Mount Everest just got a little bit bigger

After years of debate the world’s highest mountain has been officially declared taller – adding 86cm to its previous height


May 2019: Nepalese surveyors climb Everest and install GPS and satellite equipment to measure peak and snow depth on summit

May 2020: Chinese survey team conducts measurements

Dec 2020: Nepal and China agree height of Everest is 8,848.86m (29,031.69ft), 86cm taller than previously accepted height of 8,848m as determined by Indian survey in 1954


Lhotse
8,516m

Nuptse*

Usual climbing route

1st camp 
2nd
3rd 
4th

Mount Everest
8,848.86m

Changtse
7,543m

May 29, 1953: Edmund Hillary and Tenzing Norgay make first official ascent of Everest

CHINA
Border
NEPAL
2km 1.2 miles


April 25, 2015: Magnitude 7.8 quake in Nepal kills 9,000 people, damages one million structures, and triggers avalanche on Everest that kills 19 climbers

Theory that quake caused drop in height of Everest leads to calls for new survey

Inset map


NEPAL
INDIA
CHINA
Earthquake epicentre
Mount Everest
Xigaze
Kathmandu
Siwan
200km 124 miles


*Not ranked on list of highest mountains due to low topographic prominence (319m)


Sources: Sydney Morning Herald, BBC, Al Jazeera, Google Earth Pro 
© GRAPHIC NEWS