30 years later, India to bring Everest’s ‘Green Boots’ home after confirming identity as ITBP’s Dorje Morup

Three decades after his expedition party perished in Mount Everest's 'death zone', India has identified 'Green Boots' and floated a mission to bring his frozen body home.

In the 1996 Everest disaster, three members of an Indo-Tibetan Border Police (ITBP) mountaineering team perished near the mountain's summit. Once the blizzards subsided and the next group of mountaineers neared the summit, they spotted a body in an alcove 350 metres from the peak. The climber's lime-coloured Koflach boots earned him the nickname 'Green Boots'.

Now, after three decades of speculation over the climber's identity, India has identified him as Dorje Morup of the ITBP's 1996 expedition and floated a mission to bring him home. If the plan succeeds, he could be back by October.

But that is easier said than done. Green Boots lies in Everest's 'death zone' on the mountain's dangerous northern side, one of the most challenging locations in the world. While climbing and descending from that side is itself perilous, carrying the body of a frozen climber —which could weigh up to 200 kilograms with the frozen mass and gear— would substantially raise the stakes.

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India quietly floated a tender seeking bids from companies for a mission to bring Green Boots home, according to The Guardian.

The tender explicitly identified the deceased climber as Morup, but did not specify how that conclusion had been reached.

For years, it was believed that Green Boots was Tsewang Paljor, Morup's teammate on the ITBP expedition.

The tender merely states that the climber “has been confirmed through a prior verification process conducted under an earlier tender/technical assessment”, according to the newspaper.

The tender says the team must include at least six Sherpas who have summited Everest multiple times. It also requires them to provide evidence of the mission and bring Green Boots to Delhi by October.

Over the past three decades, Green Boots has become part of Everest's lore and a landmark for climbers. Mountaineers often inform base camp when they pass Green Boots on their way to the summit and others have taken shelter in the alcove alongside the frozen body, according to anecdotes shared online.