Nepal tries to save season as Everest tourists depart

New Delhi: A delegation of government officials from Nepal's Ministry of Culture, Tourism and Civil Aviation will visit the Mount Everest base camp on Thursday in an attempt to salvage the expedition season even as Sherpa mountain guides, support staff and foreign tour operators, shaken by an avalanche that killed over a dozen Nepalese guides Friday, begin to pack up their gear and head home. (Guides, climbers cancel Everest expeditions after tragedy)

International Mountain Guides, one of Everest's largest touring agencies, announced late Wednesday that it planned to cancel its expedition. The decision came as some Sherpas, including the so-called Icefall doctors who secure the route up the mountain, called for a halt to the season's expeditions, dissatisfied with the government's response to the tragedy. (Most Sherpas decide to leave Everest for season)

"The Icefall route is currently unsafe for climbing without repairs," a partner at the trekking company wrote in a statement. "We have explored every option and can find no way to safely continue the expedition."

Alan Arnette, a climbing expert who runs a well-respected website, said that the pullout of International Mountain Guides, a U.S. company, would affect the decisions of the teams that remain. He said that the company's expeditions in the past have employed as many as 60 Sherpas.

"At the end of the day, if the largest team with the most number of Sherpas leaves, then the other teams will be influenced by that heavily," he said.

Tim Rippel, who was leading a team on Everest for his company Peak Freaks, announced on his website on Wednesday that he was canceling the climb.

"The route, in my professional opinion, is not safe," he wrote, describing the  condition of the mountain as deteriorating. He also wrote that the company would "tread softly on future plans with Everest."

Canceling the expeditions will have a ripple effect on the incomes and livelihoods of hundreds of Sherpas, mostly part of a small ethnic group renowned for mountaineering skills, who assist foreign climbers.

Arnette said future seasons will probably draw fewer Western climbers and require a smaller number of guides.

Two foreign tour operators held an emergency meeting with Nepal's Tourism Ministry on Wednesday to try to break the impasse.

Phil Crampton, a veteran expedition leader and owner of Altitude Junkies, said Nepalese officials were willing to satisfy a list of demands issued by the Sherpas at base camp and added that he was hopeful that climbing could continue. Sushil Ghimire, one of the government officials planning to visit the base camp Thursday, said he believed that some Sherpas would agree to continue. (Everest avalanche a reminder of risks Sherpas face)

"Some of the members who lost their relatives and lost their friends, they will not be forced to continue their expeditions," Ghimire said. "But they cannot stop the other people who want to climb the peak."

Tulsi Gurung, 32, a guide with Shambhala Trekking, said that at least 100 Sherpas had decided to leave. A cousin, Ash Bahadur Gurung, is one of the three guides still missing on the Khumbu Icefall.

Gurung said he was unimpressed by the government's efforts.

"Why do they want to come here?" he asked. "If in a couple of days the American people or European people die again in that place, what's going to happen then? Who is going to take responsibility?"