Climber Nick Cienski has not given up on his world record bid to scale six 8,000-meter peaks this calendar year, despite narrowly escaping a huge avalanche on Mount Everest on Saturday set off by an earthquake that killed thousands of people in Nepal.
The avalanche unleashed by the 7.9-magnitude quake blew tents, people and gear hundreds of feet, only just missing his team, the Canadian said on Monday by satellite telephone from base camp.
A day after helping to recover the bodies of 12 of at least 17 avalanche victims, Cienski agonized over whether to continue his quest in the poor Himalayan nation struck by a greater tragedy. More than 3,700 people have died.