Résumé “embellishments” have long been a matter of concern for employers, prompting them to conduct background checks on job applicants. Meanwhile, mountaineers have generally been taken at their word when they claimed to have climbed a particular peak. These two worlds intersect when it comes to Mount Everest, which since the advent of commercial expeditions has become not just a climber’s goal but also one for aspiring business executives’ CVs.
Nobody should be surprised that some people make false claims of climbing Everest. Consider Dinesh and Tarkeshwari Rathod, whose claim to be the first Indian couple to scale the world’s highest peak is now being investigated, following suggestions that photographs of their feat have been digitally altered. What are we losing as a society when mountaineering claims are subjected to the same scrutiny as academic achievements?