2014 Mount Everest ice avalanche
On 18 April 2014, seracs on the western spur of Mount Everest failed, resulting in an ice avalanche that killed sixteen climbing Sherpas in the Khumbu Icefall. This was the same icefall where the 1970 Mount Everest disaster had taken place. Thirteen bodies were recovered within two days, while the remaining three were never recovered due to the great danger in attempting such an expedition. Many Sherpas were angered by what they saw as the Nepalese government's meager offer of compensation to victims' families, and threatened a protest or strike. On 22 April, the Sherpas announced they would not work on Everest for the remainder of 2014 as a mark of respect for the victims.
The Khumbu Icefall in 2005. The ice avalanche came from a serac fall from an ice bulge on Mount Everest's western shoulder (centre left), above the icefall.
Khumbu Icefall, Everest West Shoulder and Mount Everest as seen from Kala Patthar
Khumbu Glacier + Khumbu Icefall + Mount Everest
Jon Krakauer is an American writer and mountaineer. He is the author of bestselling non-fiction books—Into the Wild; Into Thin Air; Under the Banner of Heaven; and Where Men Win Glory: The Odyssey of Pat Tillman—as well as numerous magazine articles. He was a member of an ill-fated expedition to summit Mount Everest in 1996, one of the deadliest disasters in the history of climbing Everest.
Krakauer, 2009
Krakauer in 2009