Mountaineering companies today called off their spring expeditions to Mount Everest, marking the second year with virtually no summits after an quake-triggered avalanche killed 18 on the world's highest peak. The 7.8-magnitude quake left a trail of death and destruction when it erupted around midday on April 25, bringing down buildings in the capital Kathmandu and triggering an avalanche that ripped through Everest base camp.
Top climbing firms said they had cancelled their plans even though the avalanche spared their teams, due to fear of aftershocks and destruction of the route to the summit. "With ongoing aftershocks and tremors we can't continue expeditions," two-time Everest summiteer Dawa Steven Sherpa of Kathmandu-based Asian Trekkers told AFP.