A Sacramento climber attempting to become the oldest American ever to summit Mount Everest has posted a message on his blog, reassuring family and friends that he is okay after a deadly avalanche swept down a climbing route on the peak.
The Associated Press reported that the avalanche on Mount Everest early Friday, killed at least 12 Nepalese guides and left four missing in the deadliest disaster on the world's highest mountain.
Read more: Avalanche sweeps down Everest, killing at least 12
Jim Geiger, 68, of Sacramento arrived at Everest base camp earlier this month and had been acclimating himself to the thin air.
Read more: Sacramento man attempts to be oldest American to conquer Everest
His Everest climbing blog contained the following post:
'This morning at 6:00 a.m. local time a big serac (ice chunk) came down in the icefall killing 15 or 16 Sherpa and seriously wounding several others. We initially heard 5 or 6, but in talking with the guys that were up there and made in back down safely the count will be a lot higher, making it the worst disaster in Everest history.'
The AP reported that the Sherpa guides had gone early in the morning to fix ropes for other climbers when the avalanche hit them at about 6:30 a.m., Nepal Tourism Ministry official Krishna Lamsal said from the base camp where he is monitoring rescue efforts.
An injured survivor told his relatives that the path up the mountain was unstable just before the avalanche. As soon as the avalanche hit, rescuers and climbers rushed to help.
Geiger is hoping to break the record for the oldest American climber, a mark held by Bill Burke who made it to the summit and back at age 67. The oldest man to climb Mount Everest is Yuichiro Mirua of Japan, who reached the summit at age 80.
Before he left Sacramento in late March, Geiger said that he was in the best shape of his life. Geiger has climbed many of the highest peaks in the world. To prepare for Mount Everest, Geiger's training included hauling a 65-pound backpack up hills.
His blog post on Thursday thanked those who had worried about him:
'We have been watching the recovery efforts all morning. Several of our people were really close and came back down immediately. I was up there yesterday a little below where the accident happened and I can tell you that it is a big jumble of ice. But I'm back in base camp safe. Thanks for all of your prayers.'
The AP also reported that the avalanche hit an area nicknamed the 'popcorn field' for its bulging chucks of ice and is just below Camp 2, Ang Tshering of the Nepal Mountaineering Association said. Camp 2 sits at an elevation of 6,400 meters (21,000 feet) on the 8,850-meter (29,035-foot) mountain.
Read Geiger's blog here.
* Read more articles by Bill Lindelof
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