Following deadly Nepal quake and avalanche, climbers say Everest season is over

Mountain guides and climbers stand beside camping and climbing gear gathered together after an avalanche hit the area, at Everest Base Camp, Nepal, Tuesday, April 28, 2015. Saturday's quake unleashed an avalanche that buried part of the base camp packed with foreign climbers preparing for summit attempts. (AP Photo/Nima Namgyal Sherpa) (The Associated Press)

People gather camping and climbing equipment that was earlier strewn about after an avalanche hit the area on Saturday at Everest Base Camp, Nepal, Tuesday, April 28, 2015. An avalanche on Saturday, set off by the massive earthquake that struck Nepal, left more than a dozen people dead and dozens more injured. (AP Photo/Nima Namgyal Sherpa) (The Associated Press)

Shoes and camping gear lie strewn about after an avalanche hit the area on Saturday at Everest Base Camp, Nepal, Tuesday, April 28, 2015. An avalanche on Saturday, set off by the massive earthquake that struck Nepal, left more than a dozen people dead and dozens more injured. (AP Photo/Nima Namgyal Sherpa) (The Associated Press)

Guiding companies say all climbers on the Nepal side of Mount Everest have left the mountain and the climbing season is over following a deadly avalanche that swept through base camp following the huge earthquake in Nepal.

Gordon Janow is director of programs at Seattle-based Alpine Ascents International. He says most Everest summits occur between May 10 and 20, so it's too late to think about trying to go back up the mountain before monsoon season.

The huge avalanche on Everest that killed 18 and injured dozens happened after Saturday's magnitude 7.8 earthquake killed more than 4,000 people in the Himalayan nation.

Every year hundreds of people attempt to scale the world's tallest mountain, with many paying tens of thousands of dollars to guide companies that attempt to get them to the 29,029-foot summit.

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