Arête:

An arête is a knife-edged feature caused by enlarged cwms on either side of the landform eroding back into the rock. This leaves a ridge with steep drops on either side. The jagged rocks on the arête are the result of frost shattering.

Bergschrund:

A bergschrund is a special type of crevasse. They are found in cwms where a glacier moves away from the back wall of its cwm or hollow. The tension this causes forms great splits in the ice. Bergschrunds often open in summer and close in winter.

Cwm:

A cwm or cirque is a hollow that is often armchair-shaped. In the northern hemisphere, they are often on the north side of a mountain because this is the coldest part and in a sheltered location. Once a cwm has formed, snow accumulates in its hollow. This snow eventually compacts to form a cirque glacier. The cwm is then deepened by the rotational movement of this glacier. Eventually, the cirque rotates enough to move over the lip of the cwm. Many old cwms are filled with small lakes, known as tarns in Britain.

Mount Everest:

With its summit standing at 8,848 metres (29,035 feet), Mount Everest is the highest peak in the world and the pinnacle of mountaineering. The mountain was named after the famous Surveyor-General of India, Sir George Everest in the nineteenth century. It sits in the famous Asian mountain range of the Himalaya. Mount Everest is an example of a mountain altered by the process of glaciation. It’s summit is a typical pyramidal peak which is surrounded by glaciers on all sides. The most well known of these is the Khumbu glacier which has helped create the Western Cwm and Khumbu Icefall The first expedition to climb Mount Everest was led by George Mallory in 1921. He was later to disappear on the mountain, along with Andrew Irvine, in 1924. Sir Edmund Hillary and Tenzing Norgay were the first explorers to complete a successful climb of Everest, in May 1953. They took the legendary Southern Col route. Between 1953 and 1992 over 485 ascents were made on Everest with the total loss of over 115 lives.

Western Cwm:

The Western Cwm lies to the west of Mount Everest linking the Khumbu Icefall with the southern base of the summit. It rises from 5,791 metres (19,000 feet) to 6,706 metres (22,000 feet). This is one of the most popular routes used by climbers to reach the summit. This method was chosen by the 1953 Everest Expedition. The Western Cwm takes the form of a large bowl, enclosed by the peaks of Lhotse and Nuptse to the south and the Western Ridge to the north.

Western Ridge:

The Western Ridge is a sharp knife-edged arête. It descends to the west of Mount Everest’s summit at 8,839 metres (29,000 feet) to around 6,096 metres (20,000 feet). It forms the north wall of the Western Cwm.