January 17, 2013 - 16:59 AMT
First Armenian women climbing Everest

In 2012 two Armenian women – Lyuba Balyan and Mariam Martirosyan, headed for their trip to Everest.

Mount Everest is the Earth's highest mountain, with a peak at 8,848 metres above sea level. The Mount is located in the Mahalangur section of the Himalayas. The international border between China and Nepal runs across the precise summit point.

Lyuba Balyan and Mariam 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.

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

“The trip was amazing, even attitude sickness didn’t touch us. We climbed at the height of 5364meters, 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,” the climbers said.

“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 Tibet. I think it is the result of the global warming,” they said.