The Vase

Country: China

Date of establishment: 1950s

Height (сm): 58 

Porcelain Story

A few years ago my wife, Anechka and I were climbing the slope of the active volcano Etna in Sicily. It was a rather tentative climb. We climbed to the 2000m mark by a special mountain vehicle. Then we had to walk for one more kilometre along steep slopes under a cold gust of wind that knocked expensive hats off some unlucky people and threw them into deep crevices covered with a thick layer of black ash. But today I wanted to tell you about another mountain that was first conquered by people on May 29, 1953.

We will talk about the highest peak of the Himalayas and the whole world - Dzhomolungma (Tibetans call it in their language as "Mother - Goddess of Peace") or Sagarmatha (in Nepali it means "Lord of Peace"). And for those uninitiated in all such philological intricacies, the mountain, rising at 8848 metres above sea level, is better known by the name Everest. It has attracted the attention of topographers for centuries. The first to do so was George Everest in 1865, after whom the mountain was later named. But the first attempt to conquer the mountain, located on the border of Nepal and Tibet, took place in 1921. The attempt was unsuccessful. It was followed by another 13 unsuccessful attempts on the unconquerable peak over a period of more than 30 years.

It was not until May 29, 1953, that Edmund Hillary of New Zealand together with a Nepalese Sherpa, Tenzig Norgey, climbed the highest peak of the Himalayas, hoisting the flags of Great Britain, Nepal, India and the United Nations. The news reached the civilised world only on 2 June, the coronation day of Queen Elizabeth II of the United Kingdom. Fascinated by the courage of the Everest climbers, the Queen knighted Hillary and bestowed the title of sir on him. And brave Sherpa Norgey, who was not a citizen of the British Commonwealth, was awarded a medal of honour.

Since then tens of thousands of climbs have been made on Everest. On May 16, 1975 the first woman, Japanese Yunko Tabei, climbed the mountain. On May 8, 1978, Reinhold Messener of Italy and Peter Hebeler of Australia became the first Everest climbers to attempt the ascent without oxygen tanks. Both of them remarked that they could hardly feel their bodies from 7,500m. And Sherpa Appas made the most ascents, 21! - Sherpa Appa. And all of them without oxygen tank! Unbelievable...