UPDATE: Frederic Giasson's parents confirm he has called them and is safe.
A Montreal couple is trying to keep their hopes alive after not receiving news from their son in Nepal since the earthquake.
Frederic Giasson has not contacted his parents since April 5, when he embarked on a trek around Everest. He was scheduled to end his trek and return to Canada this coming weekend.
“He's very resourceful and he's not timid so I’m sure if he sees someone with a phone he's going to ask and take it and give us some news,” his mother Stephanie Gauthier told CTV Montreal.
Frederic had warned his parents that he would be out of touch for several weeks due to the remote area he was traveling in but the silence is becoming unbearable.
“I don't want to be overwhelmed with emotion. I want to stay cool and be rational as much as possible," said Antoine Giasson, the young man's father.
The couple plans to go to Nepal to search for their son if they do not get news within a week.
In a pair of other instances, Quebecers emerged unscathed from the quake.
Quebec City physicians Marie-Kristelle Ross and Rob Casserley were at Everest when the earthquake rumbled.
The woman's father Gilles Ross spoke to his daughter following the quake and heard a vivid description of the disaster.
"She said to me, 'Dad we were really anxious and really scared when this thing started to shake and we saw the avalanche coming towards us,'" said Ross. Their departure will be complicated by the earthquake as the Lukla Airport has been overrun by traffic, Ross notes.
In a third instance Montreal climber Nic Dumesnil, 29, has emerged safe and sound after surviving the quake on Everest.
