| Summary: | 12561 THE MAJESTIC HIMALAYAS, NORTHERN INDIA The word "Himalayas" means the "abode of snow." Don't you think these mountains are well named? Beautifully, snow-capped peak rises beyond snow-capped peak, and beneath the white crowns of the mountains lies a sea of clouds. This is a scene from above Darjeeling, India. The Himalayas are more than a chain of mountains. They may be thought of as a mountain system, 1,500 miles long and 600 miles wide. They are described as holding up the great plateau of Tibet.in central Asia, and Tibet is called the roof of the world. Among the peaks of the Central Himalayas are many single peaks over 25,000 feet high. Of these Mount Everest is the highest point in the world, 29,141 feet. Near Mount Everest is the second highest peak, Mount Kangchenjunga, 28,225 feet. Nine hundred miles from Everest, and still in the Himalayas, stands the world's third highest peak, Mount Godwin-Austen, 28,191 feet. One glacier in the Himalayas extends for a distance of nearly 100 miles between mountains that are 20,000 to 25,000 feet high. These peaks are seven or eight thousand feet (a mile and a half) higher than Mount Mc- Kinley in Alaska, the highest peak in North America. Is it any wonder that they challenge the efforts of mountain climbers? Within the last few years several organized expeditions have attempted to reach the summit of Everest, all ending in failure. However, this mountain has in part been conquered. In 1933, on April 3, two British airplanes flew ove«* the summit of Mount Everest, and on April 20 a second flight was made. Copyright by Keystone View Company
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