Climbers accused of faking summit

Nepal plans to ban two Indian climbers after veteran mountaineers said that their photo atop Mount Everest appeared to be fake, the New York Times reported.

Nepalese officials awarded prestigious certificates to Narender Singh Yadav and Seema Rani Goswami for reaching the world's highest peak, but photographic evidence of their climb didn't look right to experienced climbers.

Climbers faking their summits of Everest has become more common in recent years, in part because it's getting easier to doctor photos of ascents.

The image that appeared to show Yadav and Goswami at Everest's peak swept through the climbing community on social media and many former climbers were quick to point out that the photo was likely fake.

Yadav's oxygen mask wasn't attached to anything, the flags he was holding were calmly hanging on a peak famous for roaring winds, and the shadows cast by Yadav and Goswami fell in opposite directions.

Nepalese tourism authority began investigating Yadav and Goswami's 2016 climb last August.

“Their claims for Everest summit couldn't be established,” Nepalese tourism official Pradip Kumar Koirala told the New York Times. “We have recommended action against them.”

Nepal is reportedly planning to ban the climbers from any mountains within the country for 10 years.

Yadav was to receive the Tenzing Norgay National Adventure Award, which is given by the Indian government and includes a cash prize of US$7,000, last year, but his name was withheld due to claims he'd doctored the photo.

Yadav and Goswami, who are from the northern Indian state of Haryana, did travel to Nepal to climb Everest with a team of 13 others in 2016, reported the Indian news site ThePrint.

They never reached the summit, but rather an elevation of about 27,000 feet (2,000 feet short of the summit) before being rescued, according to Nepal's investigation into the incident.

At that elevation, they were in what's known as the “death zone,” where climbers usually break down mentally and physically because of the thin mountain air.

Yadav and Goswami's team leader, Naba Kumar Phukon, told the Nepalese investigative panel that the two climbers never reached the summit.

Yadav claims he did summit Everest, but suffered from severe frostbite after descending and needed to be hospitalized.

He said that Phukon accepted his certificate for him, and that it was Phukon who doctored the images, reported ThePrint.

“Phukon took my memory card and photoshopped the images,” Yadav said.

“I have all the proof and if the Nepal government cancels my certificate, I will release all evidence to the media.”