Sherpas threaten Everest boycott as 3 more feared dead

Tensions mounted at the Mount Everest base camp today as frustrated mountaineers who have paid tens of thousands of dollars to climb the world's highest peak faced disappointment due to a strike threat by Sherpa guides.

The Nepali climbing guides said on Monday that they are considering a climbing boycott after 13 Sherpas were killed and another three presumed dead after a devastating avalanche on Friday - the most deadly accident ever on the 8,848-metre (29,029-foot) mountain.

Such a boycott could seriously disrupt the rest of the climbing season to Everest, which over the years has almost become a tourist spot.

The guides have asked for a pause in expeditions as a mark of respect for their fallen colleagues, and have threatened to cancel all climbing on Mount Everest from this month onwards unless the government revises their insurance limits and sets up a welfare fund.

Several Sherpas already have quit while others are still deciding whether to boycott climbing, Ang Tshering of the Nepal Mountaineering Association told AFP.

The disaster occurred when a block of ice tore loose from the mountain and triggered an avalanche that ripped through teams of guides hauling gear.

"After losing so many of our brothers and friends it is just not possible for many of them to continue," said Pasang Sherpa, who was not among those caught in the avalanche. "So many of us are scared, our family members are scared and asking us to return."

In the wake of the avalanche, the Sherpas have expressed anger that there has not been a bigger response from Nepal's government, which profits from the permit fees charged to the climbing expeditions.

The government has announced an emergency aid of 40,000 Nepali rupees ($415) for the families of the deceased climbers.

On Monday, deputy prime minister Prakash Man Singh said the government is working to help the Sherpas.

"It is not true the government does not care," he said. "We have been working with rescue from the very beginning. We will do what we can, keeping with the standard practice to provide compensation. "

Tshering said there were about 400 foreign climbers from 39 expedition teams on the mountain and an equal number of Sherpa guides, along with many more support staff such as cooks, cleaners and porters in the base camp.

Maddhu Sunan Burlakoti, head of the Nepalese government's mountaineering department, said he has not been told of any cancellations by expedition teams. But without the guides, it would be almost impossible for the expedition teams to continue.

More than 4,000 climbers have reached the top of Everest since 1953, when the mountain was first officially climbed by New Zealander Sir Edmund Hillary and Sherpa Tenzing Norgay.