Virtual view from the top

Want to see the view from Mt. Everest, without all the bother and risk of climbing there yourself? Visit the blogosphere's third-most-linked-to site today: a 360-degree view from atop Mt. Everest, photographed in 1989 by Roderick Mackenzie. Everest is in the headlines a lot these days what with the 50th anniversary of the mountain's conquest by much-credited Sir Edmund Hillary and hardly-ever-credited Tenzing Norgay Sherpa on May 29, 1953. Since then, an estimated 1,300 people have climbed the 29,035-foot Everest, and another sherpa, known as Appa, celebrated the anniversary by making his 13th trip to the top. While it takes most climbers an average of four days to reach the top, the sherpas who guide climbers amuse themselves with speed-climbing competitions. The latest record is just under 11 hours, up and back from the base camp at 17,380 feet above sea level.