KATHMANDU: At least one climber was killed and hundreds of other mountaineers were affected by a heavy snowfall in the Everest region over the last two days.

The deceased has been identified as Sergey Samoilov, a Kazakh national, who having been struck by a massive snowfall died on his way back to Camp II from Camp IV Wednesday afternoon, said Surendra Sapkota, the under-secretary at the Ministry of Tourism and Civil Aviation.

According to Ang Tshering Sherpa, former chairman of Nepal Mountaineering Association and owner of Asian Trekking, Samoilov was trapped in an avalanche while he was returning to a safer place after withdrawing his mission to ascend the Everest due to the adverse weather conditions.

Samoilov was a member of the expedition organised by Asian Trekking.

Meanwhile, a Calgary climber Frank Ziebarth, 29, was killed in an avalanche while returning to the base camp after his successful ascent to the summit from the northern Tibetan side.

He died at an altitude of 8,700 metres on May 21, informed Manuel Pizarro, a member of the expedition on Wednesday upon his arrival in the capital after a week-long trekking to the region.

There have been a total of six deaths including three Nepalis in the snowy Everest region this season, Sherpa said, adding that more than a hundred mountaineers who were stranded in the base camp couldn't make their way to destinations on Wednesdy as well.

"The base camp and the surrounding areas have been encrusted with five-foot thick snow in the last two days," Sherpa quoted climbers as saying. The bad weather forced Pemba Dorje Sherpa, 30, and his two younger brothers to abandon their bid to set a world record by spending 24 hours on the summit of Mount Everest. They reached the summit on May 19 but were forced to make their way down, Sherpa added.

A team of Seventh Tenzing-Hillary Everest Marathon is waiting for a favourable weather condition at Gorak Shep to move to base camp, organisers said. Bikram Pandey, MD of HimEx said that the event, which has been recorded in Guinness Book of World Records, would take place on May 29, the 55th anniversary of the conquest of Mt. Everest by Tenzing Sherpa and Edmund Hillary. More than 60 persons including 45 foreigners are taking part in the event, event manager Sushil Bista said.

He also informed that the team would reach the base camp Thursday evening.