In a memoir printed in December, the skilled mountaineer and former Miss Finland Lotta Hintsa briefly described an upsetting incident with a “very well-known male climber” whom she didn’t identify.
Throughout a March 2023 enterprise dialogue within the man’s lodge suite in Kathmandu, Nepal, he “kissed Lotta fully with out warning,” Ms. Hintsa and her co-author wrote within the Finnish-language e-book, “The Mountains of My Life 2.” “The state of affairs was absurd, unreal and ugly.”
However in interviews with The New York Instances, Ms. Hintsa stated her expertise was extra disturbing than she had described within the e-book. And her story highlights a priority that ladies within the climbing world are beginning to discuss extra overtly.
Ms. Hintsa stated the person was Nirmal Purja, whose profitable 2019 quest to climb all 14 of the world’s 8,000-meter peaks in file time was chronicled in a well-liked Netflix documentary. She stated he led her to the bed room, pulled off her shirt, trekking shorts and underwear and tried to take away her bra. She stated she repeatedly informed him no and supplied excuses to get him to cease with out agitating him. The episode ended with him masturbating subsequent to her, she stated.
“I simply have to get out of this and faux that it by no means occurred,” Ms. Hintsa, 35, recalled pondering on the time.
By his lawyer, Mr. Purja declined requests for an interview. The lawyer, Philip M. Kelly, stated in a written assertion that Mr. Purja “unequivocally denies the allegations of wrongdoing. These allegations are false and defamatory.”
As high-altitude mountaineering has gained reputation, ladies have change into more and more seen and formidable in a sport nonetheless largely dominated by males. Statistics from Mount Everest communicate to the development: Final yr, 65 ladies reached the summit — about 10 p.c of the climbers who summited — up from 45 in 2013 and simply 10 in 2003, in line with the Himalayan Database.
However in recent times, members of the broader climbing neighborhood have acknowledged that the game comes with unseen dangers, particularly for girls. An increasing number of ladies within the sport, which incorporates all the things from indoor mountain climbing to ascending snowy peaks, are coming ahead to speak about moments they’ve described as unsettling or worse.
In 2019, a gaggle {of professional} feminine rock climbers began an Instagram account “in regards to the ridiculous and inappropriate messages, photographs, and solicitations we obtain in our DMs,” one of many ladies stated in a social media publish. The account, whose creators stated it was later shut down by Instagram, shared screenshots of harassing messages despatched to ladies within the sport.
In February, a 39-year-old climber named Charles Barrett was convicted of three counts of sexual abuse for repeatedly assaulting a lady who was visiting Yosemite Nationwide Park for a weekend mountain climbing journey in 2016. The U.S. lawyer for the Japanese District of California stated in an announcement that Mr. Barrett had “used his renown and bodily presence as a rock climber to lure and intimidate victims who had been a part of the rock-climbing neighborhood.”
And in interviews with The Instances, Ms. Hintsa and one other lady, a former consumer of Mr. Purja’s high-altitude guiding firm, described experiences in recent times by which he kissed them with out consent, made aggressive advances or touched them sexually towards their needs. They stated they felt powerless and cautious of angering Mr. Purja.
“I didn’t know what to do,” recalled Dr. April Leonardo, a household doctor from Quincy, Calif. She stated Mr. Purja repeatedly grabbed, kissed and propositioned her throughout an expedition to K2, the world’s second-tallest mountain. “I’m on this loopy climb. He’s my information. I don’t need to do something to place myself in jeopardy.”
The assertion from Mr. Purja’s lawyer additionally unequivocally denied Dr. Leonardo’s allegations.
Quickly after the encounters the ladies described having with Mr. Purja, they shared their tales with buddies and relations and despatched them textual content messages about their experiences. The Instances reviewed the textual content messages and confirmed the conversations with the opposite individuals.
The out of doors recreation world has began to deal with sexual abuse and harassment, although haltingly. In response to the #MeToo motion, members of america climbing neighborhood created an initiative in 2018 known as #SafeOutside to check the scope of the issue within the sport. The organizers surveyed greater than 5,000 climbers from over 60 nations and located that 47 p.c of ladies and 16 p.c of males stated that they had been subjected to undesirable sexual conduct whereas climbing. And some months in the past, The Mountaineers, an out of doors recreation group within the Pacific Northwest, created a sexual harassment and assault prevention advisory committee to deal with the danger amongst its 15,000 members.
However it’s nothing new for girls to really feel mistreated within the sport.
“It’s essentially the most weak place I can think about being in,” stated Alison Levine, the captain of the primary American ladies’s Everest expedition in 2002, who stated she skilled verbal abuse and threatening conduct from a information throughout that journey. The climbers turned again wanting the summit as climate situations deteriorated.
Ms. Levine continued, “The factor that was most difficult, the scariest, and produced essentially the most anxiousness and concern on that mountain got here from a human, not the setting.” She didn’t return to the large mountains for one more 5 years, then went again to Everest in 2010 and reached the summit.
“There’s a lot inherent threat within the setting itself,” she stated. “Once you add in threat from interpersonal relationships, that makes it much more horrifying.”
‘The place a “No” Means Nothing’
This month, lots of of climbers scaled Everest and different Himalayan peaks. Above 8,000 meters (about 26,000 toes), they enter what is named the Demise Zone, the place there’s not sufficient oxygen to maintain human life for lengthy and so they expose themselves to hazards like frostbite, icefall, crevasses and high-altitude pulmonary or cerebral edema. Eighteen climbers died on Everest throughout the spring 2023 season, and this yr 5 have died and three have been reported lacking.
Shoppers pay tens of 1000’s of {dollars} to try these ascents — Everest expeditions begin at round $40,000 and may value six figures for a extra luxurious expertise — and entrust their guides with their lives.
Mr. Purja, 40, is one among mountaineering’s most recognizable and influential figures, with greater than two million followers on Instagram. Often known as Nims, he’s a naturalized citizen of Britain, the place he lives along with his spouse and younger daughter. However in his native Nepal he’s revered because the type of climbing famous person the nation hasn’t seen since Tenzing Norgay accomplished the primary ascent of Mount Everest in 1953 alongside Sir Edmund Hillary.
By his guiding firm, Elite Exped, Mr. Purja has helped usher in a brand new period of business climbing on the world’s tallest peaks and has inspired ladies on social media to participate.
He has guided high-profile feminine shoppers like Asma Al Thani, a member of the Qatari royal household, and the Russian mannequin Victoria Bonya. “Thanks for uplifting me to push my limits. I’m grateful for all the things you taught me,” a Swiss climber named Christine Vogondy posted on social media final fall, with a photograph of her and Mr. Purja atop Gasherbrum I in Pakistan.
Ms. Hintsa, who turned knowledgeable climber in 2018, crossed paths with Mr. Purja at base camps in Nepal and Pakistan whereas on the climbing circuit. They corresponded intermittently about expeditions they had been taking, and Mr. Purja invited her to information for his firm.
Mr. Purja was usually flirtatious in these textual content messages and in exchanges with Dr. Leonardo, in line with a evaluate of the messages by The Instances. The ladies generally bantered again, and Ms. Hintsa, a former Sports activities Illustrated swimsuit mannequin, as soon as despatched a photograph of herself from the journal. Typically, although, the ladies modified the topic or didn’t reply.
Ms. Hintsa and Mr. Purja agreed to satisfy in Kathmandu in March 2023 to debate working collectively on an expedition Ms. Hintsa was organizing. Mr. Purja advised having espresso in his lodge suite to keep away from the eye he would get within the foyer, Ms. Hintsa recalled.
Given the tenor of a few of their earlier textual content messages, Ms. Hintsa stated, she sought to attract clear boundaries. She stated she texted Mr. Purja on WhatsApp that this was “not a booty name,” and that he replied agreeing that it was not. Ms. Hintsa not has this textual content trade as a result of Mr. Purja’s app was set to make messages of their chat disappear after seven days.
In Mr. Purja’s suite on the Marriott on March 30, Ms. Hintsa recalled, she was “frozen” and “confused” as he led her to the mattress. She stated she felt like she was having an out-of-body expertise as he eliminated her garments at the same time as she continued to say no. She informed him she had her interval, she stated, however he didn’t cease. At one level he touched her vagina, she stated.
“I can’t get via to him. He’s on this extraordinarily aroused state the place a ‘No’ means nothing,” Ms. Hintsa recalled. She stated she was afraid to agitate him due to his energy and the coaching he’d acquired in Britain’s army, together with its particular forces.
She stated that Mr. Purja appeared to develop pissed off as she continued to refuse him and that he appeared to lose curiosity after she bodily resisted his eradicating her bra. She described feeling relieved when he started to masturbate, hopeful that the episode would quickly be over.
Mr. Purja then showered, she stated, which gave her time to compose herself and dress. They left the room and he confirmed her the shop he operates on the Marriott, then requested a driver to take her to her lodge, she stated. Mr. Purja behaved as if nothing had occurred, she stated.
That day, Ms. Hintsa texted a pal describing her expertise. The Instances reviewed the message. Later, she recounted it in individual to the pal, Heidi Paananen, who confirmed their dialog.
A driver for Mr. Purja, Krishna Bahadur Tamang, stated in a written assertion supplied by Mr. Purja’s lawyer that he took Mr. Purja to the Marriott that morning. He stated Mr. Purja returned to the automotive “inside 20 minutes.” Ms. Hintsa recalled being on the lodge with Mr. Purja for near an hour, and he or she supplied time-stamped photographs she took that day on her solution to meet Mr. Purja and at his retailer. They corroborated her timeline.
Ms. Hintsa didn’t find yourself doing enterprise with Mr. Purja’s firm.
Widespread Drawback, Little Motion
Outside sports activities have distinctive threat components for sexual harassment and misconduct, stated Gina McClard, an Oregon lawyer specializing in gender-based violence prevention. In 2019, she co-founded a consultancy known as Respect Exterior that works with out of doors recreation teams comparable to mountaineering golf equipment and information providers on insurance policies, procedures and trainings to forestall sexual harassment and discrimination.
These actions can entail weekslong expeditions to distant settings, the place members reside and sleep in shut quarters. The tradition surrounding out of doors sports activities, which celebrates pushing boundaries and glorifies individuals who pull off uncommon feats, might also create conditions the place inappropriate conduct goes unchecked, she stated.
“A lot of the out of doors business continues to be an ‘outdated boys’ community,” Ms. McClard stated in an e-mail. “If you don’t conform to how issues are executed, chances are you’ll end up marginalized and iced out of the membership.”
Mr. Barrett, the climber who was convicted of sexual abuse this yr, is about to be sentenced on Tuesday. He was prosecuted partly due to the 2018 #SafeOutside survey, in line with courtroom filings earlier reported by Exterior Journal. The lady he assaulted answered the survey saying she had been raped by a “well-known, skilled California climber” on a visit to Yosemite. One other respondent stated she had been sexually assaulted by the houseguest of knowledgeable climber she was visiting. Survey organizers adopted up with the ladies and related them after they each recognized Mr. Barrett as the one that had assaulted them. The Yosemite hiker reported Mr. Barrett to the authorities in 2020.
Mr. Barrett’s was a well-known identify in California mountain climbing. He wrote guidebooks on bouldering in widespread areas like Mammoth and Bishop, and he ascended tough routes with the well-known American rock climber Alex Honnold. A 2016 profile in Climbing Journal, later taken down from the web site, described Mr. Barrett as “a grasp of the California climbing sport.”
He was dwelling and dealing in Yosemite on the time of the assault of the feminine hiker. Mr. Barrett “violently raped” her after inviting her into the woods to look at a meteor bathe, prosecutors stated, and likewise assaulted her throughout a hike and within the worker housing space. Three different ladies, together with the opposite survey respondent, testified at his trial that he had sexually assaulted them. These incidents occurred outdoors federal jurisdiction, and state prosecutors didn’t deliver expenses.
Based mostly on her work with teams all through the out of doors business, Ms. McClard stated that firm insurance policies hardly ever prolong past bodily security to incorporate psychological or emotional security of shoppers and workers. Most smaller out of doors corporations don’t have in-house human assets departments, she stated, and larger gamers within the business haven’t invested the time or cash that she believes this subject requires.
“There’s no industrywide motion,” she stated. “I really feel like we’re alone in what we’re doing on sexual harassment within the out of doors business.”
Making Advances at 17,000 Ft
Dr. Leonardo, 41, the California doctor, met Mr. Purja at a teahouse in Nepal in 2021 earlier than she summited Mount Everest with a unique firm. She later realized that he was organizing a guided ascent of K2 the next summer time. Drawn partly by the hazard of the climb, she signed up, paying $55,000 for the two-month journey, which started in June 2022.
After arriving at K2 base camp, at about 17,000 toes, the staff held a puja, a ceremony to pay respect to the mountain and ask for secure passage. She recalled that throughout the celebration afterward, she was in search of a trash bag and bumped into Mr. Purja, who took her to a storage tent to get one. As she turned to depart, she stated, Mr. Purja grabbed her arm, pulled her shut and kissed her. She recalled Mr. Purja then saying, “I’ll have you ever.” Shocked and uncertain of what to do, she stated, she walked out.
“I simply really feel like I have to keep away from him and maintain something from taking place, however I’m afraid to do or say something about it,” Dr. Leonardo recalled pondering. One other climber on the mountain on the time stated Dr. Leonardo informed him throughout her journey that she and Mr. Purja had had this interplay and that she didn’t need to be alone with him. The individual requested to not be named for concern {of professional} or private repercussions.
On one other event, Dr. Leonardo stated, Mr. Purja confirmed up uninvited at her tent. She was in her sleeping bag, sporting a shirt and underwear, she recalled, and he crouched subsequent to her and stated he needed to examine on her knee, which she had injured. Mr. Purja reached inside her sleeping bag, which made her really feel panicked, she stated, so she shortly pulled her leg out. He kissed her, she stated, and grabbed her hand and positioned it on his crotch, forcing her to really feel his erect penis via his pants. She stated she felt trapped in her sleeping bag, unable to depart as a result of she wasn’t dressed.
In response to Dr. Leonardo, Mr. Purja informed her he needed to have intercourse together with her however needed to wait till nobody was round, after which left.
One other time, she stated, Mr. Purja grabbed her arm whereas she was strolling alone via camp and requested, “When can I mount you?” He advised they go to her tent, she stated, however she made excuses.
Dr. Leonardo despatched her father, Leon Leonardo, a textual content throughout her journey saying that Mr. Purja stored making an attempt to have intercourse together with her. “Not okay,” she wrote within the message, which was reviewed by The Instances.
Two workers of Elite Exped on Dr. Leonardo’s K2 expedition, Chandra Bahadur Tamang, the pinnacle chef, and Ramesh Gurung, a senior information, stated in statements supplied by Mr. Purja’s lawyer that they supplied safety for the storage tent as a result of it contained useful objects and that Mr. Purja by no means went inside it throughout the expedition. Dr. Leonardo stated individuals had been usually across the tent however nobody was there when she and Mr. Purja briefly went inside.
One other senior information, Pasang Tendi Sherpa, stated in an announcement that Mr. Purja “was not in any non-public setting” with Dr. Leonardo throughout the journey. Pasang Tendi Sherpa’s assertion didn’t clarify how he knew that and he didn’t reply to interview requests. Mr. Gurung didn’t comply with an interview. The Instances couldn’t attain Chandra Bahadur Tamang.
For a number of months after the journey, Dr. Leonardo had cordial textual content exchanges with Mr. Purja, partly as a result of she was ready for reimbursement for some misplaced gear, she stated. She didn’t see him once more.
Warning Different Girls
The ladies who spoke to The Instances about Mr. Purja stated that they didn’t know what recourse that they had. Elite Exped is a small firm run by Mr. Purja, and since the incidents occurred outdoors their residence nations, the ladies weren’t certain what to do. They didn’t alert regulation enforcement or different authorities.
Ms. Hintsa stated she was telling her story in hopes of creating the male-dominated sport of mountaineering safer for girls. Solely with time has she come to know the consequences of her expertise.
“I hadn’t realized the scars that it had left,” she stated. “It has made me notice that it’s not solely the rock fall or the avalanches which might be harmful for a feminine climber.”
Mr. Purja’s star has continued to rise. As a face of high-altitude climbing, he has labored with main corporations like Crimson Bull and Nike, which this previous winter launched a clothes assortment impressed by Mr. Purja, known as 8K Peaks, and featured him in a towering Manhattan billboard. In December he acquired an honorary doctorate from Loughborough College in England. Outside manufacturers together with Grivel, Osprey and Scarpa have labored with him on co-branded merchandise.
Dr. Leonardo’s achievement of summiting K2, she stated, was tainted by what she skilled. She hopes that sharing her account will assist different ladies keep away from the same situation.
“I can’t let it maintain taking place,” Dr. Leonardo stated, including: “I don’t need one other lady to must undergo this.”
Johanna Lemola and Bhadra Sharma contributed reporting. Kitty Bennett contributed analysis.
