Nepal will cancel climbing expeditions to the Everest this year, a government official said Saturday, citing damage to the route used to reach the world's highest peak during the massive earthquake last month, according to dpa. "Aftershocks are still ongoing. It is too dangerous up there," said Tulsi Gautam, the head of the Tourism Department. The government will make an official announcement on the matter after it reaches a decision on the fees paid by mountaineering companies, Gautam told dpa. Avalanches triggered by the 7.8-magnitude earthquake severely damaged the climbing route, according to the Sagarmatha Pollution Control Committee (SPCC), a non-government group that is responsible for preparing the route. An avalanche that hit the base camp killed 19 mountaineers, including foreigners, who were setting up for climbing, and swept away the route prepared in March. The climbing season was also cancelled last year after an avalanche killed 16 Sherpa guides. A team of icefall doctors, who prepare the route by fixing ropes and aluminum ladders for the summiteers ahead of each climbing season, went to build the route for the second time this season, and concluded they could not fix it in time for the ascent. The route, regarded as one of the most challenging due to falling snow and shifting ice, is located in the world's highest glacier, between the Everest base camp and Camp II, which is 6,500 metres above sea level. It is full of deep crevasses and huge ice towers. Most of the climbers have already called off their expeditions. Some 350 climbers were to scale Everest this season, according to the Tourism Department.
