13th body pulled from snow following deadly avalanche on Mount Everest
The search for victims continues following the worst tragedy in the history of mountaineering on the world's highest peak
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 aluminium 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.