South Summit (Mount Everest) South Summit (Mount Everest) The South Summit of Mount Everest in the Himalayas is the second-highest peak on Earth, and is a subsidiary peak to the primary peak of Mount Everest. Although its elevation above sea level of is higher than the second-highest mountain on Earth, K2 (whose summit is above sea level), it is only considered a separate peak and not a separate mountain as its prominence is only 11 meters. The peak is a dome-shaped peak of snow and ice, and is connected to the summit of Mount Everest by the Cornice Traverse and Hillary Step. It was
1935 British Mount Everest reconnaissance expedition prove this point because in 1936 he and Noel Odell were to make the first ascent of the Nanda Devi, the highest mountain climbed until Annapurna in 1950. The expedition was to have an unlikely influence on the 1953 British Mount Everest expedition, the first time the summit was reached. Tenzing Norgay had been impressive in 1935 – in future years he went on to be Sherpa many times on Everest, including on the 1952 Swiss Mount Everest expeditions. In fact he was on all the subsequent British expeditions, including 1936 and 1938, culminating in his reaching the summit of