The Hindu : Miscellaneous / This Day That Age : dated November 19, 1954: Height of Mt. Everest

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Friday, Nov 19, 2004

Miscellaneous

Miscellaneous - This Day That Age

dated November 19, 1954: Height of Mt. Everest

The new value of the height of Mount Everest fixed by the Survey of India is 29,028 feet, 26 feet above the previous figure of 29,002 feet. The new figure is considered to be correct within 10 feet either way and any probable deviation is not important because the seasonal fluctuation of snow on the summit could well be of this order of magnitude. The Survey of India undertook detailed work for fixing the height during the years 1952, 1953 and 1954. The work was carried out under the direction of Mr. B.L. Gulatee, Director of the Geodetic and Research Branch of the Survey. Foreign experts, including Brig. G. Bomford of the Oxford University, who was formerly associated with the Survey of India, were also consulted before the final value was arrived at. Located on the Nepal-Tibet border, Mount Everest is the pride of the great Himalayan range. It is about 10,000 feet higher than Killimanjaro, Africa's highest mountain, whose height has just been redetermined precisely and even the highest peaks of the United States of America would rank as its minor satellites. The till recently accepted height, 29,002 feet, has endured for over a century, but all along there were doubts about its accuracy. Several other values such as 29,050 feet, 29,080 feet, 29,141 feet and 29,149 feet have been quoted from time to time. It was because of this that the Survey undertook this work over two years ago.

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