__NOTOC__ The North Col (; ) refers to the sharp-edged

pass Pass, PASS, The Pass or Passed may refer to: Places * Pass, County Meath, a townland in Ireland * Pass, Poland, a village in Poland * Pass, an alternate term for a number of straits: see List of straits * Mountain pass, a lower place in a moun ...

carved by glaciers in the ridge connecting

Mount Everest Mount Everest (; Tibetan: ''Chomolungma'' ; ) is Earth's highest mountain above sea level, located in the Mahalangur Himal sub-range of the Himalayas. The China–Nepal border runs across its summit point. Its elevation (snow heig ...

and

Changtse Changtse ( bo, བྱང་རྩེ, lit=north peak, ) is a mountain situated between the Main Rongbuk and East Rongbuk Glaciers in Tibet Autonomous Region, China, immediately north of Mount Everest. It is connected to Mount Everest via the Nor ...

Tibet Tibet (; ''Böd''; ) is a region in East Asia, covering much of the Tibetan Plateau and spanning about . It is the traditional homeland of the Tibetan people. Also resident on the plateau are some other ethnic groups such as Monpa people, ...

. It forms the head of the East Rongbuk Glacier. When climbers attempt to climb Everest via the North ridge (Tibet), the first camp on the mountain itself (traditional Camp IV, modern Camp I) is established on the North Col. From this point at approximately above

sea level Mean sea level (MSL, often shortened to sea level) is an average surface level of one or more among Earth's coastal bodies of water from which heights such as elevation may be measured. The global MSL is a type of vertical datuma standardised g ...

, climbers ascend the North Ridge to reach a series of progressively higher camps along the

North Face North face or Northface or The North Face may refer to: * North face (Eiger), in the Bernese Alps in Switzerland * North Face (Everest), in Himalaya, usually traversed ascending Everest from the north * North face (Fairview Dome), a climbing route ...

of Everest. Climbers make their final push to the summit from Camp VI at 8,230 metres (27,001 ft) altitude. The North Col was first climbed by

George Mallory George Herbert Leigh Mallory (18 June 1886 – 8 or 9 June 1924) was an English mountaineer who took part in the first three British expeditions to Mount Everest in the early 1920s. Born in Cheshire, Mallory became a student at Winchester ...

Edward Oliver Wheeler Brigadier Sir Edward Oliver Wheeler MC (April 18, 1890 – March 19, 1962) was a Canadian surveyor, mountain climber and soldier. Wheeler participated in the first topographical survey of Mount Everest in 1921. As a Brigadier in the British ...

, and

Guy Bullock Guy Henry Bullock (23 July 1887 – 12 April 1956) was a British diplomat who is best known for his participation in the 1921 British Mount Everest reconnaissance expedition. As expedition mountaineers, he and George Mallory found a northern acc ...

on 23 September 1921, during the British reconnaissance expedition. This was the first time a Westerner had set foot on Mount Everest. Although long credited to Mallory, discovery of the North Col was in fact made by Wheeler about a week before Mallory confirmed its existence while searching for possible routes to the summit of Mount Everest. All subsequent expeditions in the 1920s and 1930s attempted to reach the summit of Everest by using the North Col. Before 1950, most Everest expeditions went from Tibet and via the North Col, but most now go from Nepal via the

South Col The South Col is a sharp-edged col between Mount Everest and Lhotse, the highest and fourth-highest mountains in the world, respectively. The South Col is typically swept by high winds, leaving it free of significant snow accumulation. Since 195 ...

. In 1951, two mountaineers on the

1952 British Cho Oyu expedition The 1952 British expedition to Cho Oyu () the ''Turquoise Goddess'' was organized by the Joint Himalayan Committee. It had been hoped to follow up the 1951 Everest expedition with another British attempt on Everest in 1952, but Nepal had accepted ...

Edmund Hillary Sir Edmund Percival Hillary (20 July 1919 – 11 January 2008) was a New Zealand mountaineer, explorer, and philanthropist. On 29 May 1953, Hillary and Sherpa mountaineer Tenzing Norgay became the first climbers confirmed to have reached t ...

and

George Lowe George Edward Lowe (born November 10, 1957) is an American voice actor and comedian whose voice roles include Space Ghost on the animated series ''Space Ghost Coast to Coast'' and its spin-off, ''Cartoon Planet''.

The Northern Part of Everest 3D version 1

Overview

This map is inverted; south is up and north is down. The North Col is lower than

, and farther from the Everest peak. North Col of Mount Everest

References

External links

Painting of the Camp on North-Col

Description of the climbing route to the summit via the North Col
Mount Everest Mountain passes of the Himalayas Mountain passes of Tibet Mountain passes of China {{Tibet-geo-stub

Overview

See also

References

External links