The latest in the Greg Mortenson controversy: His climbing partner responds

This post has been corrected. Please see the note below.

Greg Mortenson's climbing companion Scott Darsney has been offline in Nepal since a "60 Minutes" story threw into question Mortenson's account in his bestselling book "Three Cups of Tea" and the fiscal management at his nonprofit foundation, the Central Asia Institute.

The "60 Minutes" report, which included questions raised by another bestselling author, Jon Krakauer ("Into Thin Air"), was followed by a 75-page report by Krakauer, "Three Cups of Deceit." First made available on a new website, Byliner.com, "Three Cups of Deceit" is now available digitally from Amazon, and holds the bestselling spot on the Kindle Single list.

Darsney had spoken with Krakauer. Now, after getting a chance to see the questions raised about Mortenson and "Three Cups of Tea," he seems to be backtracking on some of his statements.

He sent an email to Outside Magazine, which was posted Tuesday on its site. For example, Outside writes:

Darsney refutes Krakauer’s debunking of Mortenson’s climbing résumé. Krakauer wrote: “Scott Darsney, Greg’s climbing partner on K2, confirms that Mortenson had never been to the Himalaya or Karakoram before going to K2.”

Darsney’s response: “I must have misspoken, or Krakauer misheard. I meant the Karakoram, not the Himalaya in general. I am pretty sure that [the 1993 K2 climb] was Greg’s first trip to Pakistan, but he had told me of his past trips to Baruntse and Annapurna IV before, for sure, and at the beginning of the 1993 trip.”

Darsney, whose account Krakauer cited in his allegations that Mortenson didn't visit Korphe on his first trip down from K2,  says that he was separated from Mortenson for a time, during which Mortenson "ended up in a village on the wrong side of the Braldu River" and that "It’s certainly plausible" this was Korphe.

The Business Insider calls Darsney's email a "Non-Defense Defense" of Mortenson. In particular, it cites one paragraph:

If Greg is misappropriating funds, then show me the luxury cars, fancy boats, and closets full of shoes. This is not a “ministry” or a business gone corrupt. Are there not other NGOs and nonprofits that stray now and then? Don’t they also spend more internally as they get bigger, especially when growing quickly? But their intent and purpose still stay on the course of the mission.

The Chronicle of Philanthropy writes in an opinion piece, "A charity must serve a public interest rather than a private one, and any financial benefits provided to an individual must be incidental compared with the amount spent to advance a charity’s tax-exempt purposes." There seems to be some confusion over the "purposes" part of Mortenson's Central Asia Institute, which billed its primary purpose as building and supporting schools in Pakistan and Afghanistan. The article says:

The shock over the institute’s spending is due in part to the mixed messages contained in its informational tax return and on its Web site. For example, the tax form for fiscal 2009 lists domestic outreach and education as the charity’s largest program expense. However, the “program” section of the institute’s Web site fails to even mention domestic outreach and lists only the programs it conducts abroad.

Last week, the leader of a Pakistani think tank who says he was misrepresented in Mortenson's books as a Taliban terrorist -- he appears in a photograph in "Stones Into Schools" -- told CNN that he was considering legal action against the author.

Meanwhile, Mortenson recently canceled an appearance scheduled for May 3 in Boston, citing an operation he'd undergone to repair a hole in his heart.

RELATED:

Investigation throws 'Three Cups of Tea' author Greg Mortenson's charity work into doubt

Greg Mortenson Responds to '60 Minutes' questions about his 'Three Cups of Tea' story

-- Carolyn Kellogg

[For the Record, April 26: An earlier version of this post misspelled the name of Jon Krakauer's report.]

Photo: Greg Mortenson with Navy Adm. Mike Mullen, chairman of the Joint Chiefs of Staff, at the opening of Pushghar Village Girls School, 60 miles north of Kabul in Panjshir Valley, Afghanistan, in 2009. Credit: Department of Defense / Associated Press

Comments

[Julie]

"Three Cups of Deciet"? Seriously?

[EyeNeverSayNo]

Even a cursory review of the Central Asia Institute's financials, in particulat the 2008 Form 990 (the most recent filed/posted) shows that CAI's primary function has been to spend millions of dollars of donated money on the promotion of Mortenson's two books, and on his year's-long book tour, the royalties and appearance fees from which go directly into Mortenson's own bank account.

This crime is known as "conversion," in this case, CAI's donated funds have been converted into Mortenson's royalties and honoraria. It's all right there in the financials, and even in CAI's "Response to 60 Minutes' Questions," on the CAI website. Their excuse is that CAI receives more money in donations by financing Mortenson's book selling efforts, a circular argument of the kind con men love to make, but it doesn't make it right.

[Lori M]

My prediction: Mortenson will go to jail over this and his "charity" will lose it's tax exempt status.

And what's with all the articles calling Mortenson a philanthropist? There's no record he's ever donated a penny to his cause, but he's apparently done quite well personally. Always be wary of 1) any guy that can't do a good deed without making sure a camera crew is filming it and 2) any do-gooder that becomes a multi-millionaire from his good deeds.

Sorry I just think Mortenson is pathetic scum.

[Simon L]

Spell check and/or the tried and true "i after e, except after c" can help with spelling 'deceit' correctly. Are there any copy editors around?

[AngelaT]

EXCEPT AFTER "C"

I think you mean "Three Cups of DecEIt," not "Three Cups of DecIEt," no?

[mikeohara]

Spell-checker: it's those little red lines when you type.

[wired]

I am reasonably sure that it's "I before E except after C."

[tish68]

You might want to use spellcheck...it's deceit (i before e except after c, remember?).

[Sophie]

Why does it seem like Krakauer has a massive chip on his shoulder about something? This is like a one-man campaign to discredit. I find this whole "story/controversy" reeking of fish...

[up_north]

it's tough all over; the LA Times had to sell all its spellcheckers on the street for lunch money

[mars]

Is there any reason at all I should care about this story?
Talk about petty infighting among professionals engaged in a tiny industry!

[woof-woof]

Jon Krakauer seems to be a classic mudslinger. Throw a slanderous mixture of truth and fiction at the wall and see what sticks. Fact-checking takes time and it doesn't make you any more money.

As for Greg Mortenson...

Those two deserve each other.

[AndreaU8]

I think even if he only built one school that is still such a major thing!

[Jonnaro Saitoh]

Sophie: He initially donated $75.000 to the cause, so he rightfully is upset at what he found. And it's more than just him - the Mahsud family hates him too

woof-woof: What did Krakauer get wrong in his essay? His indictment seems pretty damning.

[woof-woof]

Jonnaro Saitoh, the article above is about what he got wrong.

[LagBeachObserver]

@woof-woof: Maybe you need to re-read the above article, it doesn't support your position at all. "Darsney's response 'I must have misspoken...' " and "it's certainly plausible..." and "a Non-Defense Defense of Mortenson." Hint: read with your brain not your heart.

[LagBeachObserver]

Woof-woof: You might try re-reading the article with your brain instead of your heart, it doesn't support your position on Krakauer much at all, and it makes clear that the climbing partner, Scott Darsney, offered up a defense of Mortenson that is pretty much a "Non-Defense Defense."

[jopsjennings]

Sorry lagbeach, but telling woof to read with his brain is just a huge mis-direction

[Darwin Goolsby]

Julie: Yes, seriously. It's a good title.

[Darwin Goolsby]

Sophie: It's a justified, deserved chip on his shoulder. He donated his own money, $75,000, to the CAI, and became disillusioned

mars: Maybe it's the schoolchildren who donated their money, not realizing what it really financed. And all of the college students who had to read the book for classes, only to find out it's faked

woof-woof: But we haven't seen any Krakauer allegations that were certainly not true...