Australian mountaineer Mark Jones had come to Nepal for the first time with his eyes set on the summit of Mount Everest, but even though the earthquake prevented him from realising his dream he considers himself "extremely lucky" just to be alive.
On April 25, 31-year-old Jones may not have begun his ascent to the world's highest peak, but ended up helping fellow climbers injured in the quake-triggered avalanche, an experience that has left him equally overwhelmed.
On the fateful day, Sydney-resident Darren Radcliffe, 40, along with his wife and two friends, who had come to the Himalayan nation to climb Mount Manaslu, were caught in the thick of the catastrophe in a village lodge in Gorkha district, the epicentre of the deadly temblor, and had to be later rescued by helicopters.
The five Australians flew back home late last night feeling "extremely lucky" and with a great deal of empathy for the people of Nepal, devastated by the disaster, its worst in over 80 years.
Nearly 60 foreigners, including 41 Indians, have been killed and the overall death toll in the quake has risen to nearly 7,700 with another 14,536 injured.
"We came to Kathmandu on March 31. We had a group, with members drawn from New Zealand, the US, Poland, Guatemala, Lithuania, among others. On April 25, we were down in the valley before the Base Camp.
"And, the ground started shaking and I saw the cloud of snow up there. We realised it was an earthquake. People were injured due to its impact, and therefore we started carrying them down to safer places," Jones told PTI.
According to tourism ministry officials here, at least 1,000 climbers, including about 400 foreigners, were at the Everest Base Camp when the quake struck killing at least 22 climbers while 217 others are missing, in the worst-ever tragedy on the 8,848-metre high mountain.
Jones, when asked if he was scared to witness nature's fury, the intrepid adventurer said there was no time to be scared.
"Our satellite phones did not work and by next day we were able to contact family. My family was relieved but I just wanted to still climb it. And, I know, I would have, had it still been open," he said.
When enquired, he added that he spent, "USD 40,000 on the expedition".
While, Jones showed nerves of steel, Darren and his wife and friends were "extremely scared".
