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Hikers have described encountering "harsh" conditions after an unexpected blizzard during one of China's busiest festive periods stranded numerous of people on Mount Everest, sparking a massive rescue operation.

Evacuation Efforts In Progress

Chinese authorities reported that around 350 people had made their way down 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.

Large groups of tourists had traveled to the area for "Golden Week," an eight-day holiday period in China. However, Chinese authorities, who administer the Tibetan Autonomous Region, confirmed intense snow had hit the area on Friday and Saturday night, trapping hundreds of individuals at campsites at an altitude of more than 4,900 meters (16,000 feet).

"This was the harshest weather I've ever faced in all my hiking adventures, undoubtedly," Dong Shuchang said on Weibo, detailing a "violent convective snowstorm on the east face" of Everest.

"Glancing upward in the late hours and saw that the accumulation had almost covered the top," shared a hiker on a social platform. "That was the first time I genuinely experienced the fear of being engulfed by snow."

Personal Accounts

A hiker from China mentioned their party had been "too scared to sleep" on that night as accumulation rapidly built up around their tents, forcing them to remove it hourly. They chose to descend on the next day as the weather worsened.

"During the descent, we encountered our guide’s parent who had searched for him. It was then we learned the storm was intense in the valley too; villagers, unable to contact their family on the mountain, were extremely worried."

The north and east side of Everest is easier to reach than locations on the neighboring side of the border and attracts large crowds of visitors for easier trekking, without summiting the peak.

Visual Evidence

Photos and video posted online showed shelters buried in snow and lines of trekkers walking through waist-high drifts to get down the mountain.

"It was very deep, and the trail extremely slippery. Hikers often slipped – a few tumbled, others were bumped by pack animals," noted a trekker, who clarified that all safely descended and were transported by bus.

Current Status

By Sunday afternoon, approximately 350 individuals had reached Qudang, a small town roughly 50 kilometers away from the Tibetan base camp of Everest, "safe and sound," official sources reported.

At least 200 additional were still stranded but had been reached, the updates indicated. Media outlets stated that hundreds of rescuers had ascended the mountain to assist those trapped and remove accumulation from obstructing the exit route.

Officials provided minimal updates or new details about the operation on the following day. Uncertainty remained if the storm had affected anyone on the northern side of Everest, within the same region. The area is strictly regulated by the authorities, and media entry is restricted. The conditions also appears to have have disrupted local communications, with calls to local businesses failing. A number of hikers reported electricity was cut in Qudang when they reached the town.

Seasonal Context

October is a busy period for the region, with usually calm and pleasant conditions, but one trekker, one of 18 members of a hiking party that returned to Qudang, commented that the weather this year was "not normal."

"Our leader said he had not experienced conditions like this in the fall. And it happened very abruptly."

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

Broader Effects

Neighbouring countries were also hit by extreme weather. Heavy rains caused mudslides and flash floods that have blocked roads, washed away bridges, and killed at least 47 people since the start of the weekend in Nepal.