EARTH'S HIGHEST MOUNTAIN ROSE FROM THE SEA INTO THE CLOUDS, CREATING A TEMPTING TARGET FOR ADVENTURERS

        Fossilised fish remains have been found high on the frozen slopes of Mount Everest-proof that once, millions of years ago, the world's highest mountain lay at the bottom of the sea. How Everest came to travel halfway across the world and then rise up to reach two-thirds of the way through the earth's atmosphere is just one of the fascinating stories that add to the magnificent beauty of this mountain.

        About 200 million years ago the Indian subcontinent broke away from a vast southern super-continent called "Gondwanaland". It drifted north-east across the sea, and collided with the Asian landmass. So this immense land marks buckled, folded and rose up to form the world's loftiest mountains, one of which is the Mount Everest of 29,028ft (8848m).

       The Tibetian names the mountain translate variously as 'Goddess of  the Mountain Snows','Goddess Mother of the World, and Mountain So High That No Bird Can Fly Over It'. It was first measured in 1852 and was called Peak XV until 1865, when it was named Mount Everest, after the British Surveyor General of India, Sir George Everest. He was a tireless, meticulous military engineer, instrumental in achieving the first accurate mapping of India and the Himalayas.