SA man’s solo Everest climb foiled

A JOHANNESBURG man attempting to climb Mount Everest alone and without a permit has been ordered off the mountain, had his passport confiscated and will be fined $22 000 (R300 000).

Ryan Sean Davy, 43, told officials at base camp that he had climbed alone as far as camp two – 6 400m – to acclimatise ahead of a summit push before he was caught.

Foreigners have to pay the Nepal government $11 000 (R150 000) for permission to climb the 8 848m peak.

“I saw him alone near base camp so I approached him and he ran away,” Gyanendra Shresth, the government liaison officer at base camp, said.

“I followed him with my friend and found him hiding in a cave nearby.

“He had set up camp in an isolated place to avoid government officials.”

It is highly unusual for a foreign climber to attempt to scale Everest alone – most do so with the help of at least one Sherpa guide and a large support team at base camp.

Davy could be banned from Nepal for five years or face a 10-year ban on climbing in the country.

Shresth said he had also seized Davy’s passport and told him to return to Kathmandu to retrieve it.

Davy could not be reached for comment, but photos on a Facebook page under his name appear to show a climber traversing the Khumbu Icefall, which lies between base camp and camp one.

He claims he was harassed and treated “like a murderer”.

Davy told officials he did not have enough money to buy a flight from the Everest region to Kathmandu to collect his passport.

He said he would instead walk and then catch a bus – a journey that would take at least four days.