Khumba ice falls claims a life

In the last update I said how pleased I was with my trip up the mountain and also how relieved I was to get through the Ice Fall in one piece. The pictures that I attached to that blog of the avalanche were taken just inside the ice fall but thankfully I was far enough away for it not to affect me. Half an hour earlier and it might have been a different story. Unfortunately, around 10:00am yesterday the same part of the Serac collapsed again, this time about twice as big. We immeadiately got on the radios to our collegues who were coming down from camp 2 and were pleased to learn that they were all out of the ice fall and walking back through BC. Due to the size of the fall they did get covered in a thin layer of ice but nothing else. Within minutes however it became clear that others were not so lucky. Obviously the exact events of those few seconds are unclear but the result was a guide and a client had been swept into a crevasse, the client on top of the guide. both were rescued after about an hour. The client was shaken but essentially OK, the guide was unconscious when extracted but recovered and was able to walk by the time they got him to BC. The terrible news was that a Sherpa was also swept into a crevasse and only his rucksack and one boot has been found. It is very sad that Everest has already claimed its first victim and the real climbing has barely began. Russ held a collection today for his family and has taken the money up to the camp where he worked - i hope other camps have done the same! It makes the money that i have raised through sponsorship seem very worthwhile now and I am gratefull to all those who gave so generously.