Kenwood man won't attempt Mount Everest climb (w/video)

Reiter, 49, is a contractor who builds custom homes. He has climbed the highest peak on six of the seven continents, and was making his second attempt on Everest. He turned back last year after parts of the climbing route through the treacherous Khumbu icefall collapsed.

"Everest will close this year," Jon Reiter told CNN Wednesday. "I think it's the right thing to do."

He said that international climbers and Sherpas were pretty shaken by the disaster. Reiter and his Sherpa were climbing up to Camp 1 at 19,000 feet when the avalanche hit. His Sherpa pushed him to safety behind some ice blocks.

"It's hard to gather the momentum to get up the mountain at this point," he said. "We're all going to start moving downhill tomorrow."

The Sherpas are demanding more aid from the government of Nepal, which charges mountaineers $11,000 for permits to climb Everest. They want better life insurance and more compensation for the families of those killed. The government's original offer of $408 per family was too low, they said, according to the Associated Press.

International climbers pay upwards of $50,000 to join guided expeditions to the top of Everest. It was unclear whether Reiter would receive a refund from International Mountain Guides, the company that arranged his trip, his wife said.

It was also unclear whether Reiter would return to Everest to climb the peak that has now twice eluded him. Susan Reiter said he may give it another shot.

"He's very driven," she said. "I think he'll keep on trying, at least one more time, to see if he can make it to the top. I would hate it if he had any regrets."

It may take some time and distance from the mountain for Reiter, a father of two boys, to evaluate his climbing goals. The accident still fresh in his mind, he told CNN that he had some doubts about climbing high altitude peaks.

"Everybody up here has reservations," he said. "When you see that helicopter flying from Camp 2 or Camp 1 time after time and it has a cable underneath it and dangling from that cable is a body, you can't help but think that could be me."

(You can reach Staff Writer Matt Brown at 521-5206 or matt.brown@pressdemocrat.com.)