Mountain expeditions now are "a little bit dangerous," as the aftershocks continue and nobody knows exactly if there are any cracks inside the mountains, Santa Bir Lama, first vice president of the Nepal Mountaineering Association, told Xinhua on Friday.

Lama said that after the earthquake took place there are approximately 700 to 800 people in the base camps including the local guides. Now about 80 percent of them have already moved down from the mountains. "Climbers are worried and the guides are not in their mood now, because many of them lost their family members and houses during the earthquake." Lama said.

All eyes are watching if the government will cancel climbing expeditions this year. Among the climbers who have moved down from the mountains, many are still watching and considering a return.

As the best two weeks for climbing the Qomolangma starting from May 15 to May 29 are drawing near, Lama said the government still hesitates whether to cancel the expeditions which have brought a lot of income for the country.

According to Lama, the earthquake has caused a "very big problem" for tourism in Nepal as the government has to reconstruct the roads and bridges in the mountain area and re-identify the safety and danger levels in the existing climbing and tracking routes.

Besides, Lama is not sure whether the tourists will return to Nepal next year after the two consecutive snowslides in two years because expeditions take a long time to prepare.

Shortly after the earthquake struck, the Chinese government canceled the climbing from the northern slope to the mountain. Endi

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