The first report of a Yeti sighting by a Westerner was in 1832. B.H. Hodson, a British representative sent to Nepal, saw a creature that attacked his servants. The locals in Nepal called them "rakshas", meaning demons.
Rakshasas aren't described as being ape-like (unlike the modern myths which compares yeti to Bigfoot or Sasquatches), but instead describes the rakshasa as being more cat-like in its facial features. Rakshasa demons appear in both Hindu and Buddhist mythology and are usually evil and deceptive, known for their ability to hide or become invisible (or at very least blend in with their surroundings). They are also described to be shapechangers.
Another reliable report happened in 1925 when Greek photographer N.A. Tombazi was part of a British geological expedition in the Himalayas. He spotted a creature moving across some lower slopes who looked like a human being and was walking on two legs, but wasn't wearing any clothing. "It stopped occasionally to uproot or pull at some dwarf rhododendron bushes," he said. "It showed up dark against the snow and, as far as I could make out wore no clothes."
The British expedition later found 15 footprints in the snow. The Himalayas locals called it the "Kanchenjunga demon."
Two British mountaineers in 1951, Eric Shipton and Micheal Ward, also found and photographed footprints measuring between 13 and 18 inches long. Tracks in the snow however are difficult to interpret because the melting of the snow often makes tracks larger and misshapen.
In Dungeons and Dragons terms the yeti and rakshasa are very different... one being a mindless beast that ambushes people in the snow... the other is a demon-shapechanger with magic.
Neither is correct. The creature, based on N.A. Tombazi's description, is most likely a harmless herbivore.
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