Fined for ‘stealth’ climb of Everest

South African says he couldn’t afford permit

A South African man who had attempted a lone climb of Mount Everest without a permit was found hiding in a cave by mountaineering authorities.

He is now being taken to Kathmandu where he will have to face penalties, including a US$22,000 fine.

Cinematographer Ryan Sean Davy, 43, made it 7,300 metres up the mountain before he was caught, he wrote in a Facebook post. He was ordered to return to base camp where his passport was confiscated. He was told to report to Nepal’s Department of Tourism in Kathmandu to retrieve it.

Davy said he purposely avoided obtaining the permit because he couldn’t afford one and he lacked any recorded mountaineering experience. “It would have been a total embarrassment to turn around and accept defeat because of a piece of paper,” he wrote.

The government charges a US$11,000 fee for a permit to climb Mount Everest. The charge does not include other miscellaneous costs for equipment, hiring a guide, camp costs and so on.

Davy, instead, used whatever money he had to buy more gear and prepare for a “stealth entry into Everest.”

Dinesh Bhattariya, the department’s director general, told The Himalayan Times that Davy had received a trekkers information management system card on March 19. “But TIMS is not for climbing mountains,” he said, explaining that cardholders were not permitted above the base camp.

Only four South Africans have been registered with a climbing permit, Bhattariya added.

Yet, on May 6, Davy made his first ascent up Mount Everest and in six hours had climbed 7,000 metres, according to a Facebook post written later the same day. He returned to a camp to acclimatize, intending to complete 7,500 metres in the next climb. The Himalayan Times reported that Davy had spent two weeks acclimatizing at camp before he was caught by officials.

The penalties for breaking mountaineering rules set out by the Nepal Tourism Act are severe. Offenders are charged fines double or triple the climbing permit fee. They can also be banned, either from mountaineering in Nepal for 10 years or from entering the country for five.

In his post, Davy described how he was “treated like a murderer” once he was returned to base camp. “I was harassed at base camp to a point that I honestly thought I was going to get stoned to death right there. I’m not even exaggerating.”

Despite Davy’s insistence against receiving help, friends and family have already opened a crowdfund named “Bring Ryan Home” to help pay off the fine. His sister Bonita-Lee Davy said the family will continue to “support Ryan no matter what.”