RAMSBOTTOM mountaineer Melanie Southworth is returning home after a traumatic few weeks which saw her survive a devastating Everest avalanche and a second earthquake in Nepal.

As reported in last week's Bury Times, 47-year-old Melanie was an hour's walk south of Everest base camp last month when the avalanche, triggered by the earthquake, struck. She eventually made her way to Kathmandu where she was caught up in the second earthquake on May 12.

She said: "As the ground began to shake and I ran out into the open, staying well away from poorly-constructed neighbouring buildings, the ground really began to roll and the magnificent, purple Jacaranda trees that are flowering here at the moment, began to sway menacingly, sending birds wheeling up into the air.

"It is the most surreal feeling imaginable being in an earthquake — a combination of feeling like you’re suffering from vertigo and about to faint, and being on a ship at sea.

"As we swayed from side to side, traffic ground to a halt and people leapt off their scooters before standing around looking bewildered. How could this be happening…again?

"Many Nepalis around me cried with fear and exasperation. The people here have had enough and wonder when this is all going to end."

Disclosing that later, she had to endure a series of aftershocks, Melanie continued: " I decided it was time to flee Kathmandu before I either get myself killed or risk having my family kill me for staying on so long.

"It will be very hard to leave here, especially in light of the fact that the people of Nepal will have a mountain far more challenging to climb than something as insignificant-seeming now as Mount Everest."

The tragedies mean that for the second successive year, Melanie was forced to postpone her assault on the world's highest peak.