A California man thanked God after narrowly avoiding possible death on Mount Everest last weekend.

Scott Holder of Santa Rosa travelled to Everest but caught a head cold. His illness caused him to return to base camp instead of proceeding up the mountain. 

"At the end of the day, God gave me a cold for a reason," he told NBC Bay Area by phone from Kathmandu, Nepal. 

At least 17 of Holder's fellow climbers and guides died on the mountain on Saturday. Video footage shows some of them scrambling for cover as an avalanche barrelled toward them.

The landslide of snow and ice was triggered by a 7.8-magnitude earthquake northwest of Nepal's capital. 

Holder felt the shocks from base camp. 

"It was traumatic," he said of the earthquake, which lasted 42 seconds. "No one knows how to act in an earthquake, but the locals were panicked. It was pandemonium."

Four Americans were killed near Everest, including Google X executive Dan Fredinburg. The 33-year-old  was on the Google Adventure Team, which maps exotic locations. His climb also raised money for two Nepali orphanages through Orphangift.

Fredinburg's sister, Megan, maintains Fredinburg's social media accounts, and shared photos of his climb and a thank you to the family's supporters. 

"We appreciate all of the love that has been sent our way thus far and know his soul and his spirit will live on in so many of us," she wrote on Instagram.

"All our love and thanks to those who shared this life with our favorite hilarious strong willed man. He was and is everything to us."

Thousands more are dead after buildings and homes collapsed near Nepal, and more are expected to be found as searchers dig through the rubble.

Holder will help the Red Cross in Nepal before returning to California later this week. 

"I just want to hug my wife and hug my kids," he said.