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How tall is Mount Everest? For Nepal, it's a touchy question

The measurement expeditions have typically excluded experts from Nepal

Mount Everest
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Light illuminates Mount Everest during sunset in Solukhumbu district, also known as the Everest region, in a file photo | Photo: Reuters

Bhadra Sharma & Kai Schultz | NYT Kathmandu
Mount Everest is the tallest mountain in the world, but precisely how tall is it?
 
It’s not such a simple question.
 
In the past, geologists have disagreed about what to include in their calculations: Should the summit’s snowcap be included? Or should surveyors drill down to the peak’s rock base?
 
What about the recent earthquakes in Nepal, which geologists believe shrunk the mountain by about three centimeters, or a little more than an inch? Or the fact that wind speed affects how much snow covers the summit at any given time?
 
Then there is the challenge