Mount Everest stands 8,849 meters (29,032 feet) above sea level, making it the highest point on Earth's surface. On May 16, 1975, Junko Tabei of Japan became the first woman to reach its summit, overcoming not just the mountain but the skepticism of people who believed women could not climb at extreme altitudes. The final section of the climb, above 8,000 meters, is called the "Death Zone." At that height, the air contains only about one-third of the oxygen found at sea level. The human body cannot function normally. Climbers' muscles weaken, their thinking becomes confused, and their bodies slowly deteriorate. Most climbers use bottled oxygen to survive. Temperatures at the summit can drop below minus 40 degrees Celsius, and winds sometimes exceed 160 kilometers per hour. Everest sits on the border between Nepal and Tibet (China). It is part of the Himalaya mountain range, which formed when the Indian tectonic plate collided with the Eurasian plate roughly 50 million years ago. The collision pushed rock upward, creating the highest mountains on Earth. The Himalayas are still rising at a rate of about one centimeter per year. Tabei went on to become the first woman to complete the Seven Summits -- the highest peak on each continent. She climbed mountains until she was 76 years old, inspiring generations of women mountaineers around the world.