Everest climber accused in online spat of snubbing Sherpa who saved his life

Hero: Gelje Sherpa carried climber Ravichandran Tharumalingam to safety after finding him lost on Mt Everest. Photo / Screengrab; Instagram, gelje_sherpa_

There has been high drama and a very public fallout between an Everest mountaineer and the guide who recently saved his life.

On May 18, Gelje Sherpa and his client discovered Ravichandran Tharumalingam, alone and without oxygen on the world’s highest mountain. High in the mountain’s infamous “death zone”, the guide spent six hours rescuing the lost Malaysian climber.

But, Gelje is now accusing the man he saved of being ungrateful.

“No one was helping him, no friends, no oxygen, no Sherpas with him,” the guide told CNN. Images of the mountain guide carrying the suffocating climber on his pack went viral, following the incident.

The heroic act and decision by Gelje to cancel their ascent was praised. Although initially his client did not see eye-to-eye with the urgency, he told AFP.

“I had to scold him and tell him that he has to descend because he was my responsibility and I couldn’t send him to the summit on his own. He got upset.”

An ascent can cost many tens of thousands of dollars, but eventually the client eventually agreed to call off the climb to save Tharumalingam’s life.

The mountaineer was clearly delighted to have survived. In an interview with Malaysian media after returning home he praised his insurer and the operators for his remarkable rescue, but failed to mention the Gelje Sherpa and Chinese climber who found him.

“I am alive today, because I had the best and dedicated Partners — The 14th peaks Expedition Co and Global Rescue Ins,” Tharumalingam later wrote to social media.

The post which failed to mention either Gelje or his company AGA Adventures rubbed many climbers the wrong way. “You’re alive because of a sherpa,” wrote one comment. “His name is Gelje,” said another.

What began as a high-stakes rescue devolved into a highly public social media spat.

An image shared by Gelje Sherpa claimed that Ravichandran Tharumalingam had blocked him on Instagram after the Mt Everest rescue .Photo / Instagram, Gelje_Sherpa_

Gelje sherpa later shared that Tharumalingam had “blocked” him on social media following the fallout. Although the Nepalese mountain guide was not drawn to comment, he reshared messages of support via his Instagram that described Tharumalingam as an “ungrateful man” and claims that he had been blocked from contacting the climber online.

Eventually this tension appears to have thawed. On Sunday Ravichandran updated his Instagram again with another message calling out all those that rescued him by name, including Gelje who found him.

Although he incorrectly included him in a list of the support team in the 14th Peaks Expedition:

“Mingma Tendi, Gelje Sherpa, Nima Dorjee, Dawa, Nima Tashi, Dipen Bhote”.

However, the mountain guide was grateful for the recognition, responding to the climber’s post that day, thanking him and wishing Ravichandran a speedy recovery.

This year has been among the most deadly seasons on record with 12 people reported to have died and five missing on Everest, according to Nepali officials.