Americans who were on Mount Everest when it was hit by a deadly avalanche have described the moment the wall of snow and ice hit their camp and the carnage that surrounded them during the aftermath . At least 17 climbers , including three Americans , and many sherpas died as a result of the earthquake that has killed 2,500 people across the Himalayas . Some people managed to survive , but others are still trapped on the mountain waiting to be rescued . Scroll down for video . Jon Reiter , a contractor from Kenwood , California , was attempting his third ascent to the summit when the avalanche hit . He described how he tended for the injured even after doctors told him there is little chance they will survive . Scott Holder , a financial adviser from Santa Rosa , California , and Jon Reiter , a contractor from nearby Kenwood in Sonoma County , were caught up in the deadly avalanche . Reiter , who was making his third attempt at the summit , called is wife Susan by satellite phone , The Press Democrat reported . He described how he was given medicine to give to the injured , but one doctor told him : 'Don ’ t worry , you are just comforting these people . Most of them are not going to survive . ' Saying he had a 'pretty rough day ' Saturday , he added during an interview with CNN that he was forced to zip a dead body into a sleeping bag . She then posted on his blog about what had happened . 'He said that the ground shook for a very long time and that avalanches were happening one right after another on the mountain , ' she wrote . 'We just talked for a minute and he got off the phone because he and his climbing partner Moises are helping with the rescue effort . Jon and Moises do n't have medical training but they are acting as medics because so many people are injured . 'He said that most of base camp was damaged . All the IMG ( International Mountain Guides ) group tents are being used as temporary medical facilities for the injured . ' Jon also spoke to CNN on Sunday , saying : 'We 're feeling pretty lucky today . ' Holder managed to escape the carnage - having to leave the mountain with a severe head cold one day before the earthquake hit . He said : 'God definitely had his hand in my survival . My cold took me out of the danger zone . I guess you could say God gave me a cold . ' Ashleigh Stumler from Charlotte , North Carolina , thought she was getting dizzy as she hiked on Mount Everest , but a guide soon informed her it was an earthquake . She told WSOC that she was forced to hang onto a tree as the earth shook . Ashleigh Stumler from Charlotte , North Carolina , thought she was getting dizzy as she hiked on Mount Everest , but a guide soon informed her it was an earthquake . As she makes her way down from the mountain , she is hoping to help survivors and is gathering contacts in the United States in a bid to raise funds . 'These have been some of the most incredible , strong people I 've ever met in my entire life . Just good people and they are in dire need of help . ' Melissa Arnot , who was set to be only the second woman to climb Everest without oxygen checked in via sattellite phone to say her team was safe on Saturday . Among mountaineers thought to have died in the disaster is 33-year-old Google executive and a former medical student doctor offering care at the site while a filmmaker recording a documentary at the base camp was also killed . American Google executive Dan Fredinburg was the first confirmed fatality on the mountain yesterday . Dr Marisa Eve Girawong , 29 , was also killed when ice and rock crushed the 18,000-foot-altitude base camp where she worked as a medic for Madison Mountaineering . A third American , Tom Taplin , 61 , who owned TET Films & Photography , was making a documentary when the earthquake hit , NBC News reported . His wife Corey Fryer told the station he died 'doing what he loved ' . It is the worst natural disaster Nepal has seen in 81 years , and the highest death toll ever recorded on Everest . Before now , the mountain 's deadliest year was 2014 , when 16 people died in one day . Rescuers help a porter onto a makeshift stretcher after he was injured when the wall of ice and snow hit .
Jon Reiter was attempting his first climb to the summit at the time . Survived the avalanche but then helped to distribute medicine to the hurt . Managed to contact his wife Susan by satellite phone in the aftermath . 18 Americans who were on the mountain at the time were killed . They were among Three mountaineers and many sherpas who perished .