# PHOTO: Mount Everest, in two billion pixels **URL:** \ **Category:** Miscellaneous and Personal Stuff I Must Share\ **Created:** [December 19, 2012, 2:42pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/photo-mount-everest-in-two-billion-pixels/644525 "2012-12-19T14:42:01Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 20\ **Page:** 1
**Author:** ![Pine\_Fresh\_Scent](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/p/43a26b/32.png) [@Pine\_Fresh\_Scent](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Pine_Fresh_Scent)\ **Post date:** [December 19, 2012, 2:42pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/photo-mount-everest-in-two-billion-pixels/644525/1 "2012-12-19T14:42:01Z")
From the [Washington Post](http://www.washingtonpost.com/blogs/worldviews/wp/2012/12/18/photo-mount-everest-in-two-billion-pixels/?hpid=z6): _The image is the result of a project by David Breashears, who has already climbed the highest mountain in the world five times. He used old images of Everest and its glaciers and combined them with new ones._ As an avid armchair mountaineer, I’m geeking out about this photo, big time. I’ve read a few books about the mountain, but this photo makes me feel more “there” than anything so far. It shows base camp in the foreground, the Khumbu Ice Fall on the glacier and the southern route to the peak, which is to the left of the glacier, not the distant peak in the center of the photo (that’s Lhotse). Here’s an similar[low-res photo with labels](http://www.greatoutdoors.com/everest-2010/routes-maps) (bottom of the page). It’s well worth some time panning around and zooming in on this fantastic photo. Follow the glacier up to where Everest gets super steep (Camp II), then zoom all the way in. You’ll see several groups of climbers! Whee! [Direct link to photo](https://s3.amazonaws.com/Gigapans/EBC_Pumori_050112_8bit_FLAT/EBC_Pumori_050112_8bit_FLAT.html) ---
**Author:** ![Fiendish\_Astronaut](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/fiendish_astronaut/32/3295_2.png) [@Fiendish\_Astronaut](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Fiendish_Astronaut)\ **Post date:** [December 19, 2012, 2:57pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/photo-mount-everest-in-two-billion-pixels/644525/2 "2012-12-19T14:57:42Z")
Fantastic, thanks. Can’t find those climbers though. ---
**Author:** ![Mavic\_Chen](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/m/e56c9b/32.png) [@Mavic\_Chen](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Mavic_Chen)\ **Post date:** [December 19, 2012, 3:14pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/photo-mount-everest-in-two-billion-pixels/644525/3 "2012-12-19T15:14:34Z")
> [@Fiendish\_Astronaut](#): > > Fantastic, thanks. Can’t find those climbers though. If you look at the two peaks in the top centre, between them is a lower peak. Where this lower peak meets the “V” formed by the taller peaks there is bright, white snow. Zoom into this snow and look left a bit. ---
**Author:** ![Dread\_Pirate\_Jimbo](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/dread_pirate_jimbo/32/3897_2.png) [@Dread\_Pirate\_Jimbo](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Dread_Pirate_Jimbo)\ **Post date:** [December 19, 2012, 3:47pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/photo-mount-everest-in-two-billion-pixels/644525/4 "2012-12-19T15:47:15Z")
Sweet photo! Look at all the little climbers doing their thing! ---
**Author:** ![Broomstick](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/broomstick/32/246_2.png) [@Broomstick](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Broomstick)\ **Post date:** [December 19, 2012, 3:51pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/photo-mount-everest-in-two-billion-pixels/644525/5 "2012-12-19T15:51:45Z")
[morbid thought] Can you also seen the dead bodies they say are up there? [/morbid thought] ---
**Author:** ![casdave](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/c/c6cbf5/32.png) [@casdave](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/casdave)\ **Post date:** [December 19, 2012, 3:56pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/photo-mount-everest-in-two-billion-pixels/644525/6 "2012-12-19T15:56:01Z")
Wow, the scale of it, look at all those little tents down near the bottom too. ---
**Author:** ![ralph124c](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/r/8797f3/32.png) [@ralph124c](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/ralph124c)\ **Post date:** [December 19, 2012, 4:06pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/photo-mount-everest-in-two-billion-pixels/644525/7 "2012-12-19T16:06:39Z")
Amazing! All those base camp tents-imagine all the garbage, trash, shite they generate. Enough to give you pause on the long hike in…as you quench your thirst, from a crystal clear highland stream!:eek: ---
**Author:** ![wguy123](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/wguy123/32/3161_2.png) [@wguy123](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/wguy123)\ **Post date:** [December 19, 2012, 4:12pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/photo-mount-everest-in-two-billion-pixels/644525/8 "2012-12-19T16:12:12Z")
Very cool. Looks like you can see Camp 3 as well. ---
**Author:** ![Fiendish\_Astronaut](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/fiendish_astronaut/32/3295_2.png) [@Fiendish\_Astronaut](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Fiendish_Astronaut)\ **Post date:** [December 19, 2012, 4:24pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/photo-mount-everest-in-two-billion-pixels/644525/9 "2012-12-19T16:24:39Z")
> [@Mavic\_Chen](#): > > If you look at the two peaks in the top centre, between them is a lower peak. Where this lower peak meets the “V” formed by the taller peaks there is bright, white snow. Zoom into this snow and look left a bit. Thanks, got em’. ---
**Author:** ![ducati](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/d/cc9497/32.png) [@ducati](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/ducati)\ **Post date:** [December 19, 2012, 6:50pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/photo-mount-everest-in-two-billion-pixels/644525/10 "2012-12-19T18:50:27Z")
Awesome. Am I greedy for wanting to zoom in even more? If you find base camp on to the left of the glacier, it’s amazing. Must be half a mile of tents, cabins and buildings. Someone even has a geodesic dome! Follow the left 1/3 of the glacier from base camp up towards the base of the nearest, centered mountain, and you’ll see individuals making their way up - or down - across the glacier and in the shade of the mountain. Way cool. If you like this type of explorable picture, [Gigapan](http://gigapan.com/)has a lot to see as well. ---
**Author:** ![Colophon](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/c/f05b48/32.png) [@Colophon](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Colophon)\ **Post date:** [December 19, 2012, 7:33pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/photo-mount-everest-in-two-billion-pixels/644525/11 "2012-12-19T19:33:58Z")
> [@wguy123](#): > > Very cool. Looks like you can see Camp 3 as well. Yes, I see at least two tents (and I think there’s another one or two below and to the left, and lots of climbers snaking their way up to it. Go to the far distant mountain in the centre (Lhotse). Below the dark peak area is a patch of snow, divided down the middle with a jumble of jagged ice blocks. Zoom in on the left-hand edge of the ice blocks, just above the level of the isolated dark rock on the sunlit snow to the left. Hey, I just realised you can spin round and look behind you, down the valley, too. What are the blue-roofed buildings, the actual “Everest Base Camp”? Spot the mobile phone mast too! Edit: Looks like it’s [Gorak Shep](http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Gorakshep). ---
**Author:** ![snowthx](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/snowthx/32/10660_2.png) [@snowthx](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/snowthx)\ **Post date:** [December 19, 2012, 10:16pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/photo-mount-everest-in-two-billion-pixels/644525/12 "2012-12-19T22:16:41Z")
Thanks for posting this! It is quite interesting to poke around the photo. What surprizes me is the number of people there. At first glance it looks untouched and pristine, but when you zoom in you can see the extensive base camp, trails with people walking, stone towers with flags, etc. Further up the mountain I found the line of climbers between Camp 2 and Camp 3 (as well as Camp 3). There are also groups of people above the base camp on the side of the glacier and in the shadows. It is surprizing how many people there are at this remote place. ---
**Author:** ![Sunspace](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/sunspace/32/1250_2.png) [@Sunspace](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Sunspace)\ **Post date:** [December 19, 2012, 10:48pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/photo-mount-everest-in-two-billion-pixels/644525/13 "2012-12-19T22:48:12Z")
Wow! When you’re zoomed out, you can’t even _see_ the blue-roofed village. ---
**Author:** ![I\_Like\_Pie](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/i/9f8e36/32.png) [@I\_Like\_Pie](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/I_Like_Pie)\ **Post date:** [December 19, 2012, 11:16pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/photo-mount-everest-in-two-billion-pixels/644525/14 "2012-12-19T23:16:39Z")
That is truly amazing. I had fun exploring the camps at the base. ---
**Author:** ![Enright3](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/enright3/32/2897_2.png) [@Enright3](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Enright3)\ **Post date:** [December 20, 2012, 2:28pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/photo-mount-everest-in-two-billion-pixels/644525/15 "2012-12-20T14:28:08Z")
Pine Fresh Scent; I love you and hate you at the same time. I just wasted an hour letting my ADD take me on a wonderful trail of looking at that picture; followed by me reading a bunch of articles on the most recent deaths, to looking at pictures of several of the bodies (green boots anyone?). Only when I hit a dead link did I snap out of it long enough to realize I’ve gotten no work done yet this morning. ---
**Author:** ![Pine\_Fresh\_Scent](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/p/43a26b/32.png) [@Pine\_Fresh\_Scent](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Pine_Fresh_Scent)\ **Post date:** [December 20, 2012, 9:59pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/photo-mount-everest-in-two-billion-pixels/644525/16 "2012-12-20T21:59:29Z")
A coworker just found a pair of climbers on the north face. From the peak, follow the left side of the mountain down to where a wisp of cloud is peeking over the edge. Just above that you’ll see the two climbers! Hey little dudes! ---
**Author:** ![Mean\_Mr.Mustard](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/mean_mr.mustard/32/3865_2.png) [@Mean\_Mr.Mustard](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Mean_Mr.Mustard)\ **Post date:** [December 21, 2012, 1:23pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/photo-mount-everest-in-two-billion-pixels/644525/17 "2012-12-21T13:23:07Z")
> [@Pine\_Fresh\_Scent](#): > > A coworker just found a pair of climbers on the north face. From the peak, follow the left side of the mountain down to where a wisp of cloud is peeking over the edge. Just above that you’ll see the two climbers! Hey little dudes! And just to the left of them you can see a guy squatting to take a dump. Seriously, though, this is cool. The closest I’ll ever get to Everest. mmm ---
**Author:** ![singular1](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/ba9def/32.png) [@singular1](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/singular1)\ **Post date:** [December 21, 2012, 5:17pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/photo-mount-everest-in-two-billion-pixels/644525/18 "2012-12-21T17:17:31Z")
Alright, you’re killin’ me here. I have no sense of direction - which one is the North Face? ---
**Author:** ![AuntiePam](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/a/f19dbf/32.png) [@AuntiePam](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/AuntiePam)\ **Post date:** [December 21, 2012, 6:21pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/photo-mount-everest-in-two-billion-pixels/644525/19 "2012-12-21T18:21:58Z")
Dumb question: Which peak is “Everest”? Is it the one to the right? The one with the sharper peak? This is awesome. I guess I’ll never be a climber, because just looking makes me dizzy. ---
**Author:** ![Pine\_Fresh\_Scent](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/p/43a26b/32.png) [@Pine\_Fresh\_Scent](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Pine_Fresh_Scent)\ **Post date:** [December 21, 2012, 6:39pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/photo-mount-everest-in-two-billion-pixels/644525/20 "2012-12-21T18:39:19Z")
The photo is looking east. The glacier curves to the right, and Everest is to the left of the glacier. Its peak is the only one with a bit of mist at the top. The bottom picture of[this website](http://www.greatoutdoors.com/everest-2010/routes-maps)lines up pretty good with the picture and shows the traditional southern route to the peak. The north face is the one with blue sky behind it on the left side of the peak, and the western ridge runs from the peak towards the photographer. [Next page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/photo-mount-everest-in-two-billion-pixels/644525.md?page=2)