The last few days have seen a flurry of reports out of Nepal with updates on the avalanche (or serac fall, depending on what you read) that has killed a number of Sherpas (12 as of now) and injured more. The hundreds of climbers attempting Everest this season had just arrived, or were arriving very soon, at Everest Base Camp (Camp). The sherpas that were killed were the advance teams that work their way up the mountain putting in fixed lines that the clients will then use to make their way up the mountain. The incident occurred below Camp 1, not only killing a number of the Sherpas working but also wiping out the fixed lines and ladders/bridges that had already been built.

There’s been a significant amount of quality reporting already, I highly recommend (as I’ve done in the past) Alan Arnette’s blog: http://www.alanarnette.com/blog/everest/2014-coverage/

Plus this story from Nat Geo is fascinating as it focuses on the tragedy’s effect on the Sherpa culture.