Provenance: Private Collection, Otago

in 2003 a coordinated group treked to Everest base camp to commemorate the 50th anniversary of The First Ascent, arriving at base camp on the 28th of May which was the day before the original ascent 29th of May. Peter Hillary joined for parts of the trip and he also hosted the celebrations.

While at base camp a series of three rocks were collected that resembled mountains and they were subsequently returned to New Zealand. The signatures are Ed's, Peter's and Tashi Tensing who is Tensing Norgay's grandson. Tensing was Hillary's Sherpa and climbing companion on the ascent. Peter and Tashi were patrons of the 50k Charity Ski Race of Coronet, which raised $1m over five years and established the Chair of Paediatric Research at Otago University. One of the rocks fetched $27,000 at the gala dinner in 2003,. The third belongs to a climber from the trip and will not be sold.