Closer Examination

The Mountain Everest 60 is in itself an interesting keyboard. It has a 60% form factor, but a modified layout for 64 rather than the usual 61 keys on this US ANSI layout. This is done so the keyboard can provide dedicated arrow keys without going the slightly larger 65% route, which has the R.Shift key go from the usual 2.25u to a 1u key. The bottom row also has shorter R.Alt and Fn keys, and no R.Ctrl key. This is an implementation we have seen before, one that remains elusive in the market. Time will tell whether it will win out over the more standard 60% and 65% form factors, but as it stands, it is the smallest you can go with a pre-built keyboard that has dedicated arrow keys.

Outside of that, the design is modern and clean-looking courtesy a predominantly black colorway with no branding on the front or sides. Mountain is using a similar brushed aluminium frame as on the numpad and Everest Max before, which results in uniform, average-sized bezels all around. The keyboard is quite solidly build while still easily portable owing to its smaller size, detachable cable, and ~770 g mass. The keycaps have centrally placed single legends, with secondary legends causing a slight diagonal shift, and the primary legends are slightly below. With the keyboard using north-facing LEDs, time will tell whether this will affect backlighting or not. A sneak peek at the sides reveals more of the same covers, removing which gives access to two guiding holes and a Type-C connector the numpad connectors slot into.


Since what is happening here is pretty obvious, I'll mostly let the photos do the talking. With the side covers on the connecting surfaces removed and connectors pushed into the direction of interest, you just have to push the numpad in place to meet the Everest 60. This makes for a cohesive unit with added functionality, giving you most of a full-size keyboard in a long, slim profile. The connection does seem a bit loose, but works in practice when the two are on a level surface. This modularity allows for the numpad to be placed on the left or right depending on where you want to have the mouse, so the benefits of going with a smaller form factor for ergonomics are mostly retained. If not used, removing the numpad hardly takes any time, but you will have to keep track of those tiny magnetic covers if you want to keep things clean.


Turning this whole assembly around, the numpad still looks like a natural extension of the Everest 60. This is also true of the multiple long rubber pads along the bottom for friction against the desk, and exactly the same design for the keyboard feet is used at the top. The Everest 60 also has the Mountain logo and product name etched into the ABS case on the back, and a sticker alongside contains further information and certification logos. The case feet are circular magnetic disks with a rubberized coating and removable, which reveals a magnet securing the feet in place. You can thus stack the feet up, with the three sections (base + two add-ons) included across the Everest 60 and Everest 60 numpad making for four different elevation options.


The side facing away from the user has the three available USB Type-C ports positioned along the left, center, and right. As the cable can be used with any of these, it may be routed away from the mouse or numpad no matter where either is placed. This is a move we saw on the Everest Max too, where the spare ports were also handy with the Media Dock. The ports extend outward slightly, so any aftermarket USB cable will fit. The stock cable otherwise matches the case color, is sleeved well for durability, and the standard 6' long. It plugs into an available USB Type-A port, and USB 3.2 Gen 1 (USB 3.0) is recommended.


A look from the side confirms the built-in elevation with the single set of feet installed out of the box. With the floating keycap design making it easier to remove the keycaps and clean the keyboard, the Everest 60 is still one of the taller 60% form factor keyboards on the market. The side profile also shows the plastic diffuser going all around the keyboard, which is handy for the ambient side lighting. The provided keycap puller works well enough even though the Everest 60 has a fairly cramped key layout. Mountain updated its stock keycaps since the Everest Max, and these are PBT plastic keycaps—at an average wall thickness of 1.35 mm, these are thicker than the usual ABS plastic keycaps and won't develop a shine as easily when exposed to finger oils. The legends are also doubleshot-injected for durability, which is nice. As suspected earlier, when backlit by north-facing LEDs, the legends placed lower won't be lit as well as those placed higher. This will mostly affect the numpad keycaps since the general secondary and primary legends on the Everest 60 are still biased towards the top to get around this issue.


In addition to the new stock keycaps, Mountain is going with its own branded switches this time around. The options are Mountain Linear 45, Linear 45 Speed, and Tactile 55, with the number the actuation force of the switch in gf (~cN). I have the Linear 45 switches on my sample, which come with the Mountain logo where you would typically see the switch maker's name, a spot where another name or logo is often placed with custom orders for a customer such as Mountain. The larger keycaps use plate-mounted genuine Cherry stabilizers, and these come pre-lubed with Krytox GPL 205g0—the enthusiast's choice of lube. It will mitigate some of the rattly sounds and mushy feedback of these, especially for the larger space bar key. More interestingly, the space bar stabilizers are clipped out of the box, which Mountain carried over from the Everest Max. This is definitely an enthusiast mod that reduces keycap wobble, but also softens the impact of the downstroke on the plate and PCB to further mitigate that mushy feedback with these.


Retained from the Everest Max is the hot-swap switch socket, but with 5-pin switch compatibility out of the box this time around. The combo keycap puller and switch remover help get a closer look at the socket, associated SMD RGB LED, and Mountain Linear 45 switch. It has a yellow crosspoint stem and milky white base, so I am inclined to go with Gateron as the OEM for these switches, with the Gateron Milky Yellow the platform it was built upon. The top is transparent for light to pass through, and we get a good look both inside and out, which shows that this is a 3-pin mechanical switch. You can thus customize the Everest 60 with any compatible 3 or 4-pin mechanical switch of your choice as long as it conforms to the Cherry MX design and footprint.