Nepal’s Mount Everest guiding industry has been thrust into the international spotlight this week amid allegations that some trekking companies filed fraudulent insurance claims worth tens of millions of dollars. One allegation that’s generated a glut of headlines is that trekking guides poisoned clients with baking soda as a way to trigger an unneeded helicopter rescue.This scandal has hit just as hundreds of climbing clients are beginning the hike to Everest Base Camp prior to their acclimatization hikes later in the month. Nepal’s Everest outfitters are watching the scandal, and whatever fallout comes from it, closely. Some told Outside that they worry the allegations, and the headlines created in their wake, will weaken Nepal’s climbing industry in the coming years.
