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Trekkers have recounted encountering "harsh" situations after an unexpected blizzard during one of China's most crowded festive periods stranded hundreds of individuals on Mount Everest, sparking a large-scale rescue operation.

Evacuation Efforts In Progress

Chinese authorities reported that around 350 individuals had descended safely 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.

Large groups of tourists had journeyed to the region for "Golden Week," an eight-day holiday period in China. However, Chinese authorities, who control the Tibetan Autonomous Region, said heavy snowfall had affected the area on Friday and Saturday night, trapping numerous of people at campsites at an elevation of more than 4,900 meters (16,000 feet).

"It was the most extreme conditions I've experienced in all my hiking experiences, without question," Dong Shuchang stated on social media, detailing a "intense snowstorm on the east face" of Everest.

"Glancing upward in the middle of the night and saw that the accumulation had almost buried the top," shared a hiker on a social platform. "That was the first time I truly felt the fear of being engulfed by snow."

Eyewitness Reports

A hiker from China said their party had been "too scared to sleep" on Saturday as accumulation quickly piled up around their shelters, compelling them to remove it every 90 minutes. They decided to descend on the next day as the conditions deteriorated.

"On the way, we met our guide’s parent who had come looking 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 extremely worried."

The northern and eastern side of Everest is more accessible than sites on the neighboring side of the border and attracts large crowds of tourists for less technical trekking, without summiting the peak.

Visual Evidence

Images and footage shared on the internet showed tents buried in snow and lines of trekkers walking through waist-high drifts to get down the mountain.

"It was extremely thick, and the path extremely slippery. Hikers stumbled frequently – a few tumbled, some were jostled by yaks," noted a trekker, who clarified that all safely descended and were transported by bus.

Current Status

By the weekend, about 350 individuals had reached Qudang, a small town roughly 50 kilometers away from the Tibetan starting point of Everest, "safe and sound," official sources reported.

No fewer than 200 more were still stranded but had been reached, the updates said. Local news reported that hundreds of rescuers had gone up the mountain to assist those trapped and clear snow from blocking the way out.

Officials provided little official reporting or updated information about the rescue effort on Monday. It was also not clear if the storm had affected anyone on the north face of Everest, also in Tibet. The area is tightly controlled by the authorities, and journalistic access is limited. The weather also seemed to have affected phone services, with calls to local businesses failing. A number of hikers said electricity was cut in Qudang when they arrived.

Weather Patterns

October is a busy period for the region, with typically calm and pleasant weather, but Chen Geshuang, one of 18 members of a hiking party that made it back to Qudang, commented that the climate this year was "not normal."

"Our leader told us he had never encountered such weather in the fall. And it happened all too suddenly."

The regional travel department announced ticket sales and access to the Everest Scenic Area were suspended from the weekend.

Broader Effects

Neighbouring countries were also hit by severe conditions. Heavy rains triggered mudslides and flash floods that have closed routes, washed away bridges, and killed at least 47 people since Friday in Nepal.