tibetan border by the Jongsong La, a 6,120 m (20,080 ft) pass.

Kangchenjunga is known for its famous views from the hill station of Darjeeling. On a clear day, it presents an image not as much of a mountain but of a white wall hanging from the sky. The people of Sikkim revere Kangchenjunga as a sacred mountain. Permission to climb the mountain from the Indian side is rare, but sometimes allowed.^{[citation needed]}

Because of its remote location in Nepal and difficult access from India, the Kangchenjunga region is not much explored by the trekkers. It has, therefore, retained much of its pristine beauty. In Sikkim too, trekking into the Kangchenjunga region has just been permitted. The Goecha La trek is gaining popularity amongst tourists. It goes to the Goecha La Pass which is located right in front of the huge southeast face of Kangchenjunga. Another trek to Green Lake Basin has recently been opened for trekking. This goes to the Northeast side of Kangchenjunga along the famous Zemu glacier.