Camp IV on Mt. Everest by Keith Cowing

This image was taken at Mount Everest's Camp IV at approximately 10 am local time, May 19, 2009. Due to concerns at the time about available storage space on the camera's memory card, the resolution of the individual photos is less than is possible. This was done to insure that the entire vista was recorded.

The saddle between Mount Everest (29.035 feet) and Lhotse (27.940 feet, the fourth highest mountain in the world) is also known as the South Col, and is located at 26,000 feet above sea level on the border between Nepal and Tibet. Looking across the windswept and rocky South Col on the left side of the frame is the Everest summit block, rising over 3,000 feet from camp. The climbing route heads up the steep snow and ice slope known as the Triangular Face, and gains the right skyline at a slight bump on the southeast ridge.

The route then moves up towards the South Summit - the true summit is hidden just behind the highest point in the frame.

The Challenger Center Everest team believes that this is the highest GigaPan image ever taken on the surface of the Earth.

This picture was taken as part of the coverage of astronaut Scott Parazynski's climb (Everest Updates online at onorbit.com/everest  ) in coordination with Keith Cowing and the Challenger Center for Space Science Education ( www.challenger.org  )