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Hikers have recounted facing "extreme" conditions after an unseasonable snowstorm during one of China's most crowded festive periods trapped hundreds of people on Mount Everest, sparking a large-scale rescue effort.

Evacuation Efforts In Progress

Chinese authorities stated 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 tourists 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 individuals at tent sites at an altitude of more than 4,900 meters (16,000 feet).

"It was the most extreme conditions I've experienced in all my trekking adventures, undoubtedly," Dong Shuchang stated on social media, describing a "intense snowstorm on the eastern slope" of Everest.

"I looked up in the middle of the night and noticed that the snow had almost buried the peak," said another trekker on a social platform. "It was the initial instance I truly felt the terror of being engulfed by snow."

Personal Accounts

One Chinese trekker said their party had been "too scared to sleep" on that night as snow rapidly built up around their tents, forcing them to clear it hourly. They decided to descend on Sunday as the conditions worsened.

"On the way, we encountered our guide’s parent who had come looking for him. That's when we learned the snow was heavy in the lowlands too; villagers, unable to reach their children on the mountain, were extremely worried."

The northern and eastern side of Everest is more accessible than sites on the neighboring side of the border and attracts large crowds of tourists for less technical hiking, not requiring ascent of the peak.

Online Documentation

Images and footage posted online showed shelters buried in snow and rows of hikers walking through deep snowbanks to descend the mountain.

"The snow was very deep, and the path very slick. Hikers 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 Sunday afternoon, approximately 350 people had reached Qudang, a small town roughly 50 kilometers away from the Tibet-side starting point of Everest, "safe and sound," official sources reported.

No fewer than 200 more were still stranded but had been reached, the reports said. Media outlets stated that hundreds of emergency workers had gone up the mountain to assist those trapped and remove accumulation from obstructing the exit route.

Officials provided little official reporting or updated information about the operation on the following day. Uncertainty remained if the weather had impacted individuals on the northern side of Everest, also in Tibet. The region is tightly controlled by the authorities, and media entry is restricted. The weather also seemed to have disrupted phone services, with calls to local businesses failing. A number of hikers reported power was out in Qudang when they arrived.

Seasonal Context

Autumn is a busy period for the area, with usually clear and mild weather, but Chen Geshuang, one of 18 members of a hiking party that made it back to Qudang, said that the weather this year was "not normal."

"The guide told us he had not experienced such weather in the fall. And it happened all too suddenly."

The regional travel department announced admissions and access to the Everest Scenic Area were halted from the weekend.

Broader Effects

Neighbouring countries were affected as well by extreme weather. Heavy rains caused mudslides and sudden flooding that have blocked roads, destroyed crossings, and claimed the lives of at least 47 people since Friday in the neighboring country.