Nepal fines solo Everest climber without permit $22,000

KATHMANDU AFP May8, 2017- A South African attempting to climb Mount Everest alone and without a permit has been ordered off the mountain, had his passport confiscated and will be fined $22,000, an official said Monday.   

Ryan Sean Davy, 43, told officials at base camp that he had climbed alone as far as camp two -- 6,400 metres (21,000 feet) -- to acclimatise ahead of a summit push before he was caught.   
Foreigners have to pay the Nepal government $11,000 for permission to climb the 8,848 metre (29,030 foot) peak.   

 “I saw him alone near base camp so I approached him and he ran away,” said Gyanendra Shresth, the government liason officer at base camp.    “I followed him with my friend and found him hiding in a cave nearby,” he told AFP.    Davy could be banned from Nepal for five years or face a 10-year ban on climbing in the country.