Summit: Climbing Everest has been fostered as a national sporting achievement in India. Photo / File
Summit: Climbing Everest has been fostered as a national sporting achievement in India. Photo / File
Nepal has banned a climbing team for six years after it emerged they had "faked" their 2016 Everest expedition.
The climb by two Indian mountaineers - Narender Singh Yadav and Seema Rani Goswami - had been certified by Nepal's tourism department. The two police constables had been hailed as heroes after reportedly conquering the world's highest mountain in May 2016.
However, the impressive feat only came into question three years later, after Yadav was nominated for an award.
Yadav failed to produce any evidence of the climb, after being one of the five adventurers shortlisted in the Tenzing Norgay Adventure Award - India's highest national recognition for adventure sports.
The pair's claims were brought to the attention of the Nepal Ministry of Culture, Tourism and Civil Aviation, who concluded on Wednesday that the pair had "never reached the summit," with the supplementary evidence apparently "faked".
"In our investigation, we found that they had submitted fake documents (including photographs). Based on the documents and the conversation with the officials concerned, including sherpas, we reached this conclusion," Pradip Kumar Koirala told The Indian Express, as chairperson for the investigation by Nepal's Ministry of Tourism.
Came across pictures of Mt Everest of some climber ... looks Indian though ... (stupid me - who else will carry India...
The investigation also found the expedition leaders at fault, handing the climbers' guide Dawa Sherpa a fine of 10,000 Nepalese rupees ($110) and an additional fine of 50,000 rupees ($550) on the company Seven Summit Peaks, which organised the climb. Yadav and Goswami were both given six year bans – which applied retroactively from 2016.
Last year an investigation by Wired India found one of the photos to have been "morphed" with the mountaineers' likeness imposed over images from older expeditions.
More damning still, a member of the Everest rescue team that season Lakpa Sherpa, recalled rescuing the party from the "Balcony" 400metres below the summit. He spoke out last year, after recognising the climber listed for a Tenzing Award.
"I remember it so vividly because he [Yadav] was profusely crying for failing to reach the summit and I consoled him, saying that there would be more chances," Lakpa Sherpa told Wired. "I am shocked to hear that he is getting India's highest award for adventure sports."
Fake everest: Dinesh Rathod and his wife Tarakeshwari were tripped up by fake photos. Photo / Department of Tourism Nepal
Mountaineering, particularly on Everest, is a national sport of prestige in India.
Awards such as the Tenzing Norgay Awards, named after the famous mountaineer who lived in Northern India following partition, have helped cultivated the image of the sport.
After Avtar Singh Cheema made the first Indian-led expedition in 1965, India has claimed several world records for Everest summits, including the 'first twins', "youngest female," "oldest female" and "first female amputee" to conquer the 8848m summit.
In 2016 a record attempt for the "first Indian couple" to summit was found to have faked their climb. A group of eight mountaineers filed a complaint against Dinesh Rathod and his wife Tarakeshwari, claiming they never made it to the summit. The couple were tripped up by fake photographic evidence.
The married police officers were sacked by their employer the Indian state of Maharashtra, after Nepal's tourism department rescinded their climb certification.
