Washington-based teams report in after Nepal quake

Several Washington state-based mountain-guiding companies reported their teams had checked in OK after a massive earthquake in Nepal sent an avalanche sweeping into a mountaineering base camp on Mount Everest, but at least one said it has not accounted for all staff.

About a half-dozen Washington outfits – including Alpine Ascents, International Mountain Guides and Rainier Mountaineering Inc. – had expeditions on or near Mount Everest when the earthquake struck Saturday.

By Saturday afternoon, most reported everyone in their parties was safe. But Seattle-based Madison Mountaineering said that while it had contact with its group of about a dozen climbers in a camp high above the base camp, it had not heard from staff who stayed behind in the camp where the avalanche struck.

“We don’t have everyone accounted for,” Madison co-founder Kurt Hunter said. “We have our fingers crossed.”

Associated Press