Everest climbers wait at base camp

Climber Nick Cienski has not given up on his world record bid to scale six 8,000m peaks this calendar year, despite narrowly escaping a huge avalanche on Mount Everest set off by an earthquake that killed thousands of people.

The avalanche unleashed by the 7.9 magnitude quake on Saturday blew tents, people, and gear hundreds of metres, only just missing his team, the Canadian said by satellite telephone from base camp.

A day after helping to recover the bodies of 12 of at least 17 avalanche victims, Cienski agonised over whether to continue his quest in the poor Himalayan nation struck by a greater tragedy. More than 4,000 people have died.