@mur2501 86cm of snow?
@trinsec
Himalayas are a young mountain range which is still growing. Everest grows around 50cm in 100 years.
Snow covers varies all the time though the official count considers permanent snow cover on the peak.
@mur2501 The mountains are growing? THE MOUNTAINS ARE GROWING?!?!? ARE WE GETTING SWALLOWED UP!?
That said, yeah ok, not really that surprising. It's actually how mountains are formed. :D When was the last checkup? In which timeframe did they grow 86cm? That's probably the more interesting part to know. ;)
@trinsec
Well scientifically the heights of the Himalayas are changing every second (by a nanometres maybe) but you know getting things official is a slow painful and political process. Also the summit of the Mount Everest serves as the border between Nepal and China so both sides have to co-operate for making stuffs official.
@mur2501 So it took like almost 70 years to re-check. Ok, 86cm in almost 70 years isn't as alarming as 86cm in just one year. That's about close to 1cm per year. Sounds about right. :) With probably a little growth spurt in 2015. Growing pains in the mountains.