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Hikers have described encountering "extreme" situations after an unexpected blizzard during one of China's most crowded holiday weekends stranded hundreds of people on Mount Everest, sparking a large-scale rescue operation.

Evacuation Efforts Underway

Chinese authorities reported 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.

Large groups of visitors had traveled to the area for "Golden Week," an week-long holiday period in China. However, Chinese authorities, who control the Tibetan Autonomous Region, confirmed intense snow had hit the area on the weekend, stranding numerous of people at campsites at an altitude of more than 4,900 meters (16,000 feet).

"This was the most extreme weather I've ever faced in all my hiking experiences, without question," a Chinese trekker stated on social media, detailing a "intense blizzard on the eastern slope" of Everest.

"Glancing upward in the middle of the night and saw that the snow had nearly covered the peak," shared another trekker on Xiaohongshu. "That was the first time I truly felt the fear of being engulfed by snow."

Personal Accounts

A hiker from China said their party had been "too frightened to sleep" on Saturday as accumulation quickly piled up around their tents, forcing them to remove it every 90 minutes. They chose to go down on Sunday as the weather worsened.

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

The northern and eastern side of Everest is easier to reach than locations on the Nepal side of the border and draws high numbers of tourists for less technical trekking, without summiting the peak.

Visual Evidence

Images and footage posted online depicted shelters buried in snow and lines of trekkers moving through waist-high snowbanks to get down the mountain.

"The snow was very deep, and the path very slick. Hikers often slipped – a few tumbled, some were jostled by yaks," said one, who clarified that all safely descended and were transported by bus.

Latest Developments

By the weekend, approximately 350 people had reached Qudang, a village about 30 miles away from the Tibet-side base camp of Everest, "safe and sound," official sources reported.

No fewer than 200 additional were still stranded but had been contacted, the updates said. Local news stated that hundreds of emergency workers had gone up the mountain to assist those trapped and remove accumulation from blocking the way out.

There was minimal updates or updated information about the operation on the following day. Uncertainty remained if the storm had impacted individuals on the northern side of Everest, also in Tibet. The region is tightly controlled by the Chinese government, and media entry is limited. The conditions also seemed to have disrupted local communications, with calls to local businesses failing. A number of hikers said electricity was cut in Qudang when they reached the town.

Weather Patterns

Autumn is a peak season for the region, with usually clear and mild weather, but Chen Geshuang, among 18 participants of a trekking group that made it back to Qudang, said that the climate this year was "unusual."

"The guide said he had not experienced such weather in October. And it occurred very abruptly."

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

Regional Impact

Adjacent nations were also hit by extreme weather. Torrential downpours triggered landslides and sudden flooding that have blocked roads, destroyed crossings, and claimed the lives of at least 47 individuals since the start of the weekend in Nepal.