The Sherpas killed in Friday’s avalanche — 13 bodies were retrieved, and three remain missing — were crossing the Khumbu Icefall, a notoriously dangerous ice field. Foreign climbers keep their time on this section to a strict minimum, but Sherpas cross it many times a season, ferrying gear up from one camp to another. It was the largest single-day loss in Mount Everest’s history, and an unprecedented blow for the Sherpas.

Nepalese authorities infuriated many of the Sherpas by offering 40,000 rupees, or about $410, as compensation to the families of the dead. Tempers flared on Monday when a group of Sherpas marched in a procession with the bodies of six of the dead, said Mukunda Bista of the Nepal Youth Foundation.

“When it ended in the middle of town, they were very, very angry with the government,” Mr. Bista, who is based in Katmandu, said in a telephone interview. “This time, it really is a crucial moment. If the government is not taking it seriously, there might be more agitation and fighting.”

By Sunday night, some of the Sherpa guides at the base camp were advocating canceling the rest of the season’s expeditions on Mount Everest, confronting international climbers with the prospect of abandoning plans that had cost them tens of thousands of dollars and had been years in the making. Many, in their initial comments on social media, were sympathetic to the Sherpas.

“We clients, Western climbers, are here by choice,” Isaiah Janzen, an engineer from Iowa, wrote on his blog. “We pay to come here and test ourselves. The Sherpas, the people that carry our loads, set up our tents, cook for us, set up the ropes on the mountain, they are here because they are paid 10-15 times the average annual Nepali salary to do this for two months.”

He added, “I would still like to climb this mountain, but there are things at stake more important than my selfish, arrogant and egotistical summit ambitions.”

But various people at the camp, both foreigners and Nepalese guides, said tensions were growing as the prospect of abandoning the ascent became real.