KATHMANDU, MAY 19

Elite Exped, which faced controversy over 'illegally' taking non permitted climbers above the icefall section on Mt Everest, has claimed that their climbers trained at the base camp for Lobuche Peak.

Writing a letter to THT on May 17, Elite Exped claimed that its climber never went onto Everest without permits. 'As you can see in the permit (dated 24th April 2024,) serial number 3 - Robert Hutchinson and serial number 14 - Kayla Perez both had valid permits for Everest. The rest of the people you mention in the above article, only trained at base camp for their preparation to climb Lobuche East. They had the correct permits for this. They did not climb Everest with Elite Exped,' the letter reads.

Camping at the EBC is only permitted to climbers attempting to climb Everest, Lhotse, Nuptse and Lingtren. 'Lobuche East climbers can't stay at the EBC,' said an official at the Department of Tourism, base camp training for Lobuche east climbers is strictly prohibited.

In response to a news story published in THT on May 17, Elite Exped, however, didn't disclose the name of Lobuche East climbers who were being trained at the EBC.

During a meeting at the Expedition Monitoring and Facilitation Field Office at the Everest base Camp on May 18, Elite team realized its mistake, said officials. 'Three of their members for the Lingtren expedition were not registered at the Sagarmatha National park office and most were also found using Everest glacier for their training,' officials said.

Earlier, it's been revealed that most of the members of Lingtren Expedition of Elite Exped run by celebrated climber Nirmal Purja 'Nims' reached Camp III on Everest for acclimatization but they don't have a permit to use the Everest climbing route. After receiving complaints from the expedition operators, Expedition Monitoring and Facilitation Field Office at the Everest base Camp initiated a probe into the issue. The Department of Tourism and Tourist Police in Kathmandu have also been alerted to carry out thorough investigation.

Lingtren climbers can only stay at the base camp but can't hike above from the Everest route, said DoT's officials.