Tallest peak is 12 feet shorter

BEIJING – The world’s highest mountain, Mount Everest, is 12 feet shorter than previously thought, Chinese scientists who measured the peak earlier this year said Sunday.

Their survey determined that the mountain is 29,017 feet high, or 12 feet shorter than it was measured to be 30 years ago, said Chen Bangzhu, a spokesman for the Chinese State Bureau of Surveying and Mapping.

The survey was carried out by a team of 50 Chinese experts in May, Chen said.

The new figure is based on the “most elaborate and precise data ever obtained by Chinese or foreign scientists,” Chen said at a news conference.

Chen said the data do not mean the mountain has shrunk since it last was measured but that previous measurements were less accurate.

A 1975 Chinese survey determined that the mountain was 29,029 feet high. Other estimates put its height at 29,035 feet.

Everest’s peak lies on the border between China and Nepal, with climbers providing a large source of income for people on both sides.