Today is the 55th anniversary of the first ascent of Mt. Everest by Sir Edmund Hillary of New Zealand and Tenzing Norgay of Nepal. What a monumental accomplishment. Since 1955 over 2,972 men and women have climbed the 29,029 foot / 8848 meter mountain located n the border between Nepal and Tibet, where all of the worlds 14 Eight-thousand meter peaks are found. A few weeks ago PBS Frontline did an excellent program called the Storm Over Everest which recounts the May 1996 storm on Everest that trapped three climbing teams on the mountain. It’s a fascinating story by filmmaker David Breashears, who was actually part of the rescue 12 years ago. For those of us who will never have the opportunity or ability to make the trek ourselves, I thought I’d share a really cool link to a panoramic view from the peak just to put the grand scale of the mountain in perspective: Panoramas.dk.

Here are a few interesting facts about Everest from Infoplease:

• The Japanese-run Everest View Hotel is at 12,779 feet the highest hotel in the world. Guests fly to an airstrip in the Khumbu region of the Himalayas and are then transported by yak to the luxury hotel. Because the sudden high altitude is a shock to the unacclimated human body, the hotel constantly pumps fresh oxygen into each room. Everest can be seen at a distance as long as the weather is clear.
• The Sherpas are a people of Tibetan ancestry who migrated to Nepal about 600 years ago. Sherpas are renowned for their ability to tolerate high altitudes, for their mountaineering abilities, and for their extraordinary fortitude. Many use “Sherpa” as their surname. Because nearly every Himalayan expedition relies on Sherpas as guides and porters, the word Sherpa has often been used as a generic term to mean a member of a mountaineering or trekking support team. Among the most famous Sherpa mountain climbers are Tenzing Norgay, who, along with Edmund Hillary, first summited Everest, and Appa Sherpa, who has climbed Everest more than anyone else—fourteen times.
• According to National Geographic, Everest grows about 4 millimeters a year: the two tectonic plates of Asia and India, which collided millions of years ago to form the Himalayas, continue to press against each other, causing the Himalyan peaks to grow slightly each year.
• Sir George Everest was ambivalent about having the highest mountain named after him—he thought a Tibetan or Nepalese name would be more appropriate.
• Following in their fathers’ footsteps: the sons of Hillary and Tenzing summited Everest, as did Mallory’s grandson.
• The earliest British expeditions tackling Everest wore tweed jackets, woolen underwear, and leather boots.
• The white plume characteristically seen blowing off the top of Everest is the jet stream, a wind current reaching speeds up to 250 mph. To a climber, it sounds like a 747 taking off.
• George Mallory never meant his famous quote—”Because it is there”—to be the definitive word on why he wanted to climb Everest. It was an exasperated response to an irritating journalist who had been badgering him with an endless series of obtuse questions.
• According to Adventure Statistics, through 2007 the number of climbers summiting Everest reached at least 2,972, and the number of deaths on the mountain reached 208.

All this thinking about Everest got me thinking about the “mountains” I climb on a regular basis. Sure, most of them aren’t nearly as challenging as Everest, but nonetheless they do challenge me. This has challenged me to evaluate the way I take on challenges and what I can do to become more effective in times of difficulty and crisis. It’s obviously a matter of personal style and no two-styles are the same, but in the end we all conquer our fair share of problems. I don’t have any definitive answers but as I figure things out I’ll be sharing them with you. How about you? What do you do in times of crisis or challenge that help you be more successful and effective?