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Hikers have described encountering "harsh" conditions after an unexpected blizzard during one of China's busiest holiday weekends trapped numerous of individuals on Mount Everest, triggering a massive rescue operation.

Evacuation Efforts Underway

Officials in China reported that approximately 350 people had descended safely but at least 200 were still trapped at the Everest Scenic Area, located to the eastern side of the mountain, on the Tibetan side of the border.

Crowds of visitors had journeyed 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 affected the area on Friday and Saturday night, trapping numerous of people at tent sites at an elevation of more than 4,900 meters (16,000 feet).

"It was the harshest conditions I've experienced in all my trekking adventures, undoubtedly," Dong Shuchang stated on Weibo, describing a "violent convective blizzard on the east face" of Everest.

"I looked up in the late hours and noticed that the accumulation had almost buried the top," said a hiker on Xiaohongshu. "That was the initial instance I genuinely experienced the fear of being buried alive."

Eyewitness Reports

One Chinese trekker mentioned their party had been "too scared to sleep" on Saturday as accumulation quickly piled up around their tents, forcing them to clear it every 90 minutes. They chose to go down on Sunday as the conditions deteriorated.

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

The north and east side of Everest is more accessible than locations on the Nepal side of the border and attracts high numbers of tourists for less technical hiking, without summiting the peak.

Visual Evidence

Images and footage posted online showed tents buried in snow and rows of hikers moving through deep snowbanks to get down the mountain.

"The snow was very deep, and the trail extremely slippery. Trekkers stumbled frequently – a few tumbled, others were bumped by pack animals," said one, who clarified that everyone made it down and were picked up by bus.

Latest Developments

By Sunday afternoon, about 350 people had reached Qudang, a village roughly 50 kilometers away from the Tibet-side base camp of Everest, "safe and sound," state media announced.

No fewer than 200 more were still stranded but had been contacted, the updates said. Media outlets stated that hundreds of emergency workers had ascended the mountain to assist those trapped and remove accumulation from obstructing the way out.

There was little official reporting or new details about the operation on the following day. Uncertainty remained if the weather had affected anyone on the northern side of Everest, within the same region. The area is tightly controlled by the authorities, and journalistic access is restricted. The conditions also seemed to have affected local communications, with calls to local businesses failing. Several trekkers said power was out in Qudang when they arrived.

Weather Patterns

Autumn is a peak season for the region, with typically clear and mild conditions, but Chen Geshuang, one of 18 members of a trekking group that returned to Qudang, said that the climate this year was "not normal."

"Our leader said he had never encountered such weather in October. And it occurred very abruptly."

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

Regional Impact

Adjacent nations were also hit by severe conditions. Torrential downpours caused landslides and sudden flooding that have blocked roads, washed away bridges, and killed at least 47 individuals since the start of the weekend in Nepal.