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Trekkers have described encountering "harsh" situations after an unseasonable blizzard during one of China's most crowded festive periods trapped hundreds of individuals on Mount Everest, sparking a large-scale rescue operation.

Rescue Operations In Progress

Officials in China reported that approximately 350 individuals had made their way down but at least 200 remained stranded at the Everest Scenic Area, situated to the eastern side of the mountain, on the Tibet side of the border.

Large groups of visitors had journeyed to the area for "Golden Week," an eight-day holiday period in China. However, local officials, who control the Tibetan Autonomous Region, said heavy snowfall had hit the area on the weekend, stranding numerous of individuals at tent sites at an elevation of more than 4,900 meters (16,000 feet).

"This was the harshest weather I've experienced in all my trekking adventures, without question," a Chinese trekker stated on Weibo, describing a "intense snowstorm on the eastern slope" of Everest.

"I looked up in the late hours and noticed that the snow had nearly buried the peak," said another trekker on Xiaohongshu. "That was the initial instance I genuinely experienced the terror of being buried alive."

Personal Accounts

One Chinese trekker said their group had been "too frightened to sleep" on Saturday as snow quickly piled up around their tents, forcing them to remove it every 90 minutes. They decided to descend on Sunday as the conditions worsened.

"On the way, we encountered our guide's father who had come looking for him. That's when we discovered the snow was intense in the valley too; villagers, unable to reach their family on the mountain, were deeply concerned."

The northern and eastern side of Everest is more accessible than sites on the Nepal side of the border and attracts high numbers of visitors for easier trekking, without summiting the peak.

Online Documentation

Photos and video shared on the internet showed tents buried in snow and rows of hikers moving through waist-high snowbanks to get down the mountain.

"It was very deep, and the path extremely slippery. Hikers stumbled frequently – some fell, some were jostled by pack animals," noted a trekker, who added that everyone made it down and were transported by bus.

Latest Developments

By Sunday afternoon, approximately 350 individuals had reached Qudang, a village roughly 50 kilometers away from the Tibetan base camp of Everest, "in good health," state media reported.

No fewer than 200 more remained trapped but had been contacted, the updates said. Local news reported that hundreds of emergency workers had gone up the mountain to assist those trapped and clear snow from obstructing the way out.

Officials provided little official reporting or new details about the rescue effort on the following day. Uncertainty remained if the storm had affected individuals on the north face of Everest, also in Tibet. The area is strictly regulated by the Chinese government, and journalistic access is restricted. The conditions also seemed to have affected local communications, with calls to local businesses failing. A number of hikers said power was out in Qudang when they arrived.

Seasonal Context

October is a busy period for the area, with usually calm and pleasant weather, but one trekker, one of 18 participants of a trekking group that returned to Qudang, commented that the weather this year was "not normal."

"The guide told us he had never encountered such weather in October. And it occurred very abruptly."

The local tourism authority announced admissions and entry to the Everest Scenic Area were suspended from the weekend.

Regional Impact

Neighbouring countries were affected as well by extreme weather. Torrential downpours caused mudslides and sudden flooding that have blocked roads, destroyed crossings, and killed at least 47 individuals since Friday in the neighboring country.