Mt. Everest: Nepal bans 3 Indian climbers for faking their summit in 2016

Nepal has banned three Indian mountaineers for six years for faking their 2016 ascent to Mt Everest, officials said Wednesday.

The climbers claimed to reach the top of Mt Everest, the world’s highest mountain in the 2016 spring season.

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

Tourism Ministry spokesman Tara Nath Adhikari told their investigations and enquiries with other climbers revealed that the two “never reached the summit”.

“They couldn’t produce any evidence of their ascent to the peak… they even failed to submit reliable photos of them at the summit,” the spokesman said.

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

The organizing team has been fined 50,000 rupees and their supporting Sherpa has been fined Rs10,000.

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The current system demands photos and reports from team leaders and government liaison officers stationed at the base camp.

Moreover, aiming to reduce such activities, the government has been dwelling on installing a GPS tracking system in the mountains. However, no progress has been made on this front yet.

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