Three Indian climbers came home to celebrations and fanfare for summiting Mount Everest last month, but there was one problem鈥攖hey allegedly never got above 23,500-foot Camp III.
Vikas Rana, Shobha Banwala, and Ankush Kasana, all from northern India, were climbing this season with the Nepalese guide company听. Kasana told the Himalayan Times that the mountain, along with four Sherpas, on May 26, around 10:30 A.M., which would have made them听the only people on the summit that day. (According to my records of the 2019 season, there were no summits on May 26 due to high winds.) Kasana听said that they didn鈥檛 know the names of the four Sherpas and refused to share summit photos when asked by the Kathmandu-based newspaper.听听
Others on the mountain disputed the climbers鈥櫶齛ccount. Chhiring Sherpa,听another climber interviewed by the Himalayan Times, said he at Base Camp at 12:30 P.M. the day of the alleged summit, adding that a two-hour descent from the summit to Base Camp, covering an 11,000-foot drop in elevation over 12.5 miles and听navigating such hazards as Lhotse Face and the Khumbu Icefall, was unlikely. The time required听to get听from the top of the mountain to Base Camp varies听depending on the individual, but on average it takes about six hours just to get from the summit to Camp IV鈥攚hich is still 11 miles from Base Camp.听
Ngima Norbu Sherpa, one of the听guides for听the climbers accused of making the false claim, said in 听that he and the others had descended to Base Camp the day before when the Indian climbers couldn鈥檛 move above Camp III听for unspecified reasons.
国产吃瓜黑料听has been unable to reach the three climbers for comment. Damber Parajuli, , told 国产吃瓜黑料听that his company 鈥済ot the summit news just a day before debriefing, but [the climbers] are not able to give proof for it. For this reason, they will not have the certificate without the proof, which we have already informed to the concerned authority.鈥
Successful Everest summit bids are verified by a liaison officer from the Nepalese Ministry of Tourism, who is also tasked听with monitoring a team鈥檚 compliance with the rules. Climbers are required to produce a photograph of themselves standing on the summit with a clear view of their face for the liaison to validate whether or not they reached the top.
The Nepalese Ministry of Tourism said the liaison in this case, Bishwa Bandhu Regmi, had interviewed the three climbers, accepted their summit claims, and submitted his report. But according to the newspaper report,听the three didn鈥檛 have any physical evidence that they reached the top. Regmi was only at Base Camp for two days and wasn鈥檛 there on the alleged summit date. He said he did not know about the climbers鈥 summit details when asked by the Himalayan Times.
If these three climbers are indeed making a false summit claim, they wouldn鈥檛 be the first to do so. In 2016, the Nepalese guiding company admitted to helping a married couple from India, Dinesh and Tarkeshwari Rathod, alter photos to show them on Everest鈥檚 summit, when in fact they never made it. The two were banned from climbing in Nepal for ten听years. They also as police officers in the city of Pune.