1.
Tiger Hill, Darjeeling
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Tiger Hill is located in Darjeeling, in the Indian State of West Bengal, and is the summit of Ghoom, the highest railway station in the Darjeeling Himalayan Railway – a UNESCO World Heritage Site. It has a view of Mount Everest and Mt. Kangchenjunga together. It is 11 km from the town of Darjeeling and can be reached either by jeep or by foot through Chowrasta, Alubari or Jorebangla, at sunrise, the peaks of Kangchenjunga are illuminated before the sun is seen at lower elevations. From Tiger Hill, Mount Everest is just visible, makalu looks higher than Mt. Everest, owing to the curvature of the Earth, as it is several miles closer than Everest. The distance in a line from Tiger Hill to Everest is 107 miles. On a clear day, Kurseong is visible to the south and in the distance, along with Teesta River, Mahanada River, Balason River, chumal Rhi mountain of Tibet,84 miles away, is visible over the Chola Range. Senchal Wildlife Sanctuary is close to Tiger Hill
2.
Summit
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A summit is a point on a surface that is higher in elevation than all points immediately adjacent to it. Mathematically, a summit is a maximum in elevation. The topographic terms acme, apex, peak, and zenith are synonymous, the UIAA definition is that a summit is independent if it has a prominence of 30 metres or more, it is a mountain if it has a prominence of at least 300 metres. This can be summarised as follows, A pyramidal peak is an exaggerated form produced by ice erosion of a mountain top, Summit may also refer to the highest point along a line, trail, or route. In many parts of the western United States, the term refers to the highest point along a road, highway. For example, the highest point along Interstate 80 in California is referred to as Donner Summit while the highest point on Interstate 5 is Siskiyou Mountain Summit, geoid Hill List of highest mountains Maxima and minima Nadir Summit accordance Peak finder
3.
Topographic prominence
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It is a measure of the independence of a summit. A peaks key col is a point on this contour line. By convention, the prominence of Mount Everest, the Earths highest mountain, is taken to equal the elevation of its summit above sea level, if the peaks prominence is P metres, to get from the summit to any higher terrain one must descend at least P metres. Together with the convention for Mount Everest, this implies that the prominence of any island or continental highpoint is equal to its elevation above sea level, for every ridge connecting the peak to higher terrain, find the lowest point on the ridge. The key col is defined as the highest of these cols, the prominence is the difference between the elevation of the peak and the elevation of the key col. The following mental exercise may illustrate the meaning of topographic prominence, imagine you are standing at the top of a peak and imagine that an imaginary sea level rises to your feet. Now slowly lower the sea level and an imaginary island appears beneath your feet. Your island will grow and will merge with other islands that emerge, the parent peak may be either close or far from the subject peak. The summit of Mount Everest is the parent peak of Aconcagua at a distance of 17,755 km, the key col may also be close or far from the subject peak. The key col for Aconcagua is the Bering Strait at a distance of 13,655 km, the key col for the South Summit of Mount Everest is about 100 m distant. Prominence is interesting to many mountaineers because it is a measurement that is strongly correlated with the subjective significance of a summit. Peaks with low prominences are either subsidiary tops of some higher summit or relatively insignificant independent summits, peaks with high prominences tend to be the highest points around and are likely to have extraordinary views. Only summits with a sufficient degree of prominence are regarded as independent mountains, for example, the worlds second-highest mountain is K2. While Mount Everests South Summit is taller than K2, it is not considered an independent mountain because it is a subsummit of the main summit, many lists of mountains take topographic prominence as a criterion for inclusion, or cutoff. John and Anne Nuttalls The Mountains of England and Wales uses a cutoff of 15 m, in the contiguous United States, the famous list of fourteeners uses a cutoff of 300 ft /91 m. Also in the U. S.2000 feet of prominence has become a threshold that signifies that a peak has major stature. This generates lists of peaks ranked by prominence, which are different from lists ranked by elevation. Such lists tend to emphasize isolated high peaks, such as range or island high points, one advantage of a prominence-ranked list is that it needs no cutoff, since a peak with high prominence is automatically an independent peak
4.
Topographic isolation
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The topographic isolation of a summit is the minimum great-circle distance to a point of equal elevation, representing a radius of dominance in which the peak is the highest point. It can be calculated for small hills and islands as well as for major mountain peaks, the following sortable table lists the Earths 40 most topographically isolated summits. The nearest peak to Germanys highest mountain, the 2, 962-metre-high Zugspitze, the distance between the Zugspitze and this contour is 25.8 km, the Zugspitze is thus the highest peak for a radius of 25.8 km around. Its isolation is thus 25.8 km, because there are no higher mountains than Mount Everest, it has no definitive isolation. Many sources list its isolation as the circumference of the earth over the poles or – questionably, after Mount Everest the Aconcagua, highest mountain of the American continents, has the greatest isolation of all mountains. There is no land for 16,534 kilometres when its height is first exceeded by Tirich Mir in the Hindu Kush. Mont Blanc is the highest mountain of the Alps, the geographically nearest higher mountains are all in the Caucasus. The Kukurtlu, which rises near the Elbrus, is the peak for Mont Blanc. com Canadian Mountain Encyclopedia peakbagger. com peaklist. org peakware. com World Mountain Encyclopedia summitpost. org
5.
Eight-thousander
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The eight-thousanders are the 14 independent mountains on Earth that are more than 8,000 metres high above sea level. All eight-thousanders are located in the Himalayan and Karakoram mountain ranges in Asia and their summits are in the death zone. The first recorded attempt on an eight-thousander was when Albert F. Mummery, the attempt was unsuccessful when Mummery and two Gurkhas, Ragobir and Goman Singh, were killed by an avalanche. The first recorded ascent of an eight-thousander was by the French Maurice Herzog and Louis Lachenal. The first person to climb all 14 eight-thousanders was the Italian Reinhold Messner, in 1987, Polish climber Jerzy Kukuczka became the second person to accomplish this feat. Messner summitted each of the 14 peaks without the aid of supplemental oxygen and this feat was not repeated until nine years later by the Swiss Erhard Loretan in 1995. Phurba Tashi of Nepal has completed the most climbs of the eight-thousanders, juanito Oiarzabal has completed the second most, with a total of 25 ascents between 1985 and 2011. The alpinists with the highest number of winter ascents are Jerzy Kukuczka, the first woman who summited all 14 eight-thousanders with no disputed climbing was the Spanish Edurne Pasaban, in 2010. In August 2011, Austrian climber Gerlinde Kaltenbrunner became the first woman to climb the 14 eight-thousanders without the use of supplementary oxygen. The countries with the highest number of climbers that have climbed all 14 eight-thousanders are Italy and South Korea, with five each, followed by Spain. Kazakhstan and Poland have three each that completed the Crown of the Himalaya. Field O2 lists people who have climbed all 14 without bottled oxygen, claims in which not enough evidence was provided to verify the ascents of all 14 peaks. The disputed ascent in each claim is shown in parentheses
6.
Ultra-prominent peak
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An ultra-prominent peak, or Ultra for short, is defined as a mountain summit with a topographic prominence of 1,500 metres or more. There are approximately 1,524 such peaks on Earth, some peaks, such as the Matterhorn and Eiger, are not Ultras because they are connected to higher mountains by high cols and therefore do not achieve enough topographic prominence. The term Ultra is due to earth scientist Stephen Fry, from his studies of the prominence of peaks in Washington in the 1980s and his original term was ultra major mountain, referring to peaks with at least 5,000 ft of prominence. Currently,1,515 Ultras have been identified worldwide,637 in Asia,355 in North America,209 in South America,119 in Europe,84 in Africa,69 in Australasia and 39 in Antarctica. Many of the worlds largest mountains are Ultras, including Mount Everest, K2, Kilimanjaro, Mont Blanc, on the other hand, others such as the Eiger and the Matterhorn are not Ultras because they do not have sufficient prominence. In British Columbia, some of the mountains listed do not even have generally recognized names, a number of Ultras have yet to be climbed, with Sauyr Zhotasy, Mount Siple, and Gangkar Puensum being the most likely candidates for the most prominent unclimbed mountain in the world. All of the Seven Summits are Ultras by virtue of the fact that they are the points of large landmasses. Each has its key col at or near sea level, resulting in a value almost equal to its elevation. List of peaks by prominence gives the 125 most prominent peaks worldwide
7.
Geographic coordinate system
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A geographic coordinate system is a coordinate system used in geography that enables every location on Earth to be specified by a set of numbers, letters or symbols. The coordinates are chosen such that one of the numbers represents a vertical position. A common choice of coordinates is latitude, longitude and elevation, to specify a location on a two-dimensional map requires a map projection. The invention of a coordinate system is generally credited to Eratosthenes of Cyrene. Ptolemy credited him with the adoption of longitude and latitude. Ptolemys 2nd-century Geography used the prime meridian but measured latitude from the equator instead. Mathematical cartography resumed in Europe following Maximus Planudes recovery of Ptolemys text a little before 1300, in 1884, the United States hosted the International Meridian Conference, attended by representatives from twenty-five nations. Twenty-two of them agreed to adopt the longitude of the Royal Observatory in Greenwich, the Dominican Republic voted against the motion, while France and Brazil abstained. France adopted Greenwich Mean Time in place of local determinations by the Paris Observatory in 1911, the latitude of a point on Earths surface is the angle between the equatorial plane and the straight line that passes through that point and through the center of the Earth. Lines joining points of the same latitude trace circles on the surface of Earth called parallels, as they are parallel to the equator, the north pole is 90° N, the south pole is 90° S. The 0° parallel of latitude is designated the equator, the plane of all geographic coordinate systems. The equator divides the globe into Northern and Southern Hemispheres, the longitude of a point on Earths surface is the angle east or west of a reference meridian to another meridian that passes through that point. All meridians are halves of great ellipses, which converge at the north and south poles, the prime meridian determines the proper Eastern and Western Hemispheres, although maps often divide these hemispheres further west in order to keep the Old World on a single side. The antipodal meridian of Greenwich is both 180°W and 180°E, the combination of these two components specifies the position of any location on the surface of Earth, without consideration of altitude or depth. The grid formed by lines of latitude and longitude is known as a graticule, the origin/zero point of this system is located in the Gulf of Guinea about 625 km south of Tema, Ghana. To completely specify a location of a feature on, in, or above Earth. Earth is not a sphere, but a shape approximating a biaxial ellipsoid. It is nearly spherical, but has an equatorial bulge making the radius at the equator about 0. 3% larger than the radius measured through the poles, the shorter axis approximately coincides with the axis of rotation
8.
Taplejung District
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Taplejung District (Nepali, ताप्लेजुङ जिल्ला Listen is the Mountain district of Province No.1 in eastern Nepal. The 2011 census counted 127,461 population, Taplejung is the district headquarters The name Taplejung is derived from the name Taple and the word jung. Taple was the medieval Limbu king who used to rule the area, literally, Taplejung means Fort of King Taple. The Tamur River flows through the district, the area is famous for Kanchenjunga – the third highest mountain in the world. The district is one of the most beautiful areas in eastern Nepal with spectacular landscapes, Himalayan peaks, alpine grassland, rocky outcrops, dense temperate and subtropical forests and river valleys make up the region. One of the attractions is the Pathibhara Devi or Mukkumlung Temple. This little-known region attracts tourists seeking spiritual fulfillment and blessings from the powerful Pathibhara Devi, Hindus and Buddhists visit the temple for celebrations during special occasions. The trek to Pathibhara Devi combined with the natural and cultural experiences of the make the visit a unique exhilarating experience. It takes a day to reach the temple on foot from Taplejung Bazaar, on the way to the temple one can find many species of rhododendron. The shrine of the Pathibhara Devi temple is on a mountain at 3794 meters in the east of Nepal, the temple is mostly visited by Hindus on first week of April and September. These days are celebrated as Dashain, the day Devi killed a demon named Maisasur. The temple is holy for Hindus and Buddhists, the goddess Pathibhara is said to make dreams come true. The myth is that suddenly lost a lot of sheep in this area. She promised that the sheep would return if they would offer a few to her, Pathibhara lies in the junction of three VDCs, Tapethok, Limkhim and PhawaKhola VDCs 19 km distance from Taplejung Bazaar. The journey to Pathibhara starts from Suketar Airport which is about 1.5 hours walk from Phungling Bazaar, Pathibhara Devi is about 5–6-hour walk from Suketar. Suketar is only STOL airstrip in Taplejung district and is connected to Kathmandu, from Suketar the Pathivara trial passes through Deurali, Ramitedanda, Chhatedhunga, Bhalugaunda, Phedi and finally reaches Pathibhara Devi temple. The trial offers food and lodging facilities, basic accommodation facilities are also available for pilgrims near the shrine. The best time to visit is from March to June and September to November, to reach the Pathibara temple you have to walk for around 10 hours from Suketar
9.
Nepal
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Nepal, officially the Federal Democratic Republic of Nepal, is a landlocked central Himalayan country in South Asia. Nepal is divided into 7 provinces and 75 districts and 744 local units including 4 metropolises,13 sub-metropolises,246 municipal councils and 481 village and it has a population of 26.4 million and is the 93rd largest country by area. Bordering China in the north and India in the south, east, Nepal does not border Bangladesh, which is located within only 27 km of its southeastern tip. It neither borders Bhutan due to the Indian state of Sikkim being located in between, Nepal has a diverse geography, including fertile plains, subalpine forested hills, and eight of the worlds ten tallest mountains, including Mount Everest, the highest point on Earth. Kathmandu is the capital and largest city. It is a nation with Nepali as the official language. The territory of Nepal has a history since the Neolithic age. The name Nepal is first recorded in texts from the Vedic Age, the era which founded Hinduism, in the middle of the first millennium BCE, Gautama Buddha, the founder of Buddhism, was born in southern Nepal. Parts of northern Nepal were intertwined with the culture of Tibet, the Kathmandu Valley in central Nepal became known as Nepal proper because of its complex urban civilization. It was the seat of the prosperous Newar confederacy known as Nepal Mandala, the Himalayan branch of the ancient Silk Road was dominated by the valleys traders. The cosmopolitan region developed distinct traditional art and architecture, by the 18th century, the Gorkha Kingdom achieved the unification of Nepal. The Shah dynasty established the Kingdom of Nepal and later formed an alliance with the British Empire, the country was never colonized but served as a buffer state between Imperial China and Colonial India. In the 20th century, Nepal ended its isolation and forged ties with regional powers. Parliamentary democracy was introduced in 1951, but was suspended by Nepalese monarchs in 1960 and 2005. The Nepalese Civil War resulted in the proclamation of a republic in 2008, modern Nepal is a federal secular parliamentary republic. Nepal is a nation, ranking 144th on the Human Development Index in 2016. The country struggles with the transition from a monarchy to a republic and it also suffers from high levels of hunger and poverty. Despite these challenges, Nepal is making progress, with the government declaring its commitment to elevate the nation from least developed country status by 2022
10.
Sikkim
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Sikkim is a northeastern state of India. It borders China in its north and east, Bhutan in its east, Nepal in its west, Sikkim is also located close to the Siliguri Corridor near Bangladesh. Sikkim is the least populous and second smallest among the Indian states, Sikkims capital and largest city is Gangtok. Almost 25% of the state is covered by the Khangchendzonga National Park, the Kingdom of Sikkim was founded on the Silk Road by the Namgyal dynasty in the 17th century. It was ruled by a Buddhist priest-king known as the Chogyal, once a vassal state of Qing China, it became a princely state of British India in 1890. After the Peoples Republic of China invaded Tibet, Sikkim continued its status with the dominion. It enjoyed the highest literacy rate and per capita income among Himalayan states, in 1975, the Indian military deposed the Sikkimese monarchy. A referendum in 1975 led to Sikkim joining India as its 22nd state, modern Sikkim is a multiethnic and multilingual Indian state. Sikkim has 11 official languages, Nepali, Sikkimese, Lepcha, Tamang, Limbu, Newari, Rai, Gurung, Magar, Sunwar, English is taught in schools and used in government documents. The predominant religions are Hinduism and Vajrayana Buddhism, Sikkims economy is largely dependent on agriculture and tourism, and as of 2014 the state had the third-smallest GDP among Indian states, although it is also among the fastest-growing. Sikkim accounts for the largest share of production in India. It is the most organic farming state in India and it is also among Indias most environmentally conscious states, having banned plastic water bottles and styrofoam products. The most widely accepted theory of the name Sikkim is that it is a combination of two Limbu words, su, which means new, and khyim, which means palace or house. The name is believed to be a reference to the built by the states first ruler. The Tibetan name for Sikkim is Drenjong, which means valley of rice, while the Bhutias call it Beyul Demazong, the Lepcha people, the original inhabitants of Sikkim, called it Nye-mae-el, meaning paradise. In History, Sikkim is known as Indrakil, the garden of the war god Indra, little is known about Sikkims ancient history, beyond the fact that its original inhabitants were the Lepcha. The earliest historical mention of Sikkim is a record of the passage of the Buddhist saint Padmasambhava, also known as Guru Rinpoche, the Guru is reported to have blessed the land, introduced Buddhism, and foretold the era of monarchy that would arrive in Sikkim centuries later. According to legend, Khye Bumsa, a 14th-century prince from the Minyak House in Kham in eastern Tibet, Phuntsog Namgyal was succeeded in 1670 by his son, Tensung Namgyal, who moved the capital from Yuksom to Rabdentse
11.
India
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India, officially the Republic of India, is a country in South Asia. It is the seventh-largest country by area, the second-most populous country, and it is bounded by the Indian Ocean on the south, the Arabian Sea on the southwest, and the Bay of Bengal on the southeast. It shares land borders with Pakistan to the west, China, Nepal, and Bhutan to the northeast, in the Indian Ocean, India is in the vicinity of Sri Lanka and the Maldives. Indias Andaman and Nicobar Islands share a border with Thailand. The Indian subcontinent was home to the urban Indus Valley Civilisation of the 3rd millennium BCE, in the following millennium, the oldest scriptures associated with Hinduism began to be composed. Social stratification, based on caste, emerged in the first millennium BCE, early political consolidations took place under the Maurya and Gupta empires, the later peninsular Middle Kingdoms influenced cultures as far as southeast Asia. In the medieval era, Judaism, Zoroastrianism, Christianity, and Islam arrived, much of the north fell to the Delhi sultanate, the south was united under the Vijayanagara Empire. The economy expanded in the 17th century in the Mughal empire, in the mid-18th century, the subcontinent came under British East India Company rule, and in the mid-19th under British crown rule. A nationalist movement emerged in the late 19th century, which later, under Mahatma Gandhi, was noted for nonviolent resistance, in 2015, the Indian economy was the worlds seventh largest by nominal GDP and third largest by purchasing power parity. Following market-based economic reforms in 1991, India became one of the major economies and is considered a newly industrialised country. However, it continues to face the challenges of poverty, corruption, malnutrition, a nuclear weapons state and regional power, it has the third largest standing army in the world and ranks sixth in military expenditure among nations. India is a constitutional republic governed under a parliamentary system. It is a pluralistic, multilingual and multi-ethnic society and is home to a diversity of wildlife in a variety of protected habitats. The name India is derived from Indus, which originates from the Old Persian word Hindu, the latter term stems from the Sanskrit word Sindhu, which was the historical local appellation for the Indus River. The ancient Greeks referred to the Indians as Indoi, which translates as The people of the Indus, the geographical term Bharat, which is recognised by the Constitution of India as an official name for the country, is used by many Indian languages in its variations. Scholars believe it to be named after the Vedic tribe of Bharatas in the second millennium B. C. E and it is also traditionally associated with the rule of the legendary emperor Bharata. Gaṇarājya is the Sanskrit/Hindi term for republic dating back to the ancient times, hindustan is a Persian name for India dating back to the 3rd century B. C. E. It was introduced into India by the Mughals and widely used since then and its meaning varied, referring to a region that encompassed northern India and Pakistan or India in its entirety
12.
Mountain range
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A mountain range is a geographic area containing numerous geologically related mountains. A mountain system or system of ranges, sometimes is used to combine several geological features that are geographically related. Mountain ranges are usually segmented by highlands or mountain passes and valleys, individual mountains within the same mountain range do not necessarily have the same geologic structure or petrology. They may be a mix of different orogenic expressions and terranes, for example thrust sheets, uplifted blocks, fold mountains, most geologically young mountain ranges on the Earths land surface are associated with either the Pacific Ring of Fire or the Alpide Belt. The Andes is 7,000 kilometres long and is considered the worlds longest mountain system. The Alpide belt includes Indonesia and southeast Asia, through the Himalaya, the belt also includes other European and Asian mountain ranges. The Himalayas contain the highest mountains in the world, including Mount Everest, mountain ranges outside of these two systems include the Arctic Cordillera, the Urals, the Appalachians, the Scandinavian Mountains, the Altai Mountains and the Hijaz Mountains. If the definition of a range is stretched to include underwater mountains. The mountain systems of the earth are characterized by a tree structure, the sub-range relationship is often expressed as a parent-child relationship. For example, the White Mountains of New Hampshire and the Blue Ridge Mountains are sub-ranges of the Appalachian Mountains, equivalently, the Appalachians are the parent of the White Mountains and Blue Ridge Mountains, and the White Mountains and the Blue Ridge Mountains are children of the Appalachians. The position of mountains influences climate, such as rain or snow, when air masses move up and over mountains, the air cools producing orographic precipitation. As the air descends on the side, it warms again and is drier. Often, a shadow will affect the leeward side of a range. Mountain ranges are constantly subjected to forces which work to tear them down. Erosion is at work while the mountains are being uplifted and long after until the mountains are reduced to low hills, rivers are traditionally believed to be the principle erosive factor on mountain ranges, with their ability of bedrock incision and sediment transport. The rugged topography of a range is the product of erosion. The basins adjacent to a mountain range are filled with sediments which are buried and turned into sedimentary rock. The early Cenozoic uplift of the Rocky Mountains of Colorado provides an example and this mass of rock was removed as the range was actively undergoing uplift
13.
Himalayas
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The Himalayas, or Himalaya, form a mountain range in Asia separating the plains of the Indian subcontinent from the Tibetan Plateau. The Himalayan range has the Earths highest peaks, including the highest, the Himalayas include over a hundred mountains exceeding 7,200 metres in elevation. By contrast, the highest peak outside Asia – Aconcagua, in the Andes – is 6,961 metres tall. The Himalayas are spread across five countries, Bhutan, India, Nepal, China, the Himalayan range is bordered on the northwest by the Karakoram and Hindu Kush ranges, on the north by the Tibetan Plateau, and on the south by the Indo-Gangetic Plain. Some of the major rivers, the Indus, the Ganges, and the Tsangpo-Brahmaputra, rise in the Himalayas. The Himalayas have profoundly shaped the cultures of South Asia, many Himalayan peaks are sacred in Hinduism and Buddhism. Lifted by the subduction of the Indian tectonic plate under the Eurasian Plate and its western anchor, Nanga Parbat, lies just south of the northernmost bend of Indus river. Its eastern anchor, Namcha Barwa, is just west of the bend of the Tsangpo river. The range varies in width from 400 kilometres in the west to 150 kilometres in the east, the name of the range derives from the Sanskrit Himā-laya, from himá and ā-laya. They are now known as the Himalaya Mountains, usually shortened to the Himalayas, formerly, they were described in the singular as the Himalaya. This was also previously transcribed Himmaleh, as in Emily Dickinsons poetry and Henry David Thoreaus essays. The mountains are known as the Himālaya in Nepali and Hindi, the Himalaya or The Land of Snow in Tibetan, the Hamaleh Mountain Range in Urdu, the flora and fauna of the Himalayas vary with climate, rainfall, altitude, and soils. The climate ranges from tropical at the base of the mountains to permanent ice, the amount of yearly rainfall increases from west to east along the southern front of the range. This diversity of altitude, rainfall and soil conditions combined with the high snow line supports a variety of distinct plant. The extremes of high altitude combined with extreme cold favor extremophile organisms, the unique floral and faunal wealth of the Himalayas is undergoing structural and compositional changes due to climate change. The increase in temperature is shifting various species to higher elevations, the oak forest is being invaded by pine forests in the Garhwal Himalayan region. There are reports of early flowering and fruiting in some species, especially rhododendron, apple. The highest known tree species in the Himalayas is Juniperus tibetica located at 4,900 metres in Southeastern Tibet, the Himalayan range is one of the youngest mountain ranges on the planet and consists mostly of uplifted sedimentary and metamorphic rock
14.
First ascent
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In climbing, a first ascent is the first successful, documented attainment of the top of a mountain, or the first to follow a particular climbing route. First ascents are notable because they entail genuine exploration, with risks, challenges. The person who performs the first ascent is called the first ascensionist, the details of the first ascents of even many prominent mountains are scanty or unknown, sometimes the only evidence of prior summiting is a cairn, artifacts, or inscriptions at the top. Today, first ascents are generally recorded and usually mentioned in guidebooks. Overwhelmingly, the idea of a first ascent is a one, especially in places such as Africa. There may be little or no evidence or documentation about the climbing activities of indigenous peoples living near the mountain. The term is used when referring to ascents made using a specific technique or taking a specific route, such as via the North Face. In rock climbing, some of the earlier first ascents, particularly for difficult routes, involved a mix of free, as a result, purist free climbers have developed the designation first free ascent to acknowledge ascents intentionally made more challenging by using equipment for protection only. Some other first ascents could be recorded for particular mountains or routes, one is the First Winter Ascent, which is, as the name easily suggests, the first ascent made during winter season. This is most important where the climate of winter is a factor in increasing the difficulty grade of the route, in the Northern Hemisphere conventional winter ascents are made between December 21 and March 21 and are not related to the conditions. Also in the Himalayan area, although Nepal and Chinas winter season permits start on December 1, another is the First Solo Ascent, which is the first ascent made by a single climber. This is most important on high-level rock climbing, when the climber has to provide his own security or even when climbing without any protection at all, another type of ascent, also known as FFA is the first female ascent. The term last ascent has been used to refer to an ascent of a mountain or face that has changed to such an extent – often because of rockfall – that the route no longer exists. It can also be used facetiously to refer to a climb that is so unpleasant or unaesthetic that no one would willingly repeat the first ascent partys ordeal. List of first ascents List of first ascents in the Alps List of first ascents in the Himalaya Glossary of climbing terms Alpinist Magazine – Peter Mortimers First Ascent, Issue 17
15.
Joe Brown (climber)
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Joseph Brown, usually Joe Brown, CBE is an English climber, born the seventh and last child of a family in Ardwick, Manchester, Lancashire, England. Brown was the first in his family to climb, aged 12 and they used discarded clothes lines that were not fit for purpose. Brown was employed by a company called Archies, where he was apprenticed to a plumber and he became famous for climbing during the 1950s, and was a member of the Valkyrie Climbing Club and founding member of the Rock and Ice climbing club. An early climbing partner was Don Whillans, from the city of Salford. Brown was enlisted in 1949-50 for 18 months in the Royal Army Ordnance Corps, Brown broke his leg in three places in a scrum for the tea urn but was back up and climbing three months later. Brown is regarded as the outstanding pioneering English rock climber of the 1950s and he established an unprecedented number of classic new routes in Snowdonia and the Peak District that were at the leading edge of the hardest grades. Examples on Dinas Cromlech in the Llanberis Pass include Cenotaph Corner, so famous was he that the Post Office would often deliver letters simply addressed to The Human Fly, UK. In 1956 he made the first ascent of the west summit of the Muztagh Tower in the Karakoram with Ian McNaught-Davis, the other members of the team, John Hartog and Tom Patey, reached the main summit the next day. Fifteen years later Brown repeated the climb on the Old Man on a documentary with his second daughter Zoe. Her bubbly personality led her to being chosen as a presenter on the childrens TV show Razzamatazz. Already a Member of the Order of the British Empire, Brown was appointed Commander of the Order of the British Empire in the 2011 New Year Honours for services to climbing and mountaineering. On 17 February 1957 Brown married Valerie Melville Gray, who without her involvement with the fraternity, would never have been able to understand Joe. Throughout his climbing career Brown was involved in films such as Hazard, Upsidedown Wales, Five Days One Summer, in which he. His first daughter Helen was born in 1960 followed six years later by Zoe and she later repeated a climb for a TV show. List of Browns first ascents Video of an interview with Brown Short clip of Brown in George Smiths film Upside Down Wales Browns on-line store Joe-Brown. com
16.
Jerzy Kukuczka
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Jerzy Kukuczka was a Polish alpine and high-altitude climber. Born in Katowice, his origin is Goral. On 18 September 1987, he became the man, to climb all fourteen eight-thousanders in the world. He is the person in the world who has climbed two eight-thousanders in one winter, and four eight-thousanders in winter altogether, including three in winter for the first time. Along with Tadeusz Piotrowski, Kukuczka established a new route on K2 in alpine style, Kukuczka is widely considered among the climbing community to be one of the best high-altitude climbers in history. During his career, Kukuczka established ten new routes and climbed four summits in winter and he was one of an elite group of Polish Himalayan mountaineers who specialized in winter ascents. He climbed all summits, except for Mount Everest, without the use of supplemental oxygen, above 8000 at Everest benefited from the support of the oxygen cylinder, because in 1980 they did not know yet the exact impact of prolonged hypoxia to the brain. It was believed that hypoxia may cause changes in the brain. Kukuczka died attempting to climb the unclimbed South Face of Lhotse in Nepal on 24 October 1989 and he was leading a pitch at an altitude of about 8,200 meters on a 6 mm secondhand rope he had picked up in a market in Kathmandu. When he lost his footing and fell, the cord was cut or snapped from the fall. My Vertical World, Climbing the 8000-Metre Peaks
17.
Nepali language
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Nepali, originally known as Khas Kura, Parbate Bhasa or Gorkhali, is an Indo-Aryan language. It is the language and de facto lingua franca of Nepal. It is also spoken in parts of India, particularly by Indian Gorkha. In India, Nepali language is listed in the Eighth Schedule to the Constitution of India having a status in the Indian state of Sikkim. Nepali developed in proximity to a number of Indo-Aryan languages, most notably the Pahari languages and Magahi, however, owing to Nepals geographical area, it has also been influenced by Tibeto-Burman languages. Nepali is mainly differentiated from Central Pahari, both in grammar and vocabulary, by Tibeto-Burman idioms owing to close contact with the language group. Nepali language shares 40% lexical similarity with the Bengali language, in the nineteenth century, the British resident at Kathmandu Brian Houghton Hodgson observed that it was, in eight-tenths of its vocabulary, substantially Hindi. Historically, the language was first called the Khas language, then Gorkhali or Gurkhali before the term Nepali was adopted, in 1920, during Rana regime in Nepal, the term Nepal which resembled the Nepal Mandala was taken from its people. Soon after that, Nepal Bhasa was renamed into Newari and Parbate/Khas language took over as Nepali language, other names include Parbatiya and Dzongkha Lhotshammikha. It is also known as the Khey language or Partya language among the Newar people and Pahari language among Madhesi, however, due to protests for identity, Newars have restored their languages name as Nepal Bhasa and voices have been raise to re-instate Parbate language in its original name. Nepali developed a significant literature within a period of a hundred years in the 19th century. This literary explosion was fueled by Adhyatma Ramayana, Sundarananda Bara, Birsikka, a collection of folk tales. The contribution of trio-laureates Lekhnath Paudyal, Laxmi Prasad Devkota, the contribution of expatriate writers outside Nepal, especially in Darjeeling and Varanasi in India, is also notable. In the past decade, there have been many contributions to Nepali literature from the Nepali diaspora in Asia, Europe, America, according to the 2011 national census,44.6 percent of the population of Nepal speaks Nepali as a first language. The Ethnologue website reports 12,300,000 speakers within Nepal, Nepali is traditionally spoken in the Hill Region of Nepal, especially in the western part of the country. Although the Newar language dominated the Kathmandu valley, Nepali is currently the most dominant, Nepali is used in government and as the everyday language of a growing portion of the local population. Nevertheless, the use of Nepali in the courts and government of Nepal is being challenged. Recognition of other languages in Nepal was one of the objectives of the Communist Party of Nepals long war
18.
Teesta River
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The Teesta River is a 309 km long river flowing through the Indian state of Sikkim. It carves out from the verdant Himalayas in temperate and tropical river valleys and it flows through the cities of Rangpo, Jalpaiguri and Kalimpong and joins the Jamuna in Bangladesh. It drains an area of 12,540 km2, the Teesta River originates from the Pahunri glacier above 7,068 metres, and flows southward through gorges and rapids in the Sikkim Himalaya. It is fed by rivulets arising in the Thangu, Yumthang, the river then flows past the town of Rangpo where the Rangpo River joins, and where it forms the border between Sikkim and West Bengal up to Teesta Bazaar. Just before the Teesta Bridge, where the roads from Kalimpong and Darjeeling join, the river is met by its main tributary, at this point, it changes course southwards flowing into West Bengal. The river hits the plains at Sevoke,22 kilometres northeast of Siliguri, the river then goes merging up with the Brahmaputra River after it bifurcates the city of Jalpaiguri and flows just touching Cooch Behar district at Mekhliganj and moves to Fulchori in Bangladesh. Through its course, the Teesta river has carved out ravines and gorges in Sikkim meandering through the hills with the station of Kalimpong lying just off the river. Variegated vegetation can be seen along this route, at lower elevations, tropical deciduous trees and shrubs cover the surrounding hills, alpine vegetation is seen at the upper altitudes. The river is flanked by sand which is used by the construction industry in the region. Large boulders in and around the waters make it ideal for rafting enthusiasts, between Rangpo town and the railway bridge on it as it enters the plains at Sevoke, the Teesta flows with a very strong current, ideal for white river rafting. Towns like Teesta Bazaar and Melli have facilities for group rafting, though the river looks innocuous, the underlying current is very strong. Robertson, the then Municipal Engineer of Darjeeling, drowned after losing control of the boat in the turbulence while surveying the river, the boat struck a partially hidden boulder and was sucked in by a whirlpool, leaving no trace of the occupants. During the monsoons, Teesta river distends its banks, both in size and turbulence, landslides in this region often dam up parts of the river in this season. Great changes have taken place in the course of some of the rivers in Bengal, although positive evidence is lacking, similar changes can be assumed in the remoter past. The Teesta River is one of the rivers that has changed over the years, the Teesta earlier ran due south from Jalpaiguri in three channels, namely, the Karatoya to the east, the Punarbhaba in the west and the Atrai in the centre. The three channels possibly gave the name to the river as Trisrota possessed of three streams which has shortened to Teesta. Of these three, the Punarbhaba joined the Mahananda, the Atrai passing through a vast marshy area known as Chalan Beel joined the Karatoya and the united stream joined the Padma near Jafarganj. In the destructive floods of 1787, the Teesta river forsook its old channel, james Rennell made a survey between 1764 and 1777 and his maps are one of the earliest authentic maps of Bengal in existence
19.
Mount Everest
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Mount Everest, also known in Nepal as Sagarmāthā and in China as Chomolungma/珠穆朗玛峰, is Earths highest mountain. Its peak is 8,848 metres above sea level, Mount Everest is in the Mahalangur Range. The international border between China and Nepal runs across Everests summit point and its massif includes neighbouring peaks Lhotse,8,516 m, Nuptse,7,855 m, and Changtse,7,580 m. In 1856, the Great Trigonometrical Survey of India established the first published height of Everest, then known as Peak XV, at 8,840 m. The current official height of 8,848 m as recognised by China and Nepal was established by a 1955 Indian survey, in 2005, China remeasured the height of the mountain and got a result of 8844.43 m. An argument regarding the height between China and Nepal lasted five years from 2005 to 2010, China argued it should be measured by its rock height which is 8,844 m but Nepal said it should be measured by its snow height 8,848 m. In 2010, an agreement was reached by both sides that the height of Everest is 8,848 m and Nepal recognises Chinas claim that the rock height of Everest is 8,844 m. In 1865, Everest was given its official English name by the Royal Geographical Society upon a recommendation by Andrew Waugh, the British Surveyor General of India. As there appeared to be several different local names, Waugh chose to name the mountain after his predecessor in the post, Sir George Everest, Mount Everest attracts many climbers, some of them highly experienced mountaineers. There are two main climbing routes, one approaching the summit from the southeast in Nepal and the other from the north in Tibet, as of 2016 there are well over 200 corpses on the mountain, with some of them even serving as landmarks. The first recorded efforts to reach Everests summit were made by British mountaineers, with Nepal not allowing foreigners into the country at the time, the British made several attempts on the north ridge route from the Tibetan side. Tragedy struck on the descent from the North Col when seven porters were killed in an avalanche. They had been spotted high on the mountain that day but disappeared in the clouds, never to be seen again, Tenzing Norgay and Edmund Hillary made the first official ascent of Everest in 1953 using the southeast ridge route. Tenzing had reached 8,595 m the previous year as a member of the 1952 Swiss expedition, the Chinese mountaineering team of Wang Fuzhou, Gonpo, and Qu Yinhua made the first reported ascent of the peak from the north ridge on 25 May 1960. In 1802, the British began the Great Trigonometric Survey of India to fix the locations, heights, starting in southern India, the survey teams moved northward using giant theodolites, each weighing 500 kg and requiring 12 men to carry, to measure heights as accurately as possible. They reached the Himalayan foothills by the 1830s, but Nepal was unwilling to allow the British to enter the country due to suspicions of political aggression, several requests by the surveyors to enter Nepal were turned down. The British were forced to continue their observations from Terai, a region south of Nepal which is parallel to the Himalayas, conditions in Terai were difficult because of torrential rains and malaria. Three survey officers died from malaria while two others had to retire because of failing health, nonetheless, in 1847, the British continued the survey and began detailed observations of the Himalayan peaks from observation stations up to 240 km distant
20.
North Sikkim district
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North Sikkim is a district of the Indian state of Sikkim. It is the seventh least populous district in the country, as of 2013, C P Dhakal is the district Collector of the district. The district is the largest of the four districts of Sikkim, the landscape is mountainous with dense vegetation all the way up to the alpine altitude before thinning out to desert scrub towards the northern tundra. Numerous waterfalls astride the road make the trip to this district extremely picturesque. The most prominent effect of the steepness of the valleys is the prevalence of landslides that at times drop to anything between 3000 to 5,000 ft carrying devastation along their course. Most of them are caused either by the snow beds on top of the mountains or by erosive action of the rains. Most of the people of the state reside near Mangan, the headquarters which is about 2,000 feet above sea level. Further north the elevation increases with the turning from temperate to alpine to tundra. Temperatures range from about 25° to below -40° in the high reaches where the altitude is in excess of 6,000 metres. Kanchenjanga is the highest peak at over 8,000 m, straddling its western border with Nepal, Khangchendzonga National Park The district was previously divided into 3 assembly constituencies. Kabi-Lungchuk Djongu Lachen-Mangan Mangan is known as the Cardamom Capital of the world, the climate and terrain best suit the cultivation of the larger variety of Cardamom here. The region has many projects and enjoys almost uninterrupted electricity. The steep gradient and the lakes on the higher reaches facilitate ideal conditions for generation of hydro electric power. In 2006 the Ministry of Panchayati Raj named North Sikkim one of the countrys 250 most backward districts and it is the only district in Sikkim currently receiving funds from the Backward Regions Grant Fund Programme. Most of North Sikkim is restricted to travellers and permits are needed to visit these areas, the area, which shares a sensitive border with the Peoples Republic of China is heavily patrolled by the Indian army. However, in view of exquisite beauty, a large number of tourists have started visiting the region overcoming all sorts of hardship. Often unregulated tourism becomes a major issue in fragile ecosystem such as high mountains. North Sikkim is divided into two sub-divisions, According to the 2011 census North Sikkim district has a population of 43,354 and this gives it a ranking of 634th in India
21.
Worship
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Worship is an act of religious devotion usually directed towards a deity. An act of worship may be performed individually, in an informal or formal group, or by a designated leader. The word is derived from the Old English weorþscipe, meaning worship, honour shown to an object, Worship in Buddhism may take innumerable forms given the doctrine of skillful means. Buddhist Devotion is an important part of the practice of most Buddhists, according to a spokesman of the Sasana Council of Burma, devotion to Buddhist spiritual practices inspires devotion to the Triple Gem. Most Buddhists use ritual in pursuit of their spiritual aspirations, in Buddhism, puja are expressions of honour, worship and devotional attention. Acts of puja include bowing, making offerings and chanting and these devotional acts are generally performed daily at home as well as during communal festivals and Uposatha days at a temple. Meditation is a form of worship in Buddhism. This practice is focused on the step of the Eightfold Path that ultimately leads to self awakening. Meditation promotes self-awareness and exploration of the mind and spirit, traditionally, Buddhist meditation had combined samatha and vipasyana to create a complete mind and body experience. By stopping ones everyday activities and focusing on something simple, the mind can open, by practicing the step of vipasyana, one does not achieve the final stage of awareness, but rather approaches one step closer. Mindful meditation teaches one to stop reacting quickly to thoughts and external objects that present themselves, although in traditional Buddhist faith, enlightenment is the desired end goal of meditation, it is more of a cycle in a literal sense that helps individuals better understand their minds. For example, meditation leads to understanding, leading to kindness, leading to peace, Anglican devotions are private prayers and practices used by Anglican Christians to promote spiritual growth and communion with God. Among members of the Anglican Communion, private devotional habits vary widely, depending on personal preference, roman Catholic devotions are external practices of piety which are not part of the official liturgy of the Catholic Church but are part of the popular spiritual practices of Catholics. Catholic devotions do not become part of worship, even if they are performed within a Catholic church, in a group. The Congregation for Divine Worship at the Vatican publishes a Directory on Popular Piety, the church service is the gathering together of Christians to be taught the Word of God and encouraged in their faith. Technically, the church in church service refers to the gathering of the rather than to the building in which it takes place. In Christianity, worship is reverent honor and homage paid to God, in the New Testament various words are used for worship. The word proskuneo to worship means to bow down to Gods or kings, in the New Testament various words are used for worship
22.
Darjeeling
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Darjeeling is a town and a municipality in the Indian state of West Bengal. It is located in the Lesser Himalayas at an elevation of 6,700 ft and it is noted for its tea industry, the spectacular views of Kangchenjunga, the worlds third-highest mountain, and the Darjeeling Himalayan Railway, a UNESCO World Heritage Site. Darjeeling is the headquarters of Darjeeling district which has an autonomous status within the state of West Bengal. It is also a popular tourist destination in India, the recorded history of the town starts from the early 19th century when the colonial administration under the British Raj set up a sanatorium and a military depot in the region. Subsequently, extensive tea plantations were established in the region and tea growers developed hybrids of black tea, the resultant distinctive Darjeeling tea is internationally recognised and ranks among the most popular black teas in the world. The Darjeeling Himalayan Railway connects the town with the plains and has some of the few steam locomotives still in service in India, Darjeeling has several British-style public schools, which attract pupils from India and neighbouring countries. The varied culture of the town reflects its diverse demographic milieu consisting of Nepali, Bengali, Sherpas, Lepcha, Darjeeling, alongside its neighbouring town of Kalimpong, was the centre of the Gorkhaland movement in the 1980s. The towns fragile ecology has been threatened by a demand for environmental resources, stemming from growing tourist traffic. The name Darjeeling comes from the Tibetan word dorje, meaning the thunderbolt sceptre of the Hindu deity Indra, and ling, the history of Darjeeling is intertwined with that of Sikkim, Nepal, British India and Bhutan. Until the early 19th century, the area around Darjeeling was controlled by the kingdom of Sikkim with settlement consisting of a few villages of Lepcha. The Chogyal of Sikkim had been engaged in warfare against the Gorkhas of Nepal. From 1780, the Gorkhas made several attempts to capture the region of Darjeeling. By the beginning of 19th century, they had overrun Sikkim as far eastward as the Teesta River and had conquered and annexed the Terai, in the meantime, the British were engaged in preventing the Gorkhas from over-running the whole of the northern frontier. The Anglo-Gorkha war broke out in 1814, which resulted in the defeat of the Gorkhas, according to the treaty, Nepal had to cede all those territories which the Gorkhas had annexed from the Chogyal of Sikkim to the British East India Company. The company negotiated a lease of the area west of the Mahananda River from the Chogyal of Sikkim in 1835, in 1849, the BEIC director Arthur Campbell and the explorer and botanist Joseph Dalton Hooker were imprisoned in the region by the Sikkim Chogyal. The BEIC sent a force to free them, continued friction between the BEIC and the Sikkim authorities resulted in the annexation of 640 square miles of territory by the British in 1850. In 1864, the Bhutanese rulers and the British signed the Treaty of Sinchula that ceded the passes leading through the hills and Kalimpong to the British. Further discord between Sikkim and the British resulted in a war, culminating in the signing of a treaty, by 1866, Darjeeling district had assumed its current shape and size, covering an area of 1,234 square miles
23.
Great Trigonometrical Survey
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The Great Trigonometrical Survey was a project which aimed to measure the entire Indian subcontinent with scientific precision. It was begun in 1802 by the infantry officer William Lambton, under the leadership of his successor, George Everest, the project was made a responsibility of the Survey of India. Everest was succeeded by Andrew Scott Waugh and after 1861 the project was led by James Walker, among the many accomplishments of the Survey were the demarcation of the British territories in India and the measurement of the height of the Himalayan giants, Everest, K2, and Kanchenjunga. From its inception in 1600 to the beginning of the nineteenth century, with the acquisition of new territory, it employed several explorers and cartographers to provide maps and other information on its territories, most notably James Rennell, from 1767 in Bengal. As Rennell proceeded making maps, some flaws in them surfaced, based on a lack of precise measurements. The Great Trigonometrical Survey of India started on 10 April 1802 with the measurement of a baseline near Madras, major Lambton selected the flat plains with St. Thomas Mount at the north end and Perumbauk hill at the southern end. The baseline was 7.5 miles long, lieutenant Kater was despatched to find high vantage points on the hills of the west so that the coastal points of Tellicherry and Cannanore could be connected. The high hills chosen were Mount Delly and Tadiandamol, the distance from coast to coast was 360 miles and this survey line was completed in 1806. The East India Company thought that this project would take about 5 years but eventually it took nearly 70 years well past the Indian Rebellion of 1857, at times the survey party numbered 700 people. The Trigonometrical Survey was conducted independent of other surveys, notably the topographical, in 1875 the decision was taken that the Survey budget should be reduced from 240,000 to 200,000 pounds. This resulted in a reorganization under Surveyor-General Colonel J. T. Walker to amalgamate the Great Trigonometrical, Topographical, triangulation surveys were based on a few carefully measured baselines and a series of angles. The initial baseline was measured with accuracy, since the accuracy of the subsequent survey was critically dependent upon it. Various corrections were applied, principally temperature, an especially accurate folding chain was used, laid on horizontal tables, all shaded from the sun and with a constant tension. The early surveys made use of large and bulky theodolites made by William Carey, later surveys used more compact theodolites. Accurate instruments could not always be purchased through the system of government contract. He had a maker, Henry Barrow, set up an instrument company in Calcutta, for a while Barrow was succeeded by Syed Mohsin from Arcot and after his death the instruments were supplied by Cooke from York. The Great Trigonometrical Survey of India in a Historical Perspective by Rama Deb Roy
24.
Exploration
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Exploration is the act of searching for the purpose of discovery of information or resources. Exploration occurs in all animal species, including humans. In human history, its most dramatic rise was during the Age of Discovery when European explorers sailed and charted much of the rest of the world for a variety of reasons. Since then, major explorations after the Age of Discovery have occurred for reasons mostly aimed at information discovery, in scientific research, exploration is one of three purposes of empirical research. The term is used metaphorically. For example, an individual may speak of exploring the Internet, sexuality, the Phoenicians traded throughout the Mediterranean Sea and Asia Minor though many of their routes are still unknown today. The presence of tin in some Phoenician artifacts suggests that they may have traveled to Britain, according to Virgils Aeneid and other ancient sources, the legendary Queen Dido was a Phoenician from Tyre who sailed to North Africa and founded the city of Carthage. Hanno the Navigator, a Carthaginean navigator explored the Western Coast of Africa, the Greek explorer from Marseille, Pytheas was the first to circumnavigate Great Britain, explore Germany, and reach Thule. Africa Exploration The Romans organized expeditions to cross the Sahara desert with five different routes, through the western Sahara, toward the Niger river, through the Tibesti mountains, toward Lake Chad and actual Nigeria through the Nile river, toward actual Uganda. Though the western coast of Africa, toward the Canary Islands, through the Red Sea, toward actual Somalia and perhaps Tanzania. All these expeditions were supported by legionaries and had mainly a commercial purpose, only the one done by emperor Nero seemed to be a preparative for the conquest of Ethiopia or Nubia, in 62 AD two legionaries explored the sources of the Nile river. One of the reasons of the explorations was to get gold using the camel to transport it. The explorations near the African western and eastern coasts were supported by Roman ships, Romans organized several explorations also in Northern Europe, and as far as Asia up to China. 30 BC-640 AD With the acquisition of Ptolemaic Egypt, The Romans begin trading with India, the Empire now has a direct connection to the Spice trade Egypt had established beginning in 118 BC.100 AD-166 AD Romano-Chinese relations begin. Ptolemy writes of the Golden Chersonese and the port of Kattigara, now identified as Óc Eo in northern Vietnam, then part of Jiaozhou. The Chinese historical texts describe Roman embassies, from a land they called Daqin, 2nd century Roman traders reach Siam, Cambodia, Sumatra, and Java. 161 An embassy from Roman Emperor Antoninus Pius or his successor Marcus Aurelius reaches Chinese Emperor Huan of Han at Luoyang, when Zhang returned to China in 125 BC, he reported on his visits to Dayuan, Kangju, and Daxia. Zhang described Dayuan and Daxia as agricultural and urban countries like China, from about 800 Ad to 1040 AD, the Vikings explored Europe and much of the Western Northern Hemisphere via rivers and oceans
25.
Chogyal
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The Chogyal were the monarchs of the former kingdoms of Sikkim and Ladakh in present-day India, which were ruled by separate branches of the Namgyal dynasty. The Chogyal was the absolute potentate of Sikkim from 1642 to 1975, in Bhutan, Chogyal Dharma King or Religious King is a title which was also conferred upon a special class of temporal and spiritual rulers. In Bhutan, the Chogyal were given the respectful title Zhabdrung, in this context, the Chogyal was a recognised reincarnation of Shabdrung Ngawang Namgyal, the 17th century Tibetan-born founder of Bhutan. A position of importance, the Bhutanese Chogyal was above both the highest monastic authority, the Je Khenpo, and the highest temporal ruler, the Deb Raja or Druk Desi. There were two lines of Zhabdrung incarnations in Bhutan. Chogyal means righteous ruler, and was the title conferred upon Sikkims Buddhist kings during the reign of the Namgyal Monarchy, the reign of the Chogyal was foretold by the patron saint of Sikkim, Guru Rinpoche. The 8th-century saint had predicted the rule of the kings when he arrived in the state, in 1642, Chogyal Phuntsog Namgyal was crowned as Sikkims first ruler in Yuksom. The crowning of the king was an event and he was crowned by three revered lamas who arrived there from three different directions, namely the north, west and south. Kingdom of Sikkim Namgyal dynasty of Ladakh History of the Namgyal Dynasty
26.
John Angelo Jackson
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John Angelo Jackson was an English mountaineer, explorer and educationalist. He was brought up and educated in Nelson, Lancashire, before World War II, he was apprenticed in pharmacy. However, at the outbreak of war, he left to volunteer for the R. A. F. in which he served for six years. He flew with No.31 Squadron RAF in India and Burma, flying in much needed supplies to the 14th Army who were stranded behind Japanese lines, after the war he became a schoolmaster. He started climbing on the Yorkshire Moors, and later moved to the Lake District and his experience as a first-class rock climber was crucial to becoming Instructor and later Chief Instructor at the RAF Mountaineering Centre at Sonamarg in Kashmir. 1944 Chief Instructor at the R. A. F, mountain Training Centre, Kashmir Himalaya 1952 Member of the British N. W. Garhwal Expedition – Central Himalaya 1953 First reserve on the first ascent of Chomolungma, Jackson was a full member of the post monsoon expedition, however as the first expedition summited the post monsoon expedition was cancelled. Further related information can be found in the Pen-y-Gwryd article,1954 Was the mountaineering leader of the Daily Mail Abominable Snowman Expedition, where the first trek from Everest to Kangchenjunga was completed. 1955 Published his first book, More than Mountains,1955 Member of the team to first climb Kangchenjunga, he reached and set up camp five with Tom Mackinon. The entire group would have summited except for the monsoon which prevented this. Two years as Chief Instructor at Plas y Brenin, John Disley having resigned after only a short period, early 1960 was a Senior member of Sir John Hunts expedition to North East Greenland, Stauning Alps. A mixed group of mountaineers and scientists but also were 18 Duke of Edinburgh Gold Award winners, Jackson was a big proponent of the Duke of Edinburgh Award Scheme. 1960 He became the second Director/Warden of Plas y Brenin for a sixteen years until 1976. The first cross-country dry ski track in Wales and possibly the UK, built the first all-weather training pool for teaching canoeing and life-saving skills and still very much in action to this day. Took the first early ski and ski mountaineering groups to the Italian Dolomites and it was always a high point when staff took up prominent positions or created their own projects that became successful. 1963 Member of Trans-Pindus Expedition, Greece – Leader John Hunt 1970s Published Safety on Mountains for the CCPR in the very early 1970s, which reached its 8th reprint by 1972. 1976 The Himachal Expedition, with his wife Eileen, he made an overland journey from Anglesey, Wales to Nepal and back, some 18,000 miles. En route, they gathered a wealth of narrative, used in educational lecture tours in later life
27.
Douglas Freshfield
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Douglas William Freshfield was a British lawyer, mountaineer and author, who edited the Alpine Journal from 1872 to 1880. He was an member of the Royal Geographical Society and the Alpine Club. Born in London, Freshfield was the son of Henry Ray Freshfield. His father was a lawyer and member of the family firm of Freshfields. His mother was the daughter of William Crawford, MP for the City of London and she was an author and her publications included Alpine Byways and A Tour of the Grisons. In an interview with Adolfo Hess, Freshfield recalls that his family loved to take holidays in the summer of up to five weeks. He recalls that when he was six, they visited Lodore Falls in the Lake District, the following year they travelled to Scotland. In 1854, they travelled to the Swiss Alps, going from Basel to Chamonix and his father attached great importance to preserving open spaces for public enjoyment and was active in campaigns to save Hampstead Heath and Ashdown Forest. Freshfield was educated at Eton College, and University College, Oxford and he was called to the bar in 1870. Freshfield was a traveller and mountaineer. From his childhood acquired a love of the mountains and was particularly fond of the Alps. In July 1867 he made the first ascent of the Tour Ronde, by his twenties, Freshfield was already venturing further afield. Freshfield led an exploration of the Caucasus and was the first man, officially and he described the denuded territories of Abkhazia in a moving chapter on The Solitude of Abkhazia, in The Exploration of the Caucasus published in 1892. In 1899 Douglas Freshfield travelled to Green Lakes accompanied by the Italian photographer Vittorio Sella and he conducted expeditions around Kangchenjunga and set out with his party to trek in a circle around Kangchenjunga from the North. When he arrived safely in at Dzongri, he lit a big bonfire, which could be seen from Darjeeling and he also became the first mountaineer to examine the western face of Kangchenjunga, which rises from the Kanchenjunga Glacier. Freshfield described Siniolchu as The Most Superb Triumph of Mountain Architecture, in 1905 he attempted to climb Rwenzori Abruzzi in Uganda but failed due to bad weather. However the Freshfield Pass on the mountain was named after him, Freshfield wrote extensively about travel and the Alps, editing the Alpine Journal from 1872 to 1880. He was a Fellow of the Royal Geographical Society and became its Joint Secretary in 1881, at that time he was living at Stanhope Gardens, and by 1891 at Camden Hill, Hampstead
28.
Alexander Kellas
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Alexander Mitchell Kellas was a Scottish chemist, explorer, and mountaineer known for his studies of high-altitude physiology. He was born in Aberdeen, Scotland and he had concluded that Mt Everest could be ascended by men of extreme physical and mental constitution without supplementary oxygen if the physical difficulties of the mountain were not too great. In 1978, Kellas suggestion was verified by Reinhold Messner and Peter Habeler when they made the first ascent of Mount Everest without supplemental oxygen, a distant relative is now employed by The Physiological Society. Kellas was also a mountaineer in his own right. He reached the summit on 14 June 1911, and this world record was only broken in September 1928 with the ascent of Lenin Peak. Kellas died of an attack in 1921 near the village of Kampa Dzong, Tibet. He had had only a brief rest of 9 days after an expedition to Kabru and was only a days hike away from seeing Mount Everest for the first time. John B West A M Kellas, Pioneer Himalayan Physiologist and Mountaineer, The Alpine Journal xx, george W. Rodway Alexander M. Kellas, seeking early solutions to the problem of Everest, The Britain-Nepal Society Journal,27, 17-20. George W. Rodway and Ian R Mitchell Prelude to Everest, Alexander Kellas, a full-length biography of Kellas
29.
Royal Geographical Society
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The Royal Geographical Society is the UKs learned society and professional body for geography, founded in 1830 for the advancement of geographical sciences. Today, it is the centre for geographers and geographical learning. The Society has over 16,500 members and its work reaches millions of people each year through publications, research groups, the Geographical Society of London was founded in 1830 under the name Geographical Society of London as an institution to promote the advancement of geographical science. It later absorbed the older African Association, which had been founded by Sir Joseph Banks in 1788, as well as the Raleigh Club and the Palestine Association. Like many learned societies, it had started as a club in London. Founding members of the Society included Sir John Barrow, Sir John Franklin, under the patronage of King William IV it later became known as The Royal Geographical Society and was granted its Royal Charter under Queen Victoria in 1859. From 1830 –1840 the RGS met in the rooms of the Horticultural Society in Regent Street, London and from 1854 -1870 at 15 Whitehall Place, London. In 1870, the Society finally found a home when it moved to 1 Savile Row, London – an address that became associated with adventure. The Society also used a lecture theatre in Burlington Gardens, London which was lent to it by the Civil Service Commission, however, the arrangements were thought to be rather cramped and squalid. A new impetus was given to the Societys affairs in 1911, with the election of Earl Curzon, the premises in Savile Row were sold and the present site, Lowther Lodge in Kensington Gore, was purchased for £100,000 and opened for use in April 1913. In the same year the Societys ban on women was lifted, Lowther Lodge was built in 1874 for the Hon William Lowther by Norman Shaw, one of the most outstanding domestic architects of his day. Extensions to the east wing were added in 1929, and included the New Map Room, the extension was formally opened by HRH the Duke of York at the Centenary Celebrations on 21 October 1930. The history of the Society was closely allied for many of its years with colonial exploration in Africa, the Indian subcontinent, the polar regions. It has been a key associate and supporter of many explorers and expeditions, including those of Darwin, Livingstone, Stanley, Scott, Shackleton, Hunt. The early history of the Society is inter-linked with the history of British Geography, exploration, information, maps, charts and knowledge gathered on expeditions was sent to the RGS, making up its now unique geographical collections. The Society published its first journal in 1831 and from 1855, accounts of meetings, in 1893, this was replaced by The Geographical Journal which is still published today. With the advent of a systematic study of geography, the Institute of British Geographers was formed in 1933, by some academic Society fellows. Its activities included organising conferences, field trips, seminars and specialist research groups and publishing the journal, the RGS and IBG co-existed for 60 years until 1992 when a merger was discussed
30.
Standard Tibetan
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Standard Tibetan is the most widely spoken form of the Tibetic languages. It is based on the speech of Lhasa, an Ü-Tsang dialect, for this reason, Standard Tibetan is often called Lhasa Tibetan. Tibetan is a language of the Tibet Autonomous Region of the Peoples Republic of China. The written language is based on Classical Tibetan and is highly conservative, like many languages, Standard Tibetan has a variety of language registers, Phal-skad, the vernacular speech. Zhe-sa, the spoken style, particularly prominent in Lhasa. Chos-skad, the style in which the scriptures and other classical works are written. In scientific and astrological works, the numerals, as in Vedic Sanskrit, are expressed by symbolical words, Tibetan is written with an Indic script, with a historically conservative orthography that reflects Old Tibetan phonology and helps unify the Tibetan-language area. Wylie transliteration is the most common system of romanization used by Western scholars in rendering written Tibetan using the Latin alphabet, Tibetan pinyin, however, is the official romanization system employed by the government of the Peoples Republic of China. Certain names may also retain irregular transcriptions, such as Chomolungma for Mount Everest, the following summarizes the sound system of the dialect of Tibetan spoken in Lhasa, the most influential variety of the spoken language. These sounds normally occur in closed syllables, because Tibetan does not allow geminated consonants, the result is that the first is pronounced as an open syllable but retains the vowel typical of a closed syllable. For instance, zhabs is pronounced and pad is pronounced, but the compound word and this process can result in minimal pairs involving sounds that are otherwise allophones. Sources vary on whether the phone and the phone are distinct or basically identical, phonemic vowel length exists in Lhasa Tibet but in a restricted set of circumstances. Assimilation of Classical Tibetans suffixes, normally ‘i, at the end of a word produces a long vowel in Lhasa Tibetan, in normal spoken pronunciation, a lengthening of the vowel is also frequently substituted for the sounds and when they occur at the end of a syllable. The vowels, and each have nasalized forms, and, respectively, in some unusual cases, the vowels, and may also be nasalised. The Lhasa dialect is described as having two tones, high and low. However, in words, each tone can occur with two distinct contours. It is normally safe to only between the two tones because there are very few minimal pairs that differ only because of contour. The difference occurs only in words ending in the sounds or, for instance
31.
Hermann Schlagintweit
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Hermann Schlagintweit, Sakünlünski, also known as Hermann Rudolph Alfred von Schlagintweit-Sakünlünski, was a German explorer of Central Asia. The eldest of the five Schlagintweit brothers of Munich, along with his brother Adolph, for the next three years, they travelled through the Deccan, then up into the Himalayas, Karakoram, and Kunlun mountains. Hermann and Robert were the first Europeans to cross the Kunlun, Hermann visited Nepal, then returned to Europe, where with Robert he published Results of a Scientific Mission to India and High Asia. He spent the remainder of his life in literary and scientific work, Untersuchungen über die physikalische Geographie der Alpen,1850. Neue Untersuchungen über die physikalische Geographie und Geologie der Alpen,1854, neue daten über den todestag von Adolph v. Schlagintweit, nebst bemerkungen über mussălmán’sche zeitrechnung, München, Akademische buchdr. von F. Straub,1869. Eine darstellung der landschaft, der cultur und sitten der bewohner, basirt auf die resultate der wissenschaftlichen mission von Hermann, Adolph und Robert von Schlagintweit, ausgeführt in den jahren 1854-1858, Jena, H. Costenoble, 1869-80. Bericht über die ethnographischen gegenstände unserer sammlungen und über die raumanweisung in der K. Burg zu Nürnberg, München, Buchdruckerei von F. Straub,1878. Attribution This article incorporates text from a now in the public domain, Chisholm, Hugh. Die Geschichte der Brüder Schlagintweit A detailed story of the adventures of the three brothers Hermann, Adolf and Robert in India and the Himalayas
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Robert Schlagintweit
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Robert Schlagintweit was a German explorer of Central Asia who also wrote about travels in America. For the next three years they travelled through the Deccan, then up into the Himalayas, Karakoram, Hermann and Robert were the first Europeans to cross the Kunlun. Subsequently Robert returned to Europe, and became a professor of geography at the university of Giessen in 1863 and he made several trips to America between 1867 and 1870. Starting in Boston with the Lowell Institute with a series of lectures on Orography and Physical Geography of High Asia. He also explored the Pacific coast and he wrote several books on American subjects, including Die Pacificeisenbahnen in Nordamerika, Kalifornien, Die Mormonen, and Die Prärien des amerikanischen Westens. Attribution This article incorporates text from a now in the public domain, Chisholm, Hugh. Wilson, James Grant, Fiske, John, eds, Die Geschichte der Brüder Schlagintweit A detailed story of the adventures of the three brothers Hermann, Adolf and Robert in India and the Himalayas
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Tibetan alphabet
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The Tibetan alphabet is an abugida used to write the Tibetic languages such as Tibetan, as well as Dzongkha, Sikkimese, Ladakhi, and sometimes Balti. The printed form of the alphabet is called uchen script while the cursive form used in everyday writing is called umê script. The alphabet is closely linked to a broad ethnic Tibetan identity, spanning across areas in Tibet, Bhutan, India. The Tibetan alphabet is of Indic origin and it is ancestral to the Limbu alphabet, the Lepcha alphabet, the creation of the Tibetan alphabet is attributed to Thonmi Sambhota of the mid-7th century. Tradition holds that Thonmi Sambhota, a minister of Songtsen Gampo, was sent to India to study the art of writing, the form of the letters is based on an Indic alphabet of that period. The most important, an official orthography aimed to facilitate the translation of Buddhist scriptures, Standard orthography has not altered since then, while the spoken language has changed by, for example, losing complex consonant clusters. As a result, in all modern Tibetan dialects, in particular in the Standard Tibetan of Lhasa and this divergence is the basis of an argument in favour of spelling reform, to write Tibetan as it is pronounced, for example, writing Kagyu instead of Bka-rgyud. In contrast, the pronunciation of the Balti, Ladakhi and Burig languages adheres more closely to the archaic spelling, in the Tibetan script, the syllables are written from left to right. Syllables are separated by a tsek, since many Tibetan words are monosyllabic, spaces are not used to divide words. The Tibetan alphabet has thirty basic letters, sometimes known as radicals, as in other Indic scripts, each consonant letter assumes an inherent vowel, in the Tibetan script its ཨ /a/. The alphabet ཨ /a/ is also the base for dependent vowels marks, although some Tibetan dialects are tonal, the language had no tone at the time of the scripts invention, and there are no dedicated symbols for tone. However, since tones developed from segmental features they can usually be predicted by the archaic spelling of Tibetan words. The unique aspect of the Tibetan script is that the consonants can be either as radicals, or they can be written in other forms. To understand how this works, one can look at the radical ཀ /ka/, in both cases, the symbol for ཀ /ka/ is used, but when the ར /ra/ is in the middle of the consonant and vowel, it is added as a subscript. On the other hand, when the ར /ra/ comes before the consonant and vowel, ར /ra/ actually changes form when it is above most other consonants, thus རྐ rka. However, an exception to this is the cluster རྙ /rnya/, similarly, the consonants ཝ /wa/, ར /ra/, and ཡ /ja/ change form when they are beneath other consonants, thus ཀྭ /kwa/, ཀྲ /kra/, ཀྱ /kja/. Besides being written as subscripts and superscripts, some consonants can also be placed in prescript, postscript, the third position, the post-postscript position is solely for the consonants ད /tʰa/ and ས /sa/. The superscript position above a radical is reserved for the consonants ར /ra/, ལ /la/, the vowels used in the alphabet are ཨ /a/, ཨི /i/, ཨུ /u/, ཨེ /e/, and ཨོ /o/
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Tibetic languages
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Classical Tibetan is a major regional literary language, particularly for its use in Buddhist literature. The Tibetic languages are spoken by some 8 million or more people, outside of Lhasa itself, Lhasa Tibetan is spoken by approximately 200,000 exile speakers who have moved from modern-day Tibet to India and other countries. Tibetan is also spoken by groups of ethnic minorities in Tibet who have lived in proximity to Tibetans for centuries. Although some of the Qiang peoples of Kham are classified by China as ethnic Tibetans, Qiangic languages are not Tibetic, classical Tibetan was not a tonal language, but some varieties such as Central and Khams Tibetan have developed tone registers. Amdo and Ladakhi-Balti are without tone, Tibetic morphology can generally be described as agglutinative. e. Groups which do not allow mutual intelligibility, the notion of ‘dialect group’ is equivalent to the notion of language but does not entail any standardization. Thus if we set aside the notion of standardization, I believe it would be appropriate to speak of 25 languages derived from Old Tibetan. This is not only an issue but it gives an entirely different perception of the range of variation. When we refer to 25 languages, we make clear that we are dealing with a comparable in size to the Romance family which has 19 groups of dialects. The more divergent dialects such as this are spoken in the north and east near the Qiangic and Rgyalrongic languages, the Tibetic languages used for broadcasting within China are Standard Tibetan, Khams and Amdo. Tournadre adds Tseku and Khamba to Khams, and groups Thewo-Chone, Zhongu, other Some classifications group Khams and Amdo together as Eastern Tibetan. Some, like Tournadre, break up Central Tibetan, most Tibetic languages are written in one of two Indic scripts. Standard Tibetan and most other Tibetic languages are written in the Tibetan script with a historically conservative orthography that helps unify the Tibetan-language area, Some other Tibetan languages are written in the related Devanagari script, which is also used to write Hindi, Nepali and many other languages. However, some Ladakhi and Balti speakers write with the Urdu script, the Tibetan script fell out of use in Pakistani Baltistan hundreds of years ago upon the regions adoption of Islam. Many shops in Baltistans capital Skardu in Pakistans Northern Areas region have begun supplementing signs written in the Arabic-Persian script with signs written in the Tibetan script, Old Tibetan phonology is rather accurately rendered by the script. The finals were pronounced devoiced although they are written as voiced, the graphic combinations hr and lh represent voiceless and not necessarily aspirate correspondences to r and l respectively. The letter was pronounced as a guttural fricative before vowels. Whether the gigu verso had phonetic meaning or not remains controversial, for instance, Srongbtsan Sgampo would have been pronounced and babs would have been pronounced
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Salt
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Salt is present in vast quantities in seawater, where it is the main mineral constituent. The open ocean has about 35 grams of solids per litre, Salt is essential for life in general, and saltiness is one of the basic human tastes. The tissues of animals contain larger quantities of salt than do plant tissues, Salt is one of the oldest and most ubiquitous food seasonings, and salting is an important method of food preservation. Salt was also prized by the ancient Hebrews, the Greeks, the Romans, the Byzantines, the Hittites, Egyptians, and the Indians. Salt became an important article of trade and was transported by boat across the Mediterranean Sea, along specially built salt roads, the scarcity and universal need for salt has led nations to go to war over it and use it to raise tax revenues. Salt is used in ceremonies and has other cultural significance. Salt is processed from salt mines, or by the evaporation of seawater or mineral-rich spring water in shallow pools. Its major industrial products are caustic soda and chlorine, and is used in industrial processes including the manufacture of polyvinyl chloride, plastics, paper pulp. Of the annual production of around two hundred million tonnes of salt, only about 6% is used for human consumption. Other uses include water conditioning processes, de-icing highways, and agricultural use, edible salt is sold in forms such as sea salt and table salt which usually contains an anti-caking agent and may be iodised to prevent iodine deficiency. As well as its use in cooking and at the table, sodium is an essential nutrient for human health via its role as an electrolyte and osmotic solute. Excessive salt consumption can increase the risk of diseases, such as hypertension, in children. Such health effects of salt have long been studied, accordingly, numerous world health associations and experts in developed countries recommend reducing consumption of popular salty foods. The World Health Organization recommends that adults should consume less than 2,000 mg of sodium, humans have always tended to build communities either around sources of salt, or where they can trade for it. All through history the availability of salt has been pivotal to civilization, the word salary comes from the Latin word for salt because the Roman Legions were sometimes paid in salt. The Natron Valley was a key region that supported the Egyptian Empire to its north, because it supplied it with a kind of salt that came to be called by its name, natron. Even before this, what is now thought to have been the first city in Europe is Solnitsata, in Bulgaria, even the name Solnisata means salt works. A very ancient salt-works operation has been discovered at the Poiana Slatinei archaeological site next to a spring in Lunca, Neamț County
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Gold
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Gold is a chemical element with symbol Au and atomic number 79. In its purest form, it is a bright, slightly yellow, dense, soft, malleable. Chemically, gold is a metal and a group 11 element. It is one of the least reactive chemical elements and is solid under standard conditions, Gold often occurs in free elemental form, as nuggets or grains, in rocks, in veins, and in alluvial deposits. It occurs in a solid solution series with the element silver and also naturally alloyed with copper. Less commonly, it occurs in minerals as gold compounds, often with tellurium, golds atomic number of 79 makes it one of the higher numbered, naturally occurring elements. It is thought to have produced in supernova nucleosynthesis, from the collision of neutron stars. Because the Earth was molten when it was formed, almost all of the present in the early Earth probably sank into the planetary core. Gold is resistant to most acids, though it does dissolve in aqua regia, a mixture of acid and hydrochloric acid. Gold also dissolves in solutions of cyanide, which are used in mining and electroplating. Gold dissolves in mercury, forming amalgam alloys, but this is not a chemical reaction, as a precious metal, gold has been used for coinage, jewelry, and other arts throughout recorded history. A total of 186,700 tonnes of gold is in existence above ground, the world consumption of new gold produced is about 50% in jewelry, 40% in investments, and 10% in industry. Gold is also used in infrared shielding, colored-glass production, gold leafing, certain gold salts are still used as anti-inflammatories in medicine. As of 2014, the worlds largest gold producer by far was China with 450 tonnes, Gold is cognate with similar words in many Germanic languages, deriving via Proto-Germanic *gulþą from Proto-Indo-European *ǵʰelh₃-. The symbol Au is from the Latin, aurum, the Latin word for gold, the Proto-Indo-European ancestor of aurum was *h₂é-h₂us-o-, meaning glow. This word is derived from the root as *h₂éu̯sōs, the ancestor of the Latin word Aurora. This etymological relationship is presumably behind the frequent claim in scientific publications that aurum meant shining dawn, Gold is the most malleable of all metals, a single gram can be beaten into a sheet of 1 square meter, and an avoirdupois ounce into 300 square feet. Gold leaf can be thin enough to become semi-transparent
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Turquoise
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Turquoise is an opaque, blue-to-green mineral that is a hydrated phosphate of copper and aluminium, with the chemical formula CuAl648·4H2O. It is rare and valuable in finer grades and has been prized as a gemstone, in recent times, turquoise has been devalued, like most other opaque gems, by the introduction onto the market of treatments, imitations, and synthetics. Pliny the Elder referred to the mineral as callais and the Aztecs knew it as chalchihuitl, the finest of turquoise reaches a maximum Mohs hardness of just under 6, or slightly more than window glass. Characteristically a cryptocrystalline mineral, turquoise almost never forms single crystals and its crystal system is proven to be triclinic via X-ray diffraction testing. With lower hardness comes lower specific gravity and greater porosity, These properties are dependent on grain size, the lustre of turquoise is typically waxy to subvitreous, and transparency is usually opaque, but may be semitranslucent in thin sections. Colour is as variable as the other properties, ranging from white to a powder blue to a sky blue. The blue is attributed to idiochromatic copper while the green may be the result of either iron impurities or dehydration, a reading of 1. 61–1.65 has been taken from rare single crystals. An absorption spectrum may also be obtained with a spectroscope, revealing a line at 432 nm. Under longwave ultraviolet light, turquoise may occasionally fluoresce green, yellow or bright blue, it is inert under shortwave ultraviolet, Turquoise is insoluble in all but heated hydrochloric acid. Its streak is a bluish white and its fracture is conchoidal. Despite its low relative to other gems, turquoise takes a good polish. Turquoise may also be peppered with flecks of pyrite or interspersed with dark, as a secondary mineral, turquoise apparently forms by the action of percolating acidic aqueous solutions during the weathering and oxidation of preexisting minerals. In the Southwestern United States turquoise is almost invariably associated with the products of copper sulfide deposits in or around potassium-feldspar-bearing porphyritic intrusives. In some occurrences alunite, potassium sulfate, is a prominent secondary mineral. Turquoise is nearly always cryptocrystalline and massive and assumes no definite external shape, crystals, even at the microscopic scale, are exceedingly rare. Typically the form is vein or fracture filling, nodular, or botryoidal in habit, Turquoise may also pseudomorphously replace feldspar, apatite, other minerals, or even fossils. Odontolite is fossil bone or ivory that has been thought to have been altered by turquoise or similar phosphate minerals such as the iron phosphate vivianite. Intergrowth with other copper minerals such as chrysocolla is also common
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Precious stones
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A gemstone is a piece of mineral crystal which, in cut and polished form, is used to make jewelry or other adornments. However, certain rocks or organic materials that are not minerals are used for jewelry and are therefore often considered to be gemstones as well. Most gemstones are hard, but some soft minerals are used in jewelry because of their luster or other properties that have aesthetic value. Rarity is another characteristic that lends value to a gemstone, apart from jewelry, from earliest antiquity engraved gems and hardstone carvings, such as cups, were major luxury art forms. A gem maker is called a lapidary or gemcutter, a worker is a diamantaire. The carvings of Carl Fabergé are significant works in this tradition, the traditional classification in the West, which goes back to the ancient Greeks, begins with a distinction between precious and semi-precious, similar distinctions are made in other cultures. In modern usage the precious stones are diamond, ruby, sapphire, other stones are classified by their color, translucency and hardness. Another unscientific term for semi-precious gemstones used in art history and archaeology is hardstone, in modern times gemstones are identified by gemologists, who describe gems and their characteristics using technical terminology specific to the field of gemology. The first characteristic a gemologist uses to identify a gemstone is its chemical composition, for example, diamonds are made of carbon and rubies of aluminium oxide. Next, many gems are crystals which are classified by their crystal system such as cubic or trigonal or monoclinic, another term used is habit, the form the gem is usually found in. For example, diamonds, which have a crystal system, are often found as octahedrons. Gemstones are classified into different groups, species, and varieties, for example, ruby is the red variety of the species corundum, while any other color of corundum is considered sapphire. Other examples are the Emerald, aquamarine, red beryl, goshenite, heliodor, and morganite, gems are characterized in terms of refractive index, dispersion, specific gravity, hardness, cleavage, fracture, and luster. They may exhibit pleochroism or double refraction and they may have luminescence and a distinctive absorption spectrum. Material or flaws within a stone may be present as inclusions, gemstones may also be classified in terms of their water. This is a grading of the gems luster, transparency. Very transparent gems are considered first water, while second or third water gems are those of a lesser transparency, there is no universally accepted grading system for gemstones. Diamonds are graded using a system developed by the Gemological Institute of America in the early 1950s, historically, all gemstones were graded using the naked eye
