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Trekkers have recounted facing "extreme" conditions after an unexpected blizzard during one of China's busiest festive periods stranded numerous of people on Mount Everest, triggering a large-scale rescue operation.

Rescue Operations Underway

Officials in China reported that around 350 individuals had descended safely but at least 200 remained stranded at the Everest Scenic Area, located to the east of the mountain, on the Tibetan side of the border.

Crowds of visitors had traveled to the region for "Golden Week," an eight-day festive break in China. However, Chinese authorities, who control the Tibetan Autonomous Region, confirmed heavy snowfall had hit the area on the weekend, trapping hundreds of people at campsites 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 stated on social media, describing a "violent convective snowstorm on the eastern slope" of Everest.

"I looked up in the middle of the night and saw that the accumulation had almost buried the peak," said a hiker on Xiaohongshu. "That was the initial instance I truly felt the fear of being engulfed by snow."

Personal Accounts

A hiker from China said their group had been "too frightened to sleep" on that night as accumulation quickly piled up around their tents, forcing them to remove it hourly. They decided to go down on Sunday as the conditions worsened.

"On the way, we encountered our guide’s parent who had searched for him. It was then we discovered the snow was heavy in the lowlands as well; locals, unable to reach their children on the mountain, were extremely worried."

The north and east side of Everest is easier to reach than sites on the neighboring side of the border and draws large crowds of visitors for less technical trekking, not requiring ascent of the peak.

Visual Evidence

Images and footage shared on the internet showed shelters covered by snow and rows of trekkers moving through deep drifts to descend the mountain.

"The snow was very deep, and the trail very slick. Trekkers often slipped – some fell, some were jostled by yaks," noted a trekker, who added that all safely descended and were transported by bus.

Current Status

By the weekend, 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 reported.

No fewer than 200 additional were still stranded but had been contacted, the reports said. Local news stated that scores of emergency workers had ascended the mountain to help people and clear snow from obstructing the way out.

There was minimal updates or new details about the operation on the following day. It was also not clear if the weather had impacted individuals on the north face of Everest, within the same region. The region is strictly regulated by the Chinese government, and journalistic access is limited. The conditions also seemed to have affected local communications, with calls to local businesses failing. Several trekkers reported electricity was cut in Qudang when they arrived.

Seasonal Context

October is a peak season for the area, with typically calm and pleasant weather, but one trekker, one of 18 participants of a hiking party that returned to Qudang, commented that the climate this year was "not normal."

"The guide told us he had never encountered conditions like this in the fall. And it happened very abruptly."

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

Broader Effects

Adjacent nations were also hit by severe conditions. Torrential downpours caused landslides and flash floods that have closed routes, washed away bridges, and claimed the lives of at least 47 individuals since the start of the weekend in the neighboring country.