By Krishna Pokharel and Raymond Zhong
KATMANDU, Nepal--The flow of foreign climbers leaving Mount
Everest accelerated Thursday amid mounting fears about safety on
the world's highest peak and the reluctance of Sherpa guides to
return to work after an avalanche killed 16 of their comrades.
Suber Shrestha, a government liaison for the tourism ministry,
estimated that eight foreign climbing teams had canceled their
expeditions by Thursday evening.
Among those remaining, he said, "most of them are in the mood to
quit."
Lakpa Sherpa, the head Sherpa guide at Alpine Ascents
International, a Seattle-based tour operator, said guides on his
team are only staying to pack up their gear and dismantle their
camps.
Almost 40 expedition teams had been preparing to go up Mount
Everest this season.
There is a "mass exodus under way," said Brooks Entwistle, a
retired partner at Goldman Sachs whose team decided to cancel its
climb earlier this week.
In a statement Thursday, Nepal's tourism ministry urged all
expeditions to proceed as planned, following a meeting between
government officials, Sherpa guides and tour operators at Everest
base camp.
Several foreign-run tour operators were still meeting Thursday
evening to decide whether to restart their own climbing
activities.
Hoping to lure back tour companies that have canceled their
trips, the tourism ministry said it would extend the validity of
this season's climbing permits for five years.
Nepal's government usually charges between $25,000 and $150,000
per team for the permits.
After a majority of Sherpa guides decided to halt the climbing
season, tourism minister Bhim Acharya flew to Everest base camp on
Thursday from Katmandu, Nepal's capital, for some face-to-face
diplomacy.
During Mr. Acharya's visit, according to people present, an
avalanche occurred on the same slope as last week's deadly
avalanche, reinforcing safety concerns about the route up the
mountain.
Nobody was on the mountain at the time. But the new avalanche
reinforced concerns about this season's route up the mountain,
which climbers and government officials said is already too late to
change.
"We are ready to go to any extent to facilitate the
expeditions," said Maddhu Sudan Burlakoti, joint secretary of the
tourism ministry, who accompanied Mr. Acharya to Everest base camp
on Thursday. "We are even ready to allow helicopters to fly to Camp
One," he said, referring to the first campsite after the dangerous
stretch of shifting glacier ice where the guides were killed last
week.
Write to Krishna Pokharel at krishna.pokharel@wsj.com
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