A huge avalanche carved off the West Ridge of Everest yesterday, destroying most of camp 1 at the top of the Khumbu Icefall. Luckily, there were few teams in camp 1 as at this stage in the season, as the camp is used mostly as a cache for climbers moving between base camp and camp 2 at the head of the Western Cwm. So far, there are no known fatalities, though a Sherpa is reported to be in a critical condition and American, Polish and Canadian climbers have been injured.