THE WORLD THIS WEEK: Olympic flame on Everest top The Olympic flame has been carried up to the top of Everest, the world’s highest mountain. Climbers from China used torches designed by rocket scientists to keep the flame alight. Each climber travelled a few feet before handing the torch on, and it took several hours to get to the top. But they still had energy after the mammoth 8,850 metre climb to celebrate, flying flags and cheering for the television cameras. The Olympic torch was lit in Greece in March and is travelling through 20 countries before being carried into the Beijing Games opening ceremony on August 8.