Nepal to deport Everest climber

Pole descended on southern side without permit

KATHMANDU // Nepal will today deport a Polish climber who illegally entered the country by crossing from Tibet at the summit of Mount Everest.

Janusz Adamski, 49, climbed the world’s highest peak in May on the northern route in Tibet before descending on the southern side into Nepal. Mr Adamski had no entry visa for Nepal or permission to be on the southern side of Everest because he had paid only the Chinese authorities for a permit to ascend from Tibet.

“We have decided to deport him and ban him from entering Nepal for one year, as he was found to have breached the immigration laws of Nepal,” Ganga Gelal, director general of the immigration department, said yesterday.

Mr Gelal said police would escort Mr Adamski to the airport today. Last week Mr Adamski was also slapped with a 10- year climbing ban, but authorities waived the US$ 22,000 ( Dh80,795) fine usually imposed on mountaineers who scale the peak without a permit. “The government took a light stance because he said that he was alone and unwell when he reached the summit and feared for his life if he descended from the north side,” said Durga Dhakal, spokesman for the department of tourism.

Mr Adamski posted on Facebook shortly after crossing from Tibet into Nepal that he was the first Pole and only the 15th person ever to achieve the feat – suggesting that it was the realisation of a lifelong ambition.

The Pole is the second foreigner to land himself in trouble with Nepali authorities on Everest this month. South African Ryan Sean Davy was caught trying to climb the 8,848-metre mountain without a permit, and was banned from mountaineering in the Nepalese Himalayas for 10 years.