I’m in a mountain of trouble.
Two climbers with scandalous scars have been banned from climbing in Nepal after an investigation found that they had falsified the summit of Mount Everest, according to a report on Thursday.
Narender Singh Yadav and Seema Rani Goswami of India have been banned by tourism officials from practicing alpine sports in the country for six years – after taking the fraud to new heights in 2016, the Indian Express reported.
To prove that they have reached the highest peak in the world, the couple would have doctoral photos of them at the summit and presented them to tourism officials as evidence, according to the press. The Nepalese Ministry of Tourism then certified that they had completed the grueling feat.
But when Yadav was nominated for the prestigious Tenzing Norgay Adventure Award in India last year, his mountaineering colleagues showed evidence that images of his 29,032-foot ascent were likely to have changed.
A tourism ministry in Nepal then launched an investigation, which concluded that climbers lied – and in fact “never made it to the summit”, an agency official said.
“In our investigation, we found that they submitted false documents [including photographs]. Based on documents and conversation with the officials concerned, including the sherpa [expert Nepalese mountaineers]”I came to this conclusion,” a tourism ministry official told the newspaper.
Climbers’ certificates have been revoked, and their main guide, Naba Phukon, has also been banned from climbing in the country for six years, according to the newspaper.
After the scandal broke, Phukon said the duo returned before reaching the top due to problems with oxygen tanks and frostbite.
“Their oxygen cylinders didn’t work and their snake, Dawa Sherpa, wasn’t there either. Seeing their condition, I told them both to return [to base camp]. Later, I met Rani at Lhotse Face and she was suffering from frostbite. I called the snakes to base camp and they launched a rescue for her. Yadav had already left for the base camp, “Phukon told the newspaper.