Everest climber's late thank you to sherpa riles up netizens

Veteran mountaineer T Ravichandran has been slammed online for failing to acknowledge and being ungrateful to the sherpa who saved him from "death's door" on Mount Everest.

On May 18, it was reported that mountain guide Gelje Sherpa found Ravichandran stuck in the mountain's "death zone", where oxygen is thin and temperatures are below freezing.

Gelje told CNN that when found, Ravichandran (above) was grasping a rope, and shivering from the cold with no bottled oxygen, sherpas, or guides accompanying him.

The 30-year-old sherpa then reportedly persuaded the Chinese client he was guiding to quit his summit attempt so that he can save Ravichandran's life.

He then wrapped Ravichandran in his sleeping mat and carried the latter on his back, before descending 580m in six hours to Everest's Camp 4, where other sherpas assisted the stranded climber and he was then airlifted to safety.

Ravichandran, 58, who previously conquered Everest three times and lost eight fingers to frostbite in the process, eventually recovered and returned to Malaysia, where he gave a TV interview in early June.

However, during the interview and subsequent Instagram posts, Ravichandran omitted the mention of Gelje's name.

He instead thanked his sponsor, rescue insurance, and partner organisations, which prompted netizens to question why he left out the mention of his "saviour".

Ravichandran was then accused of blocking and deleting comments criticising him over the issue, and at one point, he allegedly blocked Gelje's account from his Instagram.

Gelje Sherpa

Gelje also shared an Instagram story that corroborated the claim Ravichandran had initially blocked him.

'Humbling experience'

Ravichandran eventually took to Instagram to acknowledge Gelje and other sherpas who were involved in his rescue mission, and in return, Gelje thanked the former and hoped he was recovering well.

Critics jumped on the note of gratitude which came a little too late, saying it seemed like an afterthought after much backlash.

At the same time, Malaysians flooded Gelje's social media to thank him for the heroic rescue mission.

When contacted by Malaysiakini, Ravichandran denied blocking people from his social media and said that he had personally called to thank Gelje and the other sherpas involved in his rescue.

The seasoned climber had planned to conquer Mount Lhotse - the world's fourth highest mountain, within 24 hours of making Everest's summit, but he ran into difficulties while descending the latter.

Mount Everest

Ravichandran called the ordeal a "humbling experience", and pleaded for patience from Malaysians to help him past the incident.

This has been one of Everest's deadliest seasons, with 12 people confirmed dead on expeditions and another five missing, and presumed dead. - Mkini