Nepal to announce new official height of Mount Everest on Tuesday

The 2015 quake triggered doubts among the scientific community about whether Mount Everest had shrunk or had grown taller

Nepal is set to announce the new official height for Mount Everest on Tuesday, ending a long-standing dispute on the exact height of the world’s tallest peak.

"We will be hosting a programme to announce the new height on Tuesday afternoon at our office," Sushil Narsingh Rajbhandari, Deputy Director General at the Survey Department of the Himalayan Nation told a television news agency. "People who actively took part in this procedure are also scheduled to be felicitated on the occasion."

Since Indian mathematician Radhanath Sikdar measured its elevation 168 years ago, the height of Mount Everest was always known to be 29,028 feet (8,848 metres). The measurement was reconfirmed by the Survey of India in 1954.

The Indian measurement was further corroborated by a 1975 Chinese mission. However, 15 years ago, the communist country decided to remeasure it. At that time, Chinese scientists deduced that the majestic peak’s height was actually 29,017 feet (8844.43 metres) – a reduction of 11 feet from the measurement known since the last century.

The Chinese calculation was based on the summit's rock height whereas the Nepalese calculation was based on the snow height that adds a layer of 3.5 metres on top of the rocks. There was also one metre of unknown material, probably a mixture of ice and gravel, between the rock head and the snow cap.

The National Geographic Society and Boston’s Museum of Science also came up with their own Everest height assessment in 1999. They decided to measure the height of the snow cap, which has changed over the years. Under that assessment, which relied on satellite technology, it was concluded the mountain stood at 29,035 feet.

The dispute about the altitude persisted for some years till the Himalayan country was hit by a powerful earthquake in 2015. The quake triggered doubts among the scientific community about whether Mount Everest had shrunk or had grown taller.

Two years later, the Nepal Government launched an initiative to survey Mount Everest once again and determine its post-quake height.

The Nepalese initiative got a fillip from China after another two years when the two neighbouring countries signed an agreement during President Xi Jinping's 2019 visit to jointly announce the height of the world's tallest peak.

Last month, Nepal's Council of Ministers approved the formal announcement.

"As the measurement work is in the final stage, the government is preparing to officially declare the new height of Mount Everest," said Padma Kumari Aryal, Minister for Land Management, Cooperatives and Poverty Alleviation, on Nov. 26 after the cabinet meeting. "It is the first time that the government has measured the height of the tallest peak in the world by using its own resources and equipment."