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Trekkers have described encountering "extreme" conditions after an unseasonable blizzard during one of China's most crowded holiday weekends trapped hundreds of individuals on Mount Everest, sparking a massive rescue operation.

Evacuation Efforts Underway

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

Crowds of tourists had journeyed to the area for "Golden Week," an week-long holiday period in China. However, local officials, who administer the Tibetan Autonomous Region, said heavy snowfall had hit the area on Friday and Saturday night, trapping numerous of people at tent sites 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, undoubtedly," Dong Shuchang stated 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 nearly covered the top," said another trekker on Xiaohongshu. "That was the first time I genuinely experienced the terror of being buried alive."

Personal Accounts

A hiker from China said their group had been "too scared to sleep" on that night as snow quickly piled up around their tents, forcing them to remove it hourly. They chose to go down on the next day as the conditions worsened.

"During the descent, we encountered our guide’s parent who had come looking for him. That's when we learned the storm was heavy in the lowlands as well; locals, unable to contact their family on the mountain, were deeply concerned."

The north and east side of Everest is more accessible than sites on the Nepal side of the border and attracts high numbers of visitors for less technical hiking, not requiring ascent of the peak.

Visual Evidence

Photos and video shared on the internet depicted shelters buried in snow and rows of hikers walking through deep drifts to get down the mountain.

"The snow was very deep, and the path very slick. Hikers often slipped – a few tumbled, others were bumped by yaks," noted a trekker, who clarified that everyone made it down and were picked up by bus.

Current Status

By Sunday afternoon, approximately 350 individuals had reached Qudang, a small town roughly 50 kilometers away from the Tibetan starting point of Everest, "in good health," state media announced.

No fewer than 200 additional remained trapped but had been contacted, the reports indicated. Media outlets reported that hundreds of emergency workers had ascended the mountain to assist those trapped and remove accumulation from obstructing the way out.

There was minimal updates or updated information about the rescue effort on Monday. It was also not clear if the weather had affected individuals on the northern side of Everest, also in Tibet. The region is tightly controlled by the authorities, and media entry is limited. The weather also appears to have have disrupted local communications, with calls to local businesses failing. Several trekkers said power was out in Qudang when they arrived.

Weather Patterns

October is a peak season for the area, with usually clear and mild conditions, but Chen Geshuang, one of 18 participants of a hiking party that returned to Qudang, said that the weather this year was "unusual."

"Our leader told us he had never encountered conditions like this in the fall. And it happened all too suddenly."

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

Regional Impact

Neighbouring countries were affected as well by extreme weather. Torrential downpours triggered mudslides and flash floods that have closed routes, destroyed crossings, and claimed the lives of at least 47 people since the start of the weekend in the neighboring country.