Unknown Facts About The Himalayas

The Himalayas form the planet’s highest mountain region, containing 9 of the 10 highest peaks in the world. Among these peaks are the world’s highest mountain, Mount Everest (8848 m), which is on the Nepal-Tibet border; the second highest peak, K2 or Mount Godwin Austen (8,611 m), located on the border between China and Jammu and Kashmir, the third highest peak, Kanchenjunga (8,598 m) on the Nepal-India border.

Most people are aware of the fact that the snow-clad Himalayas is one of the highest mountain chains, but you will be surprised to know that this peak grows approximately 20mm every year and river Ganges is older than Himalaya ! This are not the only interesting facts about the Himalayas, there are plenty more mentioned in this Top 5 list of unknown facts about the Himalayas.

5. Its Growing

Both Chinese and Nepalese ideas of the mountain’s height may be wrong, according to more recent measurements.

A research team discovered in 1994 that Everest continues to grow approximately 4 millimetres (0.16 in) every year. The Indian subcontinent was originally an independent landmass that collided with Asia, forming the Himalayas, and the continental plates are still moving, pushing the mountains ever higher.

Researchers from the American Millennium Expedition in 1999 placed a global positioning satellite device below the summit to measure growth. Their more accurate findings from the modern technology led to the official height of Everest being changed to 8,850 meters (29,035 ft). Meanwhile, other tectonic activity actually costs the mountain height, but the overall movement seems to be upward.

4. The World’s Dirtiest Mountain

Countless photos document climbers on their way to the Everest summit, but we rarely see images of what they leave behind. Everest is littered with not just the corpses of climbers but an estimated 50 tons of waste, with more left behind each season. The slopes are strewn with disregarded oxygen bottles, climbing equipment, and plenty of human faces.

The Eco Everest Expedition has hit the mountain each year since 2008 to tackle the problem, and they’ve collected over 13 tons of waste so far. The Nepalese government have enforced a new rule starting in 2014 that climbers must each bring down 8 kilograms (18 lb) of waste on their descent, else lose their $4,000 deposit.

Artists working on the “Everest 8848 Art Project” have turned 8 tons of the rubbish, including broken tents and beer cans, into 75 pieces of art. Sixty-five porters worked over two spring expeditions to carry down the trash, and the artists turned it into sculptures to highlight the issue of mess on the mountain.

3. Two Men Climbed Everest 21 Times

It is an unknown facts about the Himalayas that two Sherpas, Apa Sherpa and Phurba Tashi, hold the joint record for most Everest ascents. The pair have each managed to reach the summit an impressive 21 times. Phurba reached the top of the world three times in 2007 alone, and Apa has successfully summited the mountain almost every year between 1990 and 2011.

Apa says that he has seen clear changes on Everest caused by global warming over the years. He has spoken of his concerns over melting snow and glaciers, which expose the rock and make it increasingly tough to climb. He also worries for the well-being of Sherpas, after losing his own home in a flood caused by the melted glaciers. Apa has dedicated several Everest ascents to raising awareness of climate change.

2. Himalayan jumping spiders

In this harsh world of ice and rock lives a little spider. It one of the highest living animals in the world — having been found at 22,000 ft.
Euophrys omnisuperstes (“standing above everything”), better known as Himalayan jumping spiders, hide in nooks and crevices on the slopes of Everest, making them one of the Earth’s highest permanent residents.

It accomplishes its spectacular jumps by means of muscular contractions in the body that force body fluids into the legs, causing the legs to extend rapidly.

The tiny spiders manage to feed on whatever stray insects the severe winds blow up the mountain. They’re virtually the only animals permanently based at such a high altitude, aside from a few species of bird.

1. Highest, but not the tallest!

Although Mount Everest is the highest point on Earth from sea level, Mauna Kea, an inactive Hawaiian volcano, holds the record as the world’s tallest mountain.

Everest’s peak is not the taller; it is at a higher altitude. Mauna Kea may only reach a height of 4,205 meters above sea level, but the volcano extends an incredible 6,000 meters below the Sea surface. Measured from its base on the ocean floor, its full height stands at 10,200 making it almost a mile taller that Everest.

Olympus Mons is a very large shield volcano on the planet Mars. It has a height of nearly 25 km, which is almost three times as tall as Mount Everest’s height.

In fact, if we measure from the centre of the earth, Chimborazo, a 6267 meters mountain in Ecuador, is the highest point. This is because Chimborazo lies just one degree south of the equator. The Earth bulges at its midsection, so Ecuador’s sea level sits farther from the planet’s canter than Nepal’s.

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