KATMANDU-
Nepal’s authorities temporarily halted climbing on Mount Everest while search teams dug through snow and ice Sunday for three Sherpa guides missing in the deadliest avalanche on the world’s highest peak that killed 13 others.
A section of the route over the dreaded Khumbu Icefall, a climbing pass where the avalanche swept a group of guides early Friday, has totally collapsed and a new trail has to be dug, ropes fixed and aluminum ladders laid over the crevasses before climbing can resume, said Ang Tshering of the Nepal Mountaineering Association.
Another group of Sherpas, who had already passed before the avalanche struck, were stranded on the other side and would only be able to get back to base camp once the new route is fixed, Tshering said.
Despite losing so many guides, there were no plans by expedition teams to abandon their attempt to climb the peak next month, he said.
Maddhu Sunan Burlakoti, head of the Nepalese government’s mountaineering department, said that the search for the missing three climbers resumed Sunday. They were among about 25 Sherpa guides hauling gear to the higher camps that their foreign clients would use in attempting to reach the summit next month.
One of the survivors told his relatives that the path had been unstable just before the snow slide hit at an elevation near 5,800 meters (19,000 feet). The area is considered particularly dangerous due to its steep slope and deep crevasses that cut through the snow and ice covering the pass year round.
As soon as the avalanche occurred, rescuers, guides and climbers rushed to help, and all other climbing was suspended.
Four survivors were conscious and being treated in the intensive care units of several Katmandu hospitals for broken ribs, fractured limbs, punctured lungs and skin abrasions, according to Dr. C.R. Pandey from Grande Hospital. Others were treated for less serious injuries at the Everest base camp.
