Quebec couple were stranded on Mt. Everest by earthquake

A Quebec couple that was stranded on Mt. Everest by earthquake-triggered avalanches is doing well, and doing their best to help others.

Marie-Kristelle Ross and her husband Rob Casserley were stranded 6,000 m above sea-level when several avalanches roared down the mountain on Saturday.

They have since managed to make it out of Camp 1 and down to the Base Camp, located about 5,400 m above sea-level.

Ross was able to speak to her parents over the weekend on a satellite phone and tell her father Gilles that she and her husband were fine.

"We were starting to worry a little bit. More than a little bit I would say because we knew that the avalanche and the notes that the camp one was swept and wiped out by three avalanches at the same time, hitting from the three different faces of the mountain," said Ross.

"She said to me that 'Dad we were really, really, really anxious of what could be happening and were really scared when this thing start to shake and we saw the avalanche coming up towards us.'"

Ross is a cardiologist in Levis, and Casserley is a general practitioner in the Quebec City region.

This was his ninth attempt to climb Mt. Everest and Ross' second try. They were both climbing the mountain last year when an avalanche struck and killed 16 sherpas.

This weekend's 7.8 magnitude earthquake and its aftershocks have killed more than 4,000 people in Nepal.

The Quebec government is donating $50,000 to relief efforts.