First Armenian Women on Their Way to Everest/ video

In 2012 two Armenian women – Lyuba Balyan and Mariam Martirosyan, headed for their trip to Everest. Everest Mount is the Earth’s highest mountain, with a peak at 8,848 meters borders between Nepal and China. In Tibet this mount is called Chomolungma, which means “divine”. In Nepal it’s named Sagarmāthā which means “Holy Mother.” Lyuba Balyan and Martirosyan have reached the mark of 5364 meters. After this mark Everest can only be conquered by professional alpinists with special climbing gears. But a few can get to even this camp.

They shared their impressions with EcoLur.

“Everything started with a photo, which one Englishman took in a small village in the Himalayas. I learnt its name – Namche Bazaar, which is located on the way to Everest. And I decided to head for there,” said Lyuba Balyan, “If Mariam weren’t with me, the trip wouldn’t be so easy…”

About the most dangerous airfield:

“The airfield in Lukla is rated to be the most dangerous in the world. The elevation of the airport is 2,800 m, while the single runway is 460 by 20 m with a 12% gradient, so as the airplanes can prolong their runway. Here is high terrain immediately after the northern end of the runway and a steeply angled drop, of about 700 m at the southern end of the runway, into the valley below. The rock says “Welcome.”
About the Nepalese and the Sherpa.

“The Sherpa are porters. They are a small ethnic group. Though they are all surrounded with forests, the Sherpa carry all building materials on their shoulders, 60-70 kg each at the height of up to 5000 meters. They take the garbage on themselves downwards. Their religion is said not to allow dumping garbage on the mountain. It’s so different from us, why to drag something upwards if you cat down a tree nearby. We don’t have any ideology characteristic to the Nepalese. They realize one say all the resources may get exhausted and they are not endless. If you use water and forest, you should leave a possibility to recover all this…Unlike Armenia, the tourism in Nepal is developed at the expense of poor layers of society. There are no agencies that take everything in their hands. Each traveler can stay at an individual house, and make use of services provided by the residents. They all are somehow connected to tourism and benefit from it.”
The Armenian travelers also made impression on the Nepalese.

“They told us we were the first travelers from Armenia they met, they wondered what kind of country Armenia s and we invited them to Armenia and said Armenia resembles small Himalayas. At least 10 people promised they will come…

What we saw.

“The trip was amazing, even altitude sickness didn’t touch us. We climbed at the height of 5364 m, this is the whereabouts of the camp, after which only alpinists are  eligible to continue with climbing gears. It turned out to be a landslide.”

More about global warming.

“We saw Everest melting. The alpinists, who attempted to climb Everest from the side of Nepal, couldn’t do it, as the wind blew off the snow. They had to climb through Tiber. I think it’s the result of the global warming.”

Source:

http://www.ecolur.org/en/news/climate-change/first-armenian-women-on-their-way-to-everest/4469/

Photos and Videos by Lyuba Balyan.