The World's Highest Peak Trekkers Describe 'Extreme' Weather as Massive Rescue Effort Persists

Hikers have described encountering "harsh" situations after an unexpected blizzard during one of China's busiest festive periods trapped hundreds of people on Mount Everest, sparking a massive rescue effort.

Evacuation Efforts Underway

Chinese authorities reported that around 350 individuals had made their way down but at least 200 were still trapped at the Everest Scenic Area, situated to the eastern side of the mountain, on the Tibet side of the border.

Crowds of visitors had journeyed to the area for "Golden Week," an week-long holiday period in China. However, Chinese authorities, who control the Tibetan Autonomous Region, said heavy snowfall had affected the area on the weekend, trapping hundreds of people at tent sites at an elevation of more than 4,900 meters (16,000 feet).

"This was the harshest conditions I've ever faced in all my trekking adventures, undoubtedly," Dong Shuchang said on social media, describing a "intense snowstorm on the east face" of Everest.

"I looked up in the late hours and saw that the snow had almost buried the peak," said another trekker on Xiaohongshu. "That was the first time I genuinely experienced the terror of being engulfed by snow."

Personal Accounts

A hiker from China said their party had been "too frightened to sleep" on that night as snow rapidly built up around their tents, forcing them to remove it every 90 minutes. They chose to descend on Sunday as the weather worsened.

"During the descent, we met our guide’s parent who had come looking for him. That's when we discovered the storm was heavy in the lowlands too; locals, unable to reach their family on the mountain, were extremely worried."

The northern and eastern side of Everest is easier to reach than sites on the neighboring side of the border and attracts large crowds of visitors for less technical trekking, without summiting the peak.

Online Documentation

Photos and video shared on the internet showed shelters covered by snow and rows of trekkers walking through waist-high snowbanks to get down the mountain.

"The snow was very deep, and the path extremely slippery. Trekkers stumbled frequently – a few tumbled, others were bumped by pack animals," noted a trekker, who clarified that all safely descended and were transported by bus.

Latest Developments

By the weekend, approximately 350 people had arrived in Qudang, a village roughly 50 kilometers away from the Tibetan base camp of Everest, "safe and sound," official sources reported.

No fewer than 200 more remained trapped but had been contacted, the reports indicated. Media outlets reported that scores of rescuers had ascended the mountain to assist those trapped and clear snow from blocking the exit route.

There was minimal updates or updated information about the operation on the following day. It was also not clear if the weather had affected anyone on the north face of Everest, within the same region. The area is tightly controlled by the Chinese government, and journalistic access is restricted. The conditions also seemed to have affected phone services, with calls to local businesses failing. Several trekkers reported power was out in Qudang when they reached the town.

Seasonal Context

Autumn is a peak season for the region, with typically calm and pleasant weather, but one trekker, one of 18 members of a trekking group that made it back to Qudang, commented that the weather this year was "unusual."

"The guide said he had not experienced conditions like this in October. And it occurred very abruptly."

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

Broader Effects

Adjacent nations were affected as well by extreme weather. Heavy rains triggered landslides and sudden flooding that have blocked roads, washed away bridges, and claimed the lives of at least 47 individuals since the start of the weekend in Nepal.