Six Cromwell teenagers who planned to travel to Nepal on Friday have postponed but not ruled out their expedition.
A meeting was held yesterday with the teenagers and their parents in the wake of the Nepalese earthquake, but more information was needed before a final decision was made about the future of the trip, team leader Kim Logan, of Cromwell, said.
The group has been training and fundraising for seven months for the trek in the Himalayas, to be led by Mr Logan, who is a veteran climber.
Four Cromwell College pupils and two other Cromwell teenagers who attend boarding school in Dunedin make up the group, along with six adults, including Mr Logan.
The trip was to follow in the footsteps of a similar expedition in 2013, which involved nine Cromwell College pupils who trekked to Mt Everest base camp.
The 2015 journey, like the earlier one, would be the ''trip of a lifetime'' and a huge learning curve for those who took part, Mr Logan said.
The group planned to visit the village of Phortse and raise funds for Phortse school.
''I'm waiting to hear back from my people in Nepal and we'll need to weigh up all the options, with safety of our group being paramount, of course,'' Mr Logan said yesterday.
The timing of the trip was crucial, as spring was the best time to trek in the Himalayas. The area the group would be trekking in appeared so far to be unscathed by the earthquakes but, of course, the group's stay was also dependent on the infrastructure being able to support them.
''Obviously, we need to gather all the facts before making a decision about a further delay or cancelling the trip, but ironically, if we have to cancel, it will be to the detriment of Nepal, as the people there desperately need money from tourism,'' Mr Logan said.
The situation would be reassessed in a fortnight.
