🔗 Share this article

Trekkers have described facing "harsh" situations after an unseasonable blizzard during one of China's most crowded holiday weekends trapped hundreds of people on Mount Everest, sparking a massive rescue operation.

Rescue Operations In Progress

Chinese authorities stated that approximately 350 individuals had descended safely but at least 200 remained stranded at the Everest Scenic Area, located to the east of the mountain, on the Tibet side of the border.

Crowds of visitors had journeyed to the area for "Golden Week," an eight-day festive break in China. However, local officials, who control the Tibetan Autonomous Region, confirmed heavy snowfall had affected the area on Friday and Saturday night, stranding hundreds of individuals at campsites at an altitude of more than 4,900 meters (16,000 feet).

"It was the most extreme conditions I've ever faced in all my trekking experiences, without question," a Chinese trekker stated on Weibo, describing a "violent convective blizzard on the eastern slope" of Everest.

"Glancing upward in the late hours and saw that the accumulation had almost covered the peak," said another trekker on Xiaohongshu. "That was the initial instance I genuinely experienced the terror of being engulfed by snow."

Eyewitness Reports

One Chinese trekker mentioned their group had been "too scared to sleep" on that night as accumulation quickly piled up around their tents, forcing them to clear it hourly. They decided to go down on the next day as the conditions deteriorated.

"During the descent, we met our guide's father who had searched for him. It was then we learned the storm was intense in the valley too; locals, unable to reach their family on the mountain, were deeply concerned."

The north and east side of Everest is more accessible than locations on the neighboring side of the border and attracts high numbers of tourists for less technical trekking, not requiring ascent of the peak.

Online Documentation

Images and footage posted online depicted shelters buried in snow and lines of hikers moving through deep snowbanks to get down the mountain.

"The snow was very deep, and the trail extremely slippery. Trekkers often slipped – some fell, some were jostled by yaks," noted a trekker, who added that everyone made it down and were transported by bus.

Latest Developments

By Sunday afternoon, approximately 350 people had arrived in Qudang, a village roughly 50 kilometers away from the Tibetan base camp of Everest, "in good health," official sources announced.

No fewer than 200 more remained trapped but had been contacted, the updates said. Media outlets stated that hundreds of rescuers had gone up the mountain to help people and remove accumulation from obstructing the way out.

Officials provided little official reporting or updated information about the operation on the following day. Uncertainty remained if the storm had impacted individuals on the north face of Everest, also in Tibet. The region is tightly controlled by the Chinese government, and journalistic access is limited. The weather also seemed to have disrupted local communications, with attempts to contact shops failing. A number of hikers said power was out in Qudang when they reached the town.

Seasonal Context

Autumn is a busy period for the area, with usually calm and pleasant weather, but Chen Geshuang, one of 18 members of a trekking group that returned to Qudang, said that the weather this year was "not normal."

"The guide said he had never encountered conditions like this in October. And it occurred very abruptly."

The local tourism authority announced admissions and access to the Everest Scenic Area were halted from Saturday.

Regional Impact

Neighbouring countries were affected as well by severe conditions. Heavy rains caused mudslides and sudden flooding that have closed routes, destroyed crossings, and killed at least 47 people since the start of the weekend in Nepal.