A recent Washington Post article by Ankit Adhikari and Joanna Slater writes “Nepal and China, the two countries that share a border on Mount Everest, announced a new official measurement of the mountain’s height on Tuesday: 8,848.86 meters, or 29,031.69 feet“.

We can be confident that this is the most accurate height of Everest that we have ever had. It was a huge responsibility on our part. It is a moment of great pride for us.

Susheel Dangol, Nepal’s chief survey officer, who headed the project (source: Washington Post)

According to the Post, two techniques were applied to measure the height: First, based on trigonometry, a time-tested technique that is also known as a leveling survey. Second, using the latest technology, relying on a combination of readings from a satellite navigation system and a complex model of sea level.

“It wasn’t easy: a Nepalese surveyor who lugged a global positioning device and a ground-penetrating radar to the summit of Everest last year lost the tip of a toe to frostbite. His team faced a life-threatening shortage of oxygen on their descent”.

“While Everest is the highest mountain the world, it is not technically the tallest as measured from base to peak. That superlative belongs to Hawaii’s Mauna Kea, which is largely underwater,” write the Post.