A solo climber who couldn't afford the fees to ascent Mt Everest was found hiding in a cave on the mountain to avoid authorities and paying what he owed.
Ryan Sean Davy, a South African filmmaker, has recounted how his Everest experience took a "very bad turn" when he arrived and didn't have enough money for a solo permit to summit the world's highest peak.
"I was ashamed that I couldn't afford the permit after all the help, preparation and what everybody had done for me during my training, it would have been a total embarrassment to turn around and accept defeat because of a piece of paper," he wrote on Facebook.
"So I took a chance and spent the little money I had on more gear to climb and practice on the surrounding peaks for acclimatising in preparing for a stealth entry onto Everest."
He explains wanting to help people in trouble on the mountain was his main reason for climbing the peak, considering many die trying to summit the peak.
He managed two entries into the Ice Falls and managed to climb around 7315m of the 8848m high peak before authorities caught up with him.
He claimed someone had "turned me in," saying the expedition companies have "no time for wanna be Everesters with no money [sic]".
"I was harassed at basecamp to a point that I honestly thought I was going to get stoned to death right there. I'm not even exaggerating. I was treated like a murderer. A true testimony of how money has become more important than decency," he wrote in a Facebook post.
Government liaison officer Gyanendra Shresth told AFP he saw Mr Davy alone near base camp "so I approached and he ran away".
"I followed him with my friend and found him hiding in a cave nearby. He had set up camp in an isolated place to avoid government officials."
The mountain provides Nepal with a major source of revenue, with keen mountaineers required to pay tens of thousands for equipment hire, fees and other related costs.
Mr Davy says his passport was confiscated and was being sent to the country's capital of Kathmandu where he'd face significant penalties and possibly jail time.
He pleaded with his friend and family to go against their instincts and not to help him pay the "exorbitant" fees to bail him out.
"This was my doing and I took the risks, I am accountable.
"I would feel really really bad if someone baled me out for something I did on my own accord [sic]," he says.
But his experience which took a "very bad turn" hasn't put Mr Davy off, promising to return for a second try to summit the world's most famous mountain.
Newshub.
