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Hikers have described facing "extreme" conditions after an unseasonable snowstorm during one of China's busiest festive periods stranded hundreds of people on Mount Everest, triggering a large-scale rescue effort.

Rescue Operations Underway

Chinese authorities reported that around 350 people had descended safely but at least 200 were still trapped at the Everest Scenic Area, situated to the eastern side of the mountain, on the Tibet side of the border.

Large groups of tourists had traveled to the region for "Golden Week," an eight-day festive break in China. However, Chinese authorities, who administer the Tibetan Autonomous Region, confirmed intense snow had hit the area on the weekend, trapping numerous of individuals at campsites at an elevation of more than 4,900 meters (16,000 feet).

"This was the harshest conditions I've experienced in all my trekking experiences, without question," 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 snow had almost covered the peak," shared a hiker on Xiaohongshu. "That was the initial instance I genuinely experienced the fear of being engulfed by snow."

Personal Accounts

One Chinese trekker mentioned their party had been "too frightened to sleep" on that night as snow quickly piled up around their tents, forcing them to clear it hourly. They chose to descend on the next day as the weather deteriorated.

"During the descent, we met our guide's father who had come looking for him. It was then we discovered the storm was heavy in the valley as well; locals, unable to reach their children on the mountain, were deeply concerned."

The north and east side of Everest is easier to reach than sites on the Nepal side of the border and attracts high numbers of visitors for easier hiking, without summiting the peak.

Online Documentation

Photos and video posted online depicted shelters covered by snow and lines of hikers moving through waist-high snowbanks to descend the mountain.

"The snow was very deep, and the path extremely slippery. Hikers stumbled frequently – a few tumbled, others were bumped by pack animals," said one, who clarified that all safely descended and were transported by bus.

Current Status

By Sunday afternoon, about 350 individuals had reached Qudang, a village roughly 50 kilometers away from the Tibetan base camp of Everest, "in good health," official sources announced.

No fewer than 200 additional remained trapped but had been reached, the updates indicated. Local news stated that hundreds of emergency workers had gone up the mountain to help people and clear snow from obstructing the way out.

Officials provided little official reporting or updated information about the operation on Monday. Uncertainty remained if the storm had affected individuals on the northern side of Everest, also in Tibet. The region is strictly regulated by the authorities, and journalistic access is limited. The conditions also appears to have have disrupted local communications, with calls to local businesses not connecting. Several trekkers reported power was out in Qudang when they reached the town.

Weather Patterns

October is a busy period for the region, with usually clear and mild conditions, but Chen Geshuang, among 18 members of a trekking group that returned to Qudang, said that the climate this year was "unusual."

"The guide said he had never encountered conditions like this in the fall. And it happened all too suddenly."

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

Regional Impact

Adjacent nations were also hit by severe conditions. Torrential downpours caused landslides and sudden flooding that have closed routes, destroyed crossings, and killed at least 47 people since Friday in Nepal.