Everest

Johnny Strange has trekked across the Nepalese countryside and discovered a mountain range unlike any he had previously set eyes upon. The Himalayas probe the heavens. Their majesty transcends terms used to describe them. The peaks inspire awe but also reverence and a fear typically reserved for holy places and beings. Mt.

A small airplane crashed and caught fire today as it tried to land in foggy weather near Mt. Everest, killing 18 people, including 14 tourists from Germany and Australia, an airport official said. The Yeti Airlines 19-seat Twin Otter plane, which had taken off from Nepal's capital, Katmandu, snagged its wheels on a security fence during its landing at Lukla Airport, said Mohan Adhikari, general manager of the Katmandu airport. One of the Nepalese pilots survived and was taken to a hospital.

1 China Scattered with the debris of more than 50 years of climbing -- oxygen canisters, tents and backpacks -- Mt. Everest has been called the world's highest garbage dump. China is moving to clean up its northern side of the mountain and protect its fragile Himalayan environment. Last week, an official announced a trash-collection campaign and indicated that fewer climbers and other visitors may be allowed next year. "Our target is to keep even more people from abusing Mt.

One blustery Wednesday morning, half a dozen blind Tibetans took turns leaping off a Dockweiler Beach sand dune in a specially equipped hang glider, daring even for the sighted. But hang gliding is nothing compared with the group's treacherous three-week climb up Mt. Everest, a life-altering feat chronicled in the new documentary "Blindsight."

Best to wear warm clothing while watching Frontline's "Storm Over Everest," filmmaker/mountain climber David Breashears' account of the May 1996 blizzard that left five climbers dead. A thermos of hot tea might also help. The story has been told before: climbers from three teams caught in the open by an unexpected storm of ferocious intensity, winds whip to 80 mph, temperatures drop to 30-degrees and more below zero.

A Chinese mountaineering team was shown on live television holding up a specially designed torch, separate from the main Olympic flame, on the peak of Mt. Everest, the highest point on Earth. "One World, One Dream," one of the climbers said on the approach to the peak, repeating the slogan for the Beijing Olympics in August. "We have lighted the torch on top of the world," another climber said. The 19-member team broke camp before dawn and reached the top of the 29,035-foot mountain about six hours later.

Climbers taking a special Olympic torch up Mt. Everest were held up at advanced base camp, awaiting better weather. Eager to avoid a repeat of the anti-China protests that marred the torch's five-continent relay to Beijing's August Games, China has kept the logistics and timing of the climb under wraps. Sun Bin, Everest project manager for the Olympics organizing committee, confirmed, however, that the climbers had reached the advanced base camp on the Chinese side of the mountain at about 21,300 feet.