They are in a mountain of trouble.
According to a report on Thursday, two climbers in Nepal were banned from mountain climbing after an investigation found them to have forged their summit from Mount Everest.
Narender Singh Yadav and Seema Rani Goswami, from India, were banned from practicing alpine sports in the country by tourism officials for six years – after taking fraud to new heights in 2016, the Indian Express newspaper reported.
To prove that they had reached the world’s highest peak, the two allegedly doctored photos of themselves on the summit and submitted them as evidence to tourism officials. The Ministry of Tourism in Nepal then confirmed that they had completed the grueling performance.
But when Yadav was available for India’s prestigious Tenzing Norgay Adventure Award last year, fellow mountaineers pointed to evidence that showed images of his 29,032-foot climb were likely altered.
A tourism ministry in Nepal then launched an investigation, which concluded that the climbers had lied – and in fact ‘never reached the summit’, an agency official said.
‘In our investigation we found that they had submitted false documents [including photographs]. Based on the documents and the conversation with the officials involved, including sherpas [expert Nepalese mountaineers]”We have come to this conclusion,” an official from the Ministry of Tourism told the newspaper.
The climbing certificate was revoked, and their main guide, Naba Phukon, was also banned from mountain climbing in the country for six years, according to the newspaper.
After the scandal broke out, Phukon said the duo turned around before reaching the top due to problems with oxygen tanks and freezing.
“Their oxygen cylinders are not working and their sherpa, Dawa Sherpa, was not there either. When I saw their condition, I told them both to return. [to base camp]. Later I met Rani at Lhotse Face and she suffered from freezing. I called the sherpas at the base camp and they launched a rescue for her. “Yadav has already left for the base camp,” Phukon was quoted as saying by the newspaper.