Tributes have been paid to an Irish mountaineer who died after his climbing team was caught in bad weather on the southern Russian peak of Mount Elbrus, Europe’s highest mountain.

“Too many people, too few summit windows, too many inexperienced people climbing and inadequate support” are at the heart of the high number of fatalities on Everest this season.

Around 100 Irish people in Nepal were affected by the devastating 7.8 magnitude earthquake that ravaged the region at the weekend.

The Irish Seven Summits team has had to abandon its latest assault on the world’s highest mountain following the decision by Sherpas to withdraw their services following a spate of recent deaths.

Longford man Paul Devaney caught the mountaineering bug by accident on a holiday trek to see Mount Everest in 2005. Nine years later he is back in its shadows but this time preparing to climb the highest peak on the planet as part of the seventh and final leg of an amazing journey around the world’s most challenging mountains.