Deadly Avalanche May End Season on Everest

Hundreds of Everest expeditions planned for this year's climbing season may be delayed or called off in the wake of the mountain's deadliest-ever accident. Sherpa guides angered by the government's offer of just $400 compensation to the families of the 13 Sherpas killed in an avalanche are talking about striking, while others want to close the mountain this year out of respect for the dead. More:

• Some "feel that Everest should be given rest this year while others want to continue," a spokesman for a company that lost six guides in the avalanche tells Reuters. "No decision has been taken yet."

• Some climbers still at base camp are considering abandoning their expeditions, the New York Times finds. One American climber says he hired a guide who saved his life on a previous expedition, and who is now among three Sherpas still missing. "He would never want to talk about it, he said it was part of his job, and now he is under tons and tons of ice and snow and he is not able to come back," says the climber, who spent $100,000 on the expedition but will call it off if the Sherpas decide to strike.
• The search for the three missing Sherpas has been called off. After days of searching, rescuers have found no trace of the men, whom they believe were knocked into crevasses or buried under snow. "It's not possible to find the three missing persons, dead or alive," a spokesman for the rescue operation says.
• The Discovery Channel, meanwhile, says it has called off a planned live jump from the mountain out of respect for the families of the fallen, the Hollywood Reporter finds. "Our thoughts and prayers go out to the whole Sherpa community," the channel said in a statement.

(More Mount Everest stories.)