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Hikers have described facing "extreme" situations after an unexpected blizzard during one of China's busiest festive periods trapped hundreds of people on Mount Everest, triggering a large-scale rescue operation.

Rescue Operations In Progress

Officials in China reported that approximately 350 people had made their way down but at least 200 were still trapped 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, said heavy snowfall had hit the area on Friday and Saturday night, stranding hundreds of people at campsites at an altitude of more than 4,900 meters (16,000 feet).

"This was the harshest conditions I've experienced in all my trekking adventures, without question," Dong Shuchang said on social media, detailing a "violent convective snowstorm on the eastern slope" of Everest.

"Glancing upward in the middle of the night and saw that the snow had almost buried the peak," said a hiker on Xiaohongshu. "That was the first time I truly felt the fear of being engulfed by snow."

Personal Accounts

A hiker from China said their party had been "too scared to sleep" on that night as accumulation quickly piled up around their tents, compelling them to remove it hourly. They decided to descend on the next day as the conditions deteriorated.

"On the way, we met our guide's father who had searched for him. That's when we discovered the snow was heavy in the lowlands as well; locals, unable to contact their family on the mountain, were extremely worried."

The northern and eastern side of Everest is easier to reach than sites on the Nepal side of the border and draws high numbers of visitors for easier hiking, without summiting the peak.

Visual Evidence

Photos and video posted online depicted shelters buried in snow and rows of hikers moving through deep drifts to get down the mountain.

"The snow was extremely thick, and the trail very slick. Hikers stumbled frequently – some fell, some were jostled by pack animals," noted a trekker, who clarified that all safely descended and were transported by bus.

Latest Developments

By Sunday afternoon, approximately 350 individuals had arrived in Qudang, a small town about 30 miles away from the Tibetan starting point of Everest, "in good health," official sources announced.

At least 200 more remained trapped but had been reached, the updates said. Media outlets stated that scores of emergency workers had ascended the mountain to assist those trapped and remove accumulation from obstructing the exit route.

There was little official reporting or new details about the rescue effort on the following day. Uncertainty remained if the weather had impacted individuals on the north face of Everest, within the same region. The area is tightly controlled by the Chinese government, and journalistic access is limited. The conditions also seemed to have disrupted local communications, with calls to local businesses not connecting. Several trekkers said power was out in Qudang when they arrived.

Seasonal Context

October is a peak season for the area, with typically clear and mild weather, but one trekker, one of 18 members of a trekking group that returned to Qudang, commented that the climate this year was "unusual."

"The guide told us he had not experienced conditions like this in the fall. And it occurred all too suddenly."

The local tourism authority said ticket sales and entry to the Everest Scenic Area were halted from the weekend.

Broader Effects

Adjacent nations were affected as well by extreme weather. Torrential downpours caused mudslides and flash floods that have closed routes, washed away bridges, and killed at least 47 people since Friday in the neighboring country.