Mount Everest’s climbing season looks to have been saved.
It follows reports of successful talks between government officials in Nepal and sherpas, still reeling after 16 colleagues died in an avalanche.
Demanding compensation for victims’ families and better conditions, many halted work to mourn their lost comrades and threatened to stop guiding visitors this season on the world’s highest peak.
Feelings are running high after the events of last Friday – the deadliest accident in a single day in Everest’s history.
Three of the 16 Sherpas are still missing after the avalanche struck as they were fixing ropes and carving out a route for foreign climbers.
Amid safety concerns and faced with a potential boycott by sherpas, several overseas climbing expeditions called off their attempts to scale Everest in the wake of the disaster.
Nepal’s government, accused of taking hefty fees for climbing permits but doing little for the guides themselves, agreed to some of the sherpas’ demands earlier this week.