Gelje Sherpa risked his life to save Malaysian climber Ravi from Everest death zone. Then got blocked by him
Malaysian climber criticised for not crediting Sherpa who saved his life on Everest. Photo: Instagram/gelje_sherpa_, Twitter/ravieverest8848
A heroic incident on Mt Everest, the world's tallest peak, has turned into an embarrassment for the climber that was rescued. Recently, a video from Everest went viral on social media showing a daring rescue by a sherpa.
The video showed 30-year-old Gelje Sherpa descending the precarious mountain with a climber strapped to his back, a rescue under impossible circumstances. The climber has since been identified as Malaysian national Ravichandran Tharumalingam.
Kudos to Gelje Sherpa for his heroic act! When faced with a choice between personal glory and a fellow climber's safety, he unhesitatingly rescued the Malaysian climber from the treacherous height of #Everest near Balcony (~8300 m). His act of courage shines as bright as the… pic.twitter.com/QPofyeFWqg
— Everest Today (@EverestToday) June 1, 2023
However, Twitter is up in arms against Ravichandran for not crediting Gelje Sherpa. In fact, the climber has been accused of blocking the Sherpa's Instagram account and deleting any negative comments against him for a while.
there's an incredible story going on in the mountaineering community rn. there's a Malaysian climber who was at death's door, and was rescued by a sherpa who risked his own life to carry his lifeless body on his back for 6 hours. The climber then blocked the sherpa on Instagram https://t.co/AJW70vJ3Kr
— Visakan Veerasamy (@visakanv) June 4, 2023
However, now, Ravichandran, or Ravi as he goes by, has finally credited Gelje for his rescue after much backlash. But still, netizens pointed out that in his Instagram posts, Ravi was making it seem like Gelje was part of the mountaineering partner and insurance group that he's attached to.
People also pointed out several loopholes in the narrative put forth by Ravi and even questioned his successful summit claims.
Nepal government doesn't allow anyone to summit alone. There were no sherpa to verify he did.
— Stupe (@tristupe) June 4, 2023
What happened?
- On the night of May 18, 30-year-old Gelje Sherpa of AGA Adventures found a climber incapacitated in the "death zone" or "the Balcony" (area close to the Mt Everest summit).
- Gelje was guiding a Chinese client to summit Everest when he saw a climber holding on to a rope and shivering at "the Balcony".
- In later interviews, Gelje said that the climber looked like he was near death. The climber (Ravi) had no bottled oxygen on him or any guides.
In the Everest death zone, the human body is literally dying slowly. Without an oxygen supplement, breathing even for a few minutes is difficult. Only very experienced mountaineers can achieve the feat of climbing Everest without any oxygen. This is also the place where most die while trying to ascend or descend the Everest.
- Gelje also said that no other group was willing to help him as they were also focused on making it to the summit. Also, it is nearly impossible and even dangerous for the rescuer to rescue someone from the death zone.
- So, Gelje convinced his Chinese client to forgo the summit, a very expensive decision, to save the climber Ravi.
- Gelje wrapped Ravichandran in his sleeping mat and carried him down to Everest Camp 4 all by himself, a journey that took six hours. At Camp 4 he found other sherpas to assist him.
- Gelje said that from Camp 4 the sherpas took turns carrying him in rocky places where he couldn't be dragged.
- From Camp 4, Ravi was taken to Camp 3, where he was airlifted by a helicopter to a hospital.
- In earlier reports, the climber was not named. Reuters reported that Tashi Lakhpa Sherpa of the Seven Summit Treks company, the climber's partner company declined to name him citing his privacy.
- However, the climber Ravi, after reaching Malaysia, went on to give several interviews to local media about his journey to the summit and the rescue.
- With regards to his rescue, most of Ravi's IG posts only thanked his partner teams and made no mention of Gelje.
- The above IG post also makes no mention of Gelje Sherpa.
- Gelje also shared other person's stories on his IG account criticising Ravi for his ungrateful behaviour.
- After the backlash, when Ravi did name Gelje, netizens accused him of making it sound like he was part of his partner companies.
- Twitter and Instagram users also questioned the veracity of Ravi's claims, in which he said his partner company sent for his rescue when Gelje said that he was found alone and decided to save him of his own accord.
- Others asked how Ravi was allowed to summit alone and whether his claims are true. Including his 2023 summit (if verified), Ravi has made three successful Mt Everest summits.
This year, Nepal issued a record 478 climbing permits. But the climbing season this year on Everest has been one of the deadliest, with 12 deaths and 5 people missing.
There are several more videos coming from Everest showing rescue by fellow climbers and sherpas.
🏔 Incredible Rescue in the Mountains! 🚁
— Daniel Mazur (@danielmazur) June 7, 2023
We had a heart-pounding experience during our expedition. While enjoying lunch, we caught wind of distressing news on the radio - a porter trapped in a crevasse above Camp 1! Without hesitation, our team sprang into action. pic.twitter.com/Mn70ipJO1Q
Usually at Mt Everest, it is not uncommon to just cross over a dead body of a fellow climber or a Sherpa. It is also not uncommon to abandon those who are unable to get to safety themselves.