Newlyweds tell of frantic dash before wall of snow

Alex Schneider and Sam Chappatte had to run for their lives on Everest.

A newlywed British couple ran for their lives and clung desperately to ice axes rammed into the ground to survive a terrifying wall of snow on Everest after the Nepal earthquake.

Alex Schneider and Sam Chappatte, both 28, said they were on a dream hike up the world's biggest mountain when the ground began shaking violently and their guide screamed, "Get out of your f****** tents, grab your ice axes."

The Londoners said they saw an "avalanche coming straight at us" and were blown over by a blast of wind.

They managed to scramble to shelter behind other tents as they watched one friend "pivoting" on his axe, and had to keep making air holes in the snow to breathe as the avalanche engulfed them.

Writing on their blog a few hours after the devastation, Schneider and Chappatte said Saturday was "very, very scary". Their part of the original Base Camp had been flattened.

The drama was one of many incredible stories of survival that emerged yesterday after the devastating earthquake and avalanche.

Nine Greek climbers whose Sherpa guide stole from them in Kathmandu told of their lucky escape after heading home from Nepal the day before the avalanche.

"We arrived in Kathmandu last week and there we discovered that our Sherpa had disappeared with the money we had given him," one of the climbers told Nerit, Greek public TV.

"In the end we were lucky, but we have friends at the [Everest] camps who are living through very difficult moments," he added.

A Northampton archaeologist and her friend survived an "apocalyptic nightmare" when the village they had been in two hours earlier was flattened. Dr Hayley Saul, 32, was said to be "absolutely terrified".

Her sister, Emma Price, 24, said: "They had to trek another five or six hours to get to the next village. Huge boulders were falling and following them."

- AFP