Everest

Edmund Hillary and Tenzing Norgay were the first two. Since them, 1,200 men and women from 63 nations have reached the summit. What does it take to stand on top of the world?

Highlight: MAP Download a printable, high-resolution map of Everest and key points of interest.

Highlight: ANIMATION Follow the routes to the top of Everest.

Highlight: 3-D MODEL Get a look at all sides by manipulating a 3-D model of Mount Everest.

Highlight: FORUM What is it about Mount Everest that calls adventurers to climb its unforgiving slopes? Why would they risk their lives? Enter>>

Highlight: ONLINE EXTRA Read National Geographic photographer Barry Bishop's 1963 account of the challenges and triumphs of the first American summit. See President John F. Kennedy present the Hubbard Medal to the team in the White House Rose Garden. And learn more about Bishop's life, his career at National Geographic, and his tragic death.

Highlight: ONLINE EXTRA He's reached the top of Everest five times, without the use of supplemental oxygen, so premier climber Ed Viesturs can speak with authority about how the ascent affects the body. Also hear him discuss the human traffic jams at the summit and his theory on why we climb. Then manipulate the view from Everest a full 360 degrees.

Highlight: WALLPAPER Towering Everest and flitting mayflies bring adventure to your desktop this month, along with a quiet moment from Kentucky horses.

Highlight: POSTCARDS E-greet a friend with the snowy serenity of Mount Everest at twilight.

The Sherpas

It's their mountain, and ever since tourists started pouring in, it's their livelihood too. 

Highlight: MAP Download a printable, high-resolution map of Sherpa country in northeastern Nepal.

Highlight: MULTIMEDIA VIDEO Photographer Robb Kendrick talks about how Sherpa culture has changed in the past decade.

Highlight: MULTIMEDIA VIDEO Conservationist Mingma Sherpa and photographer Anne Keiser discuss what the relationship between Sir Edmund Hillary and the Sherpas has meant for the Everest region.

Highlight: FORUM How can traditional societies that quickly become tourism hubs balance their way of life with the lure of progress? Enter>>

Highlight: SIGHTS & SOUNDS Experience the world that enchanted Sir Edmund Hillary. The ever-friendly Sherpas and the sweeping vistas of Mt. Everest await you.

Highlight: HOW TO HELP Learn more about this nonprofit organization and its work among the Sherpas.

Mayflies

With just hours to live, these swarming insects on Hungary's Tisza River have only one thing on their minds.

Highlight: MAP Download a printable, high-resolution map of Palingenia longicauda's range in Hungary.

Highlight: MULTIMEDIA VIDEO Photographer and biologist József Szentpéteri talks about what happens when mayflies—during their fleeting life cycle—swarm into town.

Highlight: POSTCARDS A hungry kingfisher surrounded by mayflies makes a colorful e-greeting.

Kentucky Horse Country

Million-dollar miscarriages have Kentucky horse breeders running scared.

Highlight: MAP Download a printable, high-resolution map of Kentucky's Bluegrass country.

Highlight: FORUM The issue of adding slot machines at horse racing tracks is a cause for much debate. Enter>>

Highlight: ONLINE EXTRA Get the latest news on the 2003 spring foaling season and an update on research on MRLS, a disease that causes miscarriages in horses.

Highlight: FINAL EDIT Rescued from the cutting room floor is this month's Final Edit, an image of a horse-racing aficionado enjoying a day at the races.

Aguateca

Under enemy attack, a Maya king and his courtiers fled their city, leaving astonishing pieces of their lives behind.

Highlight: MAP Download a printable, high-resolution map of ancient Aguateca.

Highlight: FLASHBACK  to 1894 when Anne Cary Maudslay, wife of archaeologist Alfred Maudslay, took in the view of an eighth-century Maya stela at a site southeast of Aguateca.

ZipUSA: 48222

Mail call afloat on the Great Lakes.

Highlight: NOMINATE your own wonderful, weird, or wacky choices for this magazine series. Enter>>

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