New Delhi: Hours after reports surfaced of a sophisticated insurance racket involving Mount Everest guides and operators in Nepal, world-renowned Nepalese mountaineer Nirmal Purja took to X to clarify the issue.
Voicing concern over the report, Purja said: “Not all rescues are fake. Not all Nepalese lack integrity. Recent news about fake rescues in Nepal is very sad. It has given a bad name to our country’s reputation and hurt our economy. Those responsible must be punished. But please know — not all of us are like that.”
A new investigation found that some Mount Everest guides allegedly laced food of tourists to induce costly helicopter rescues as part of a $20 million insurance scam.
‘I have never, ever done a fake rescue’
Purja said: “I have never, ever done a fake rescue. Not once. To this day.” He added that he had personally carried out over a dozen real rescues — 95% of them for other outfitters. “I have never charged a single penny for any rescue I have carried out.”
Purja cited instances when he assisted in rescuing trekkers. One case that he mentioned was that of Jim Morrison’s wife.
He said: “After Jim Morrison’s wife passed away on Manaslu, we stepped in to help her family. Other helicopter companies were planning to raise prices. I warned them. We made sure everything was done at the lowest cost possible.
@eliteexped charged nothing for all the manpower and service provided. Zero.”
Other instances he cites are the rescue of Mr Chin on Annapurna, without any fee; Captain Dipendra from 8,700m on Everest’s South Summit – no fees , Kuntal: the list goes on. “Not a single penny charged from my side,” he wrote.
Not all rescues are fake. Not all Nepalese lack integrity.
Recent news about fake rescues in Nepal is very sad. It has given a bad name to our country’s reputation and hurt our economy. Those responsible must be punished.
But please know — not all of us are like that.
I have… pic.twitter.com/nALiw1F4ik
— Nirmal Purja MBE (@nimsdai) April 3, 2026
‘Money means nothing when it comes to my integrity, humanity’
Purja said: “I have convinced many of our clients to walk down from high camps — even when tired, out of gas, or wanting a helicopter. I encouraged them to walk back to Base Camp. Because I believe: a summit is from Base Camp to the top and back down to Base Camp. That’s it.”
He added: “If you run a marathon and jump in a vehicle, you haven’t finished. Same on a mountain.”
Referring to the video shared with the post, he said: “That’s why I recorded this video — convincing my clients to walk down. I had many opportunities to make money. But money means nothing when it comes to my integrity and humanity. I have more videos like this. Because I knew one day I would need the evidence.”
‘Nepal is still a beautiful country’
Purja wrote: “Nepal is still a beautiful country. So many of our people have big hearts and are kind. Please don’t look only at this one sad chapter. To those who gave our country a bad name — you must be held accountable. But to the world: not all Nepalese are like that.”
Who is Nirmal Purja?
Born on July 25, 1983 in a small village named Dana, Nirmal Purja is a noted Nepalese mountaineer. He came from a very poor family. Before pursuing a career in mountaineering, he served in the British Army with the Brigade of Gurkhas, and then joined the Special Boat Service (SBS), the special forces unit of the Royal Navy.
Purja is renowned for climbing all 14 eight-thousanders (peaks above 8,000 metres or 26,000 feet) in only six months and six days with the aid of bottled oxygen between April and October 2019. It was record in climbing at the time, which was later broken in 2023 by Kristin Harila and Tenjen Sherpa, who scaled all 14 eight-thousanders in 92 days.
Purja was the first to reach the summits of Mount Everest, Lhotse and Makalu within 48 hours. In 2021, Purja, along with a team of nine other Nepalese climbers, completed the first winter ascent of K2.
In May 2022, Purja achieved a new speed record by climbing Kangchenjunga, Mount Everest, and Lhotse consecutively without oxygen in 8 days, 23 hours and 10 minutes. He summited Kangchenjunga on May 7 at 10:50 am, reached Everest on May 15 at 8 am — his sixth ascent of the peak — and, only 26 hours later, scaled Lhotse on May 16 at 10 am.
The 2021 documentary film ’14 Peaks: Nothing Is Impossible’, directed by Torquil Jones, and produced by Noah Media Group, follows Purja and his team as they try to scale all 14 eight-thousander peaks.