N.J. Man Home Safe After Surviving Nepal Earthquake At Mount Everest Base Camp

MENDHAM, N.J. (CBSNewYork) -- A New Jersey man was back home Wednesday, after experiencing the earthquake that struck Nepal last weekend.

CBS2's Meg Baker spoke with the man, Mariusz Malkowski, about his terrifying experience on Mount Everest.

Malkowski, of Mendham, has felt the earth shake beneath him before, but not like this past weekend.

"I knew exactly what was happening, but nobody was expecting that the avalanche would come next and take half of the base camp with it, so it was pretty scary," he said.

Malkowski was about to make his first attempt to scale the earth's highest mountain. He was at the base camp of Mount Everest the minute the devastating earthquake hit.

"A moment like that, what you do is you go for cover, which I did. I went behind my tent and was hoping that everything passes by and nothing happens to me," Malkowski said.

Malkowski documented his experience on video. He described a suffocating ordeal, with a minute of high winds blowing snow every which way.

"All the instincts kick in: 'Are you OK?' 'Yes, we are OK,'" he said. "So then we started helping people."

With 25 years of climbing experience, Malkowski acted quickly. He was able to call for help using a satellite phone, which had a reminder of home on it in the form of a picture of his 8-year-old son.

"Forty-eight hours ago, I was on the glacier. Right now, I'm here, so I'm very thankful for being alive," Malkowski said.

Helicopters could not reach the camp until conditions cleared. In the meantime, Malkowski went on a search and rescue mission for others.

"There is nothing that can prepare you for it, to just hope that the avalanche passes by and you will be still alive," he said.

Malkowski arrived home to Mendham on Tuesday.

As to whether he would go back, Malkowski said: "That's a tough question. Yeah, I will come back. I've been climbing for so many years, and there were accidents. But I'll probably come back."

Malkowski said he was a lucky one. It was estimated that 25 others at his camp died in the disaster.