Ankur Bahl, a New Delhi shipping industry specialist, was ascending Mount Everest as part of a quest to climb the world's tallest peaks when a devastating earthquake in Nepal stranded him about 21,000 feet above sea level.
Now Bahl, 54, is stuck at Camp 2, about halfway up the mountain, after the path down was blocked following avalanches, according to his wife Sangeeta, who's trying to arrange for a helicopter evacuation. About 120 other climbers are either in Camp 1 or Camp 2 and can't get back to base camp, she said.
Failure to evacuate the remaining climbers could add to the death toll on Everest, where at least 19 people, including a Google Inc. executive have already died after Saturday's earthquake. Many of those killed were at base camp, which was heavily damaged by boulders, snow and blocks of ice.