With the monsoon about to begin in the Himalayas, shelter is the most urgent need in Nepal, according to mountaineer and Adventure Consultants chief executive Guy Cotter, who is now back in Wanaka.
When he left the earthquake-stricken country two weeks ago, many people were still sheltering under tarpaulins.
''In Kathmandu, the people are very afraid. They're not staying in their houses.
''They're all living under tarpaulins in their gardens or any bit of dirt or flat ground that there is.''
However, tarpaulins would not stand up to heavy monsoon rains, he said.
''They need a lot of shelter.''
Mr Cotter was with a 31-member party at camp one on Mt Everest, a day's climb above base-camp, when the first earthquake struck on April 25.
''A lot of avalanches came down around us but nothing hit us.''
His party, and 70 others on the mountain, were unable to descend because of aftershocks and the instability of the route down.
''It was extremely frustrating for us ... not being in a position to get down to help.''
When they were helicoptered off the mountain they found base-camp ''obliterated'' by an avalanche.
The avalanche killed five of the company's Sherpas and injured nine more, Mr Cotter said.
''The power of the earthquake shook the whole side of one of the mountains off.
''It was incredibly devastating to come down and just see the whole lot gone and know the injury and death that had occurred.''
And as the climbers made their way to Kathmandu they found whole villages had been almost demolished, including Khunde and Khumkung, where Sir Edmund Hillary had built his first hospital and school in Nepal.
''We saw the school had some damage but it didn't look like it was too bad, but there are a lot of schools in the region that have been badly damaged.''
Mr Cotter said the longer-term need was to provide Nepal with materials so houses could be rebuilt properly.
''The risk is of course that they are just going to have to rebuild the same sorts of houses in the same way and the next time there's a big earthquake the same thing could happen.''
''But at this stage most of them are too afraid to even consider rebuilding.''
To help Nepal, Adventure Consultants is running a charity screening of the film Beyond the Edge, about Sir Edmund Hillary's Mt Everest conquest, at Cinema Paradiso in Wanaka tomorrow.
