[7][8] With peaks reaching 6.2 km (3.9 mi; 20,000 ft) in height, they are the highest mountain range on Pluto, and also the steepest, with a mean slope of 19.2 degrees.

[4] The mountains, first viewed by the New Horizons spacecraft on 14 July 2015, and announced by NASA on 15 July 2015, are named after the Nepalese mountaineer Tenzing Norgay, who, along with Sir Edmund Hillary, made the first successful ascent of the highest peak on Earth, Mount Everest (29 May 1953).

[note 1] On 7 September 2017, the name Tenzing Montes was officially approved together with the names of Tombaugh Regio and twelve other nearby surface features.

[10] Several massifs within Tenzing Montes reach elevations of more than 4 km above the surrounding terrain.

[4] In comparison, Mount Everest rises 4.6 km (2.9 mi; 15,000 ft) base-to-peak (though to an elevation of 8.8 km (5.5 mi; 29,000 ft) above sea level).