Mount Everest Facts

Bear Grylls broke three vertebrae in a parachuting accident in Zambia in 1996, falling from 16,000 feet. His surgeon said he was "within a whisker" of permanent paralysis. Eighteen months later, on May 26, 1998, he stood on the summit of Mount Everest at age 23.

Mount Everest is still growing - and a river 75km away is why. The Arun river has carved a deep gorge, removing so much rock that the crust beneath springs upward. A 2024 UCL study found river erosion is a key driver of Everest's roughly 2mm annual rise. Everest already sits 15-50m taller than it would be without that river.