The Indian government is looking to hire people to recover the decades-old remains of a climber known colloquially as “Green Boots” from Mount Everest.
The government wants to recover the body of late climber Dorje Morup, located on the Chinese-controlled Tibetan side of Mount Everest, by the end of September, according to a government procurement website.
Morup was part of an Indo-Tibetan Border Police Force expedition to climb the northern side of the mountain in 1996. The expedition was struck by a blizzard and Morup died, with his current resting place located in a cave located over 27,000 feet up the mountain, which is just over 29,000 feet tall, according to French news agency Agence France-Presse.
His body became known to climbers as “Green Boots” due to his distinctive footwear, but for much of the 30 years since the 1996 expedition, it was also the subject of a case of mistaken identity.
People believed the body instead belonged to Tsewang Paljor, a colleague of Morup who also died in the 1996 expedition, according to The Daily Mail.
The Indo-Tibetan Border Police Force recently confirmed that Morup is “Green Boots” following a DNA test, according to The Daily Mail.
Over the years, climbers have used Morup’s body as a place marker, with others seeking to shelter in place under the same outcropping.
Tshiring Jangbu Sherpa told The Guardian that after going under the rocky outcropping this year while sheltering from a storm, “I touch[ed] him, I clear[ed] the snow a little bit. Then I totally saw Green Boots lying down under that snow.”
There are about 200 bodies known to be on Mount Everest, according to The Guardian. Recovery of climbers who die on the mountain is often not possible, due to the risk and extreme conditions.
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