It is a matter of honor. And that is everything to Byron Smith.
The Canadian car-dealership owner climbed Mount Everest in 2000, contending he reached the summit with seven Sherpas.
However, a Golden-based mountaineering club that publishes the ultimate chronicle of who has crested the 29,035-foot icon has put forth a list with a footnote attached to Smith’s feat: disputed.
That label is the crux of a lawsuit that has ended up in federal court in Denver.
Smith says the actions of the American Alpine Club have called his honesty into question and defamed him. He said in an interview that he has lost car sales because of the controversy.
“It’s very disturbing to me,” said Smith, 46, from Alberta, who also is a motivational speaker. “I’m trying to take the high road here.”
The club’s executive director and its lawyer either did not return phone calls for comment Tuesday or declined to comment. But in a written response to the lawsuit filed in U.S. District Court, the club says the statements contained in the database are an accurate report of facts gathered by others.
Smith believes the source of the “disputed” label is fellow Canadian Tim Rippel, a disgruntled member of his expedition who couldn’t keep up and didn’t make it to the top. Smith says Rippel, a professional mountain guide, has never made it to the top of Everest.
An e-mail sent to Rippel’s mountaineering business was answered by his wife, who declined to comment.
“There’s a lot of petty jealousies,” Smith said. “He’s never summited.”
In the small world of high-altitude mountaineering, conquering Mount Everest is a grueling and unpredictable trek that puts the successful climber on a short list: Only about 2,500 people have summited the world’s highest mountain.
It’s an expensive, time-consuming and dangerous journey. Smith conducted his expedition with a splash.
He got sponsors, brought along a crew and fed live audio to a Canadian Broadcasting Corporation audience from the top: “I can’t go any further. … I’m on top of the world.”
Not a photo finish
But after the expense of bringing a considerable amount of equipment up the mountain – Smith says the bill was between $500,000 and $750,000 – he neglected to do one thing that critics ultimately seized upon.
He didn’t get a picture of himself at the summit.
Smith said he was battling 100-mph winds, was using the radio to contact others in the expedition who didn’t make it and was trying to set up equipment to link with the Canadian Broadcasting Corp.
“I was concentrating on a few other things at the moment,” Smith said.
“Severe high winds”
On his website, Smith says this about the photo situation: “Many people have been asking about summit photos. They are as yet unavailable and unfortunately may not ever be produced.
“Severe high winds on the day of Byron Smith’s summit prevented him from taking video from the top and several still cameras were not functioning. One Sherpa on the team may have photos. The team has been trying to get in touch with him in Nepal to get copies of these.”
Postings on the Internet – mounteverest.net, in particular – take issue with his claim. The speed with which Smith contends he ascended and descended a short but difficult segment just beneath the crest was questioned, as well as other details of the expedition’s final push.
Ultimately what disturbed Smith the most was the “disputed” notation that appeared in “The Himalayan Database.”
The database was created from the expedition archives of Elizabeth Hawley, an American journalist now in her 80s, who moved to Katmandu in 1960.
The database is supplemented by information gathered from books, alpine journals and correspondence with Himalayan climbers.
The American Alpine Club, founded in 1902, publishes Hawley’s list. The club, which claims to be the leading U.S. organization devoted to mountaineering, is housed in the historic Golden High School building along with several other outdoors-oriented groups.
Smith says he has given the club affidavits from the accompanying Sherpas, native people renowned as expert guides on Himalayan mountaineering expeditions.
Alpine club unmoved
But he said the material did not seem to move officials at the American Alpine Club, and that’s why he filed the lawsuit.
In the action, which is in its early stages, Smith seeks monetary damages and has asked the court to force the club to remove the “disputed” label.
One of the affidavits, which Smith provided to The Denver Post, is signed by Mingma Sherpa in 2004.
“… I can assure that Byron Smith did summit Everest before me on the morning of May 21, 2000. He is one of the strong climbers and he actually did not ask for the help during the summit. As stated here, me and six other Sherpas witnessed Byron’s summit.”
Reporter convinced
George Martin, an Ohio-based reporter and general manager of EverestNews.com, said it’s time to put the controversy to rest. Martin said he has looked at the proof, corresponded with Sherpas and says there is no evidence contradicting Smith and plenty supporting him.
“On Everest, there are rumors and gossip beyond belief,” Martin said. “This is just a sad part of mountaineering.”
Staff writer Alicia Caldwell can be reached at 303-820-1930 or acaldwell@denverpost.com.
