Buddhist rituals were performed to pray for the departed souls. Ang Phula Sherpa, a journalist and mountaineer, told the Post over telephone that all the mountaineers and their assistants on Everest expedition gathered the base camp on Saturday.

Sporadic snowfall in the region has affected climbing for the past one week. No mountaineer could ascend to Camp I even as they were expected to be there by April 11. Climbers have been staying at the base camp as avalanches are triggered in Khumbu Icefall due to snowfall. “As many as 80 climbers attempted to move to Camp I on Thursday but they could not,” said Sherpa.

Icefall doctors associated with the Sagarmatha Pollution Control Committee (SPCC) are making efforts to clear the way. Climbers said they would set off for Camp I on Sunday if weather improves.

Meanwhile, a meeting of the SPCC and expedition teams on Saturday decided not to allow any climber and porter to carry more than 18kg weight through Khumbu Icefall. The decision came as a new route was prepared by installing ladders. About 600 mountaineers, including foreigners, are said to be staying at the base camp.

A separate event was organised on the Nepal Mountaineering Association (NMA) premises in Kathmandu to mark the first anniversary of the avalanche.

Tulasi Prasad Gautam, director general of the Department of Tourism, said the government had made safety a top priority, learning from its failures in the past to ensure the safety of climbers.

He said the government had provided Rs500,000 to the family of each victim while the NMA had taken initiatives to provide scholarships to the orphaned children. Officials are also preparing to install early warning system in the Everest region to inform about weather.