The Himalayas are a record-breaking mountain range in Asia.

The name in Sanskrit means “the house of snow”.

It includes 10 of the highest mountains in the world, all of them over 8,000 meters high.

It’s known as the “Roof of the world”!

The highest and most famous peak is Mount Everest, on the border between Nepal and Tibet: 8,848 meters above sea level!

So, can we climb mountains so high?

From the 1920s, alpinists have been trying, helped by members of a Himalayan people: the Sherpas.

In 1950, the first peak over 8,000 meters high was climbed by two Frenchmen, Maurice Herzog and Louis Lachenal in the Annapurna massif.

Three years later, Everest was conquered by the New Zealander Edmund Hillary and Sherpa Tenzing Norgay.

Since then, thousands of alpinists have climbed Everest, but fewer than 200 have managed to climb Annapurna.

This mountain is considered as the most dangerous in the world, with one death for every two successful ascents.

Falls, avalanches, the cold and the lack of oxygen regularly claim other victims on the other Himalayan peaks.

Yet, in spite of the risks, thousands of people each year try to climb one of these mythical summits.