Who Was On Everest During The Nepal Earthquake?

A total of 18 people were found dead on Mount Everest as a result of an avalanche triggered by Saturday’s earthquake, including Google executive Dan Fredinburg. Given that there were at least 1,000 climbers at the base camp or on Everest when the earthquake struck, officials from Nepal’s tourism ministry told Reuters that they expect the death toll from Everest to rise.

Several climbers have tweeted their whereabouts, mentioning there have been injuries and casualties. Megan, Fredinburg's sister, posted on his Instagram account Saturday that he had died of a head injury that morning. Described as “hilarious” and “strong-willed”, Fredinburg, who headed up privacy at Google X, had shared several photos of his expedition on Instagram in the days leading up to the earthquake.

Jagged Globe, the U.K. based adventure company that led the tour that Fredinburg took along with two other Google employees, both injured but in stable condition, issued the following statement on its website:

1847 BST. It is with the greatest sorrow that we report the death of one of our Everest team members, Daniel Fredinburg. Two other team members have non-life threatening injuries, as a result of the avalanche that struck base camp during the earthquake and its aftershocks. They are being looked after in base camp. All Sherpas and other team members are uninjured and are safe in base camp or in Gorak Shep, a nearby cluster of tea houses and lodges.Our thoughts and prayers go out to Dan’s family and friends whilst we pray too for all those who have lost their lives in one of the greatest tragedies ever to hit this Himalayan nation.

Fredinburg was the former boyfriend of Sophia Bush, who wrote on Instagram Sunday:

There are no adequate words. Today I find myself attempting to pick up the pieces of my heart that have broken into such tiny shards, I'll likely never find them all. Today I, and so many of my loved ones, lost an incredible friend. Dan Fredinburg was one-of-a-kind. Fearless. Funny. A dancing robot who liked to ride dinosaurs and chase the sun and envision a better future for the world. His brain knew how to build it. His heart was constantly evolving to push himself to make it so. He was one of my favorite human beings on Earth. He was one of the great loves of my life. He was one of my truest friends. He was an incredible brother, a brilliant engineer, and a damn good man. I'm devastated and simultaneously so deeply grateful to have known and loved him, and to have counted him as one of my tribe. I was so looking forward to our planned download of "all the things" when he got home. I am crushed that I will never hear that story. I am crushed knowing that there are over 1,000 people in Nepal suffering this exact feeling, knowing that they too will never hear another tale about an adventure lived from someone that they love. Disasters like this are often unquantifiable, the enormity is too much to understand. Please remember that each person who is now gone was someone's Dan. Please remember that our time on this Earth is not guaranteed. Please tell those you love that you do. Right now. This very minute. And please send a kiss to the sky for my friend Dan. His energy is so big and so bright, and it's all around us, so put some love toward him today. And then hug your loved ones again.

Many Everest climbers are involved in search and rescue efforts for those missing. Romanian Alex Gavan tweeted that he found many dead in the debris.

Northmen PK, a newsfeed that aggregates Everest-related news, is urging family members of Everest climbers to register with Google People Finder. Teams throughout the Annapurna region, and Camps 1 and 2 are reporting on Twitter that they are safe, but they still have to evacuate.

Daniel Mazur of Summit Climb tweeted that although their icefall route was destroyed, his team was safe.

Twitter user Kiran Kumar S tweeted photos of the base camp. He added that Indian planes had arrived with supplies.

Ghavan, one of Romania’s top climbers, had started on the expedition to climb Mt. Lhose Peak on April 1, according to his website. The expedition was to have taken two months. This was Ghavan’s third attempt to climb Mt. Lhose, the fourth highest mountain in the world. Ghavan ran into obstacles that forced him to abort his first two attempts to climb the mountain as well.

According to a press release on Ghavan’s site:

The first time, during the spring season, Alex had to return to the base camp from 7600m altitude following a lung infection developed while in the base camp. The second time, during the fall season, Alex Găvan and his partner Alexey Bolotov (Russia) had to turn back after reaching 8000m altitude in the final ascent night, due to heavily deteriorating weather.