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Washington-based Everest teams OK after Nepal quake

KING-TV, Seattle, and The Associated Press
In this photo provided by Azim Afif, people approach the scene after an avalanche triggered by a massive earthquake swept across Everest Base Camp, Nepal on Saturday, April 25, 2015. Afif and his team of four others from the Universiti Teknologi Malaysia (UTM) all survived the avalanche.

SEATTLE — Several Washington state based mountain-guiding companies are reporting that their teams are OK after a massive earthquake in Nepal sent an avalanche sweeping into a mountaineering base camp on Mount Everest.

Alpine Ascents, International Mountain Guides, Rainier Mountaineering Inc. and a few others had expeditions on or near Mount Everest when the earthquake struck Saturday, killing more than 1,400 people. The avalanche claimed at least 10 climbers and guides.

The parties led by the Washington outfits total dozens of climbers and Sherpas.

International Mountain Guides partner Eric Simonson said on the IMG website that the news from Everest base camp is "quite bleak."

He said the earthquake caused a huge block of ice to fall more than 2,500 feet from an ice cliff.

"The tons and tons of falling ice going this vertical distance created a huge aerosol avalanche and accompanying air blast that hit the upper part of Everest BC and blew many tents across the Khumbu Glacier towards the lower Icefall," he said.

"Apparently the air blast and earthquake also caused many big rocks to shift around as well, which were the cause of some of the crushing injuries suffered by climbers in these upper base camps," he said. "The base camps farther down the glacier (like the IMG camp) were untouched. It is worth noting that over many expeditions we have never seen an avalanche from this area that was even remotely of this scale. It was truly a freak event caused by a tremendous earthquake."

Guide Dave Hahn wrote on the website of Ashford-based Rainier Mountaineering that he was in a camp above base camp when the avalanche struck, but others in his team were in the base camp down below and have worked feverishly to help the injured.

"About the same time as the earthquake a pretty good snowstorm commenced up here in the Western Cwm and down at Base Camp," he wrote. "We're sitting things out safely at Camp One. But we don't have the ability to travel right now, good mountaineering sense dictates that we stay put and ride this storm out. This may take a little time, ride the storm out and that's what we'll do. It may take this a little time but we are okay. We are self sufficient up here and our concern is with our friends at Base Camp."

Gordon Janow, director of programs at Seattle-based Alpine Ascents, said from Seattle his company's team was "in rescue mode" to deal with the devastation at base camp and would work to plot new routes for climbers above who were cut off by the avalanche.

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