Nepal revokes Everest summit certificates of two Indian climbers

NEPAL: Nepal has banned two Indian climbers and their team leader from carrying out any mountaineering expeditions in the country for six years after a probe found that they faked their Mt Everest summit in 2016.

According to media reports, the government authorities have revoked the Everest summit certificates of two Indian climbers and banned them and their team leader from mountaineering in the country for six years.

Tourism Ministry spokesman Tara Nath Adhikari told media their inquiries and with other climbers revealed that the two never reached the summit. Adhikari further said they couldn’t produce any evidence of their ascent to the peak … they even failed to submit reliable photos of them at the summit.

Narender Singh Yadav and Seema Rani Goswami said they reached the top of the world’s highest mountain in the 2016 spring season, and Nepal’s tourism department certified their claim at the time.

However, outrage erupted among Indian mountaineers after Yadav was listed for the prestigious Tenzing Norgay Adventure Award last year, triggering an investigation.

The two mountaineers and their team leader Naba Kumar Phukon have been banned from climbing Nepal’s mountains for six years, starting retroactively from May 2016.

Seven Summit Treks, which organized the expedition, have been fined Rs50,000 (the US $450) and their supporting Sherpa has been fined Rs10,000 (the US $85).

Standing at the top of the 8,848-metre mountain adds a star to a climber’s resume, and many go on to forge careers as motivational speakers and authors.

Earlier, another Indian couple was banned for 10 years after they faked photographs purporting to show them at the top of Everest in 2016.

The mountaineers superimposed themselves and their banners onto photos taken by another Indian climber Satyarup Siddhanta at the summit. Nepal is home to eight of the world’s 14 highest peaks and foreign climbers are a major source of revenue.