““Within those margins is Denali, a 144-square-mile mass of rock, snow, and ice that rises abruptly from a 2,000-foot plateau, soaring 18,000 feet from base to summit, the greatest vertical relief of any mountain on Earth, with the exception of the Hawaiian seamount Mauna Kea, the bulk of which lies beneath the Pacific Ocean. In comparison, Mount Everest, though 29,029 feet above sea level, rests on the 17,000-foot-high Tibetan Plateau and rises just 12,000 feet from base to summit. A similar plateau boosts the Andes; without those geologic booster seats, those peaks all would lie in Denali’s shadow.””
![“Because it is there [famous explanation for wanting to climb Mount Everest].” quote by George Leigh Mallory](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/img-quotes/602/george-leigh-mallory-29300_climbs_because-it-is-there-famous-explanation-f_125998.jpg)
