At 29,028 feet (8,848 meters), Mount Everest is the tallest mountain of the world. Known as Sagarmatha, or Goddess of the sky, in Nepal, Mount Everest has a mystical appeal that attracts thousands of hopeful climbers every year. It's impossible to say how many people have reached Everest's summit at any given time, since the number changes every year. At the end of the 2010 climbing season, 3,142 different climbers from twenty different countries had completed a total of over 5,100 climbs.

Because of the extreme conditions experienced on Mount Everest, fatalities are commonplace. By the end of 2010, 219 people had died trying to reach the summit. Most of these fatalities happened before 1990. In the last ten years, advances in climbing equipment and more experienced guides have resulted in a steep drop in fatality statistics: from 37% in 1990 to 4.4% in 2004.

In 1924, two British climbers, George Mallory and Andrew "Sandy" Irvine made a famous attempt to summit the mountain, and they may have been the first ones to make it. They died in the attempt, however, and it is unclear from the placement of the bodies whether they actually reached the top or not. The first officially recorded summit was accomplished by Sir Edmund Percival Hillary from New Zealand and Tenzing Norgay, a sherpa from Nepal. They reached Everest's summit on 29 May 1953. Many argue that other climbers reached the summit before 1953, but their climbs just weren't recorded.

The 1970s was a decade of records. The first woman to climb Mount Everest was Junko Tabei, who reached the summit in 1975. In 1978, Reinhold Messner and Peter Habeler were the first to climb Mount Everest without supplemental oxygen. In 1980, Messner was also the first solo climber to reach the summit.

As of 2011, the oldest person to ever summit Mt. Everest was Min Bahadur Sherchan, who was 76 when he reached the top on 25 May 2008. On the other end of the spectrum, the youngest climber to take on Mount Everest was Jordan Romero reached the summit at the age of 13 on 22 May 2010. One of the most impressive records, however, is the one set on 25 May 2001 by Erik Weihenmayer. He was the first blind climber to conquer Mount Everest.

The deadliest year in Mount Everest's history was 1996, when 19 people died near the summit. Among the fatalities were group leaders Rob Hall and Scott Fischer. Journalist Jon Krakauer, a survivor from that trek, went on to write the bestseller Into Thin Air. The latest record was set on 30 May 2005 by Nepalese Mona Mulepati and Pem Dorje Sherpa. They were the first couple to get married on top of Mount Everest.