On April 25, 2015, a magnitude 7.9 earthquake swept the Nepalese capital of Kathmandu. Some one hundred miles away, at a Mount Everest base camp, a record-breaking avalanche of snow caused by aftershocks of the earthquake, destroyed many tents and many lives.

Among the lives destroyed was that of the friends and family of Tom Taplin. Tom, an avid mountain climber, had made the long trek half way across the world with his best friend, Eric Poppleton. After climbing Everest, Poppleton parted ways with Taplin and went to the airport in Kathmandu. While waiting for his flight home, the earthquake struck. After moving to a nearby hotel for safety, Eric attempted to contact Tom to let him know that he was okay, and to ask him how things are going at base camp. Tom did not respond; as Eric later found out from Tom’s wife, the avalanche had smothered him.

Eric did not leave Nepal that day. He went back to the base camp despite the danger, determined to bring his friend back to the United States so his family had ashes to scatter. After a traditional funeral conducted by Buddhist monks on Mount Everest, Eric left Nepal with his friend.

At base camp, at least seventeen people were killed and sixty-one were injured. The closest camp to the summit of Mount Everest, Camp 4, confirmed about 100 climbers as safe. Unfortunately, those at Camp 4 have been unable to make the trek back down to the ground, due to the damage to the route that would take them through the Khumbu icefall. Climbers at Camp 1 are making the effort to rebuild so those stranded at Camp 4 can make a safe journey down.

Of the avalanche, one of the most experienced climbers has said the devastating avalanche crushed one of his fellow hikers to death. The camp, he said had been left looking “like it had been flattened by a bomb”. Other hikers are understandably shaken after the loss of their companions. Rescue efforts are still being made.