The Bhutanese Leading the way.
The nation has largely been celebrating Lieutenant Jigme Pelden Dorji as the first Bhutanese to summit the Mount Everest on 20th May 2024.
In the meantime, there are those online who ask about Karma Gyeltshen and his claims of having summited Mount Everest on 21st May 2005.
There are some who still think he climbed Everest first, but the majority think he did not do so and quite a few have poured scorn on him online.
The Bhutanese managed to track down Karma Gyeltshen who agreed to talk to the paper even though he is undergoing health problems, which he says has been made worse by the latest controversy.
The paper asked him right away about his claim to climb Everest first and what evidence did he have especially since the Nepal Mountaineering Association, a national authority in Nepal for registering and announcing the results of climbs, never reflected his name as a climber.
The paper also pointed out to him the absence of a picture of him at the summit or even eyewitnesses that saw him summit Mount Everest on 21 May 2005.
Karma Gyeltshen who is now 46-years-old said the Nepal Mountaineering Association does not have his record as he never climbed from the Nepal side which is the South Col, but from the Tibet, China side which is the North Col side.
Karma brought out a bunch of old files. Out of the files he first took out a laminated Certificate from the Chinese Mountaineering Association (CMA) which states he reached the altitude of 8848.13 meters on an expedition to peak Mount Everest.
The CMA founded on April 8, 1958 with its headquarters in Beijing is a non-governmental organization and a member of the All-China Sports Federation. The CMA is China’s only national organization for mountaineering.
The paper asked what was the basis or standard by which the CMA gave him the certificate.
He said since he did not have a photo or witnesses who saw him on the summit but the CMA official at the base camp Mr Wang, who also signed the certificate, asked him about the colour of the ropes while heading up and other features which he said he answered satisfactorily enough for the official to believe him and give him the certificate.
Most of those who support Karma or are genuinely confused cite a list of Everest climbers online on the website haexpeditions.com where Karma Gyeltshen is listed at number 1592 as having climbed Everest as an Alpinist climber which is a climber without a support team like Sherpas.
The haexpeditions.com list is based on the online The Himalayan Database which records climbers be it from Nepal or Tibet.
The Himalayan Database which is a well-respected database investigated Karma’s claims and also did some its own research when Karma reached back in Kathmandu.
The data base has issued its own online certificate and though it lists Karma as the first Bhutanese to climb Everest it lists his claim as being disputed or unverified.
The database says the members of the UK Everest (North) expedition said Gyeltshen’s summit claim was doubted by climbers at the Advance Base Camp. It said he was not strong or an expert climber and he moved very slowly and the elapsed time he gave was inconsistent with his expedition.
While it is disputed whether Karma climbed Everest or not there are also those who claim that Gyeltshen took the money he collected and he never even reached the Everest base camp.
However, this is not true as Karma has two photo albums showing he did reach the Everest base camp and even climbed upwards. He has pictures of himself from 2003 during his first and unsuccessful attempt where he was sent back after an accident at a crevasse and in 2005 he has more detailed pictures of himself at various levels of the Everest base camps going to 7,800 meters where he is seen wearing an oxygen mask and his equipment with his name on it.
However, beyond this while there are pictures which he says he took on his camera there is no more pictures of himself at the highest levels including at the summit.
Karma claims his camera malfunctioned at the summit.
In terms of the witness he said the only witness who saw him very close to the summit was a Slovenian named Marco who was found dead due to the elements the next day.
In the interview Karma initially said while he was part of a larger tour team he climbed as an alpinist with no support team and Sherpas and so he carried his own 40 kg pack.
However, when this paper showed him The Himalayan Database online certificate it says that while he carried his own things to the North Col there were two Sherpas who helped him carry his things to 8,300 meters. The database says Karma refused to share their names.
The paper pressed him to share the names and he initially hesitated but then said it was Dawa Tshering Sherpa from Arun Treks which also organized his trek and Zimba Sherpa from another company.
He claimed that he did not share the name of the Sherpas till date as he had an argument with Zimba Sherpa who carried only one tank instead of two.
Karma claimed the two Sherpas also had two foreign guests and they went on ahead summited and while coming back he met the four of them and one more guide called Karma Sherpa who stays in Japan and his Japanese guest.
He said they all saw him close to the summit though none of the saw him on it.
Karma said the weather was also getting bad fast and he was losing Oxygen close to the top.
While Karma’s claim to summit maybe disputed it cannot be denied that he had significant mountaineering experience before that.
Karma who is from Trashigang studied all over Bhutan before enrolling in Kharbandhi Polytechnic but he was not happy there and he went on to Darjeeling and Himachal Pradesh to undertake mountaineering courses including at the prestigious Himalayan Mountaineering Institute in Darjeeling.
He has pictures, certificates and news clippings to show he climbed Frey Peak (18,500 feet), B.C Roy Peak (17,500 feet) in Sikkim and he was first climber to climb the short but difficult Mount Ramjak (6,318 meters) in Himachal Pradesh.
This is apart from his 2003 and 2005 Everest expeditions.
Karma said that the 2005 Everest expedition took a heavy health toll on him as he had retinal damage, chest infection, hypoxia, frost bite and sun burn.
He said he was bed ridden for 8 months after that and he got sent to Bangkok and Vellore for treatment but he never really recovered after that and he started gaining weight which led to his current health problems of severe gastritis and fatty liver.
He said despite that he was part of the liaison team that helped the first Everest summiteer from Arunachal Pradesh.
Karma said that it is up to people to believe he summited Everest or not but he is sad that he has been portrayed as a crook and sham and he is on the verge of getting depression.
The lack of adequate evidence may make it an open question, but Karma asserts he summited Everest and he says those have doubts can check with the Chinese Mountaineering Association.
The paper asked him if he has any message for Jigme Pelden Dorji, but he declined to comment.
