Joby Ogwyn jump cancelled as Nepal considers halting all expeditions for rest of year after death of 13 Sherpas on Friday

A jump off the top of Everest by an American wearing a wingsuit has been cancelled following the avalanche that killed 13 people on Friday, the company planning to televise the event has said.

The Discovery channel had hoped for big ratings for the stunt by Joby Ogwyn, and had scheduled several hours of coverage in the runup to the jump, as well as worldwide live coverage on the day.

Discovery Network spokeswoman Laurie Goldberg said on Sunday the jump would not go ahead and that the network's thoughts and prayers went out to the Sherpa guides who were the victims of the avalanche.

Ogwyn was already at Everest in advance of the jump, which was scheduled to be televised live on 11 May.

Earlier he had said he would be going ahead with the jump. "Today is a brighter day," he wrote in a Facebook post on Sunday morning. "We are staying on the mountain to honour our friends and complete our project … We must honour them and take care of our friends and their families. This project had become much bigger now."

It emerged on Sunday that the Nepalese government was considering cancelling all expeditions to the summit of Everest for the rest of the year.

The bodies of 13 local Sherpa guides have been pulled from the snow and another three are thought to be still buried in Friday's avalanche, the worst single accident in the mountain's history.

Another nine were rescued alive from the avalanche, which hit the group of Sherpas as they hauled gear up the mountain for international climbers who were waiting at Everest base camp below.

The avalanche has raised concerns in Nepal about the scale of the climbing business and the dangers to the Sherpa guides. This year, 334 climbers from around the world were given permits, each costing $10,000 (£5,958), to climb Everest. Filming permits and other fees bring in more money to the government in Kathmandu. If the expeditions are cancelled the government will have to refund the fees.

"This is an unprecedented situation," tourism ministry spokesman Madhu Sudan Burlakoti told journalists. "We do not know what to do if they want their tax back. We will hold further discussions before deciding anything on this issue."

Sherpas have also been angered by the government offering families of the victims $400, which will only cover funeral costs.

Expedition leaders, politicians and leading Sherpas have agreed to lobby the government to improve compensation for guides. Sherpas believe they do not get a fair share of climbing royalties when they take a disproportionate amount of the risk and demonstrations are planned before the funerals take place this week.

• The picture caption with this article was amended on 22 April 2014. An earlier version said the picture showed the avalanche that killed at least 13 people on 18 April. In fact it was taken in 2012. The picture has also been removed for copyright reasons.