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Trekkers have recounted encountering "extreme" situations after an unseasonable blizzard during one of China's busiest holiday weekends stranded numerous of individuals on Mount Everest, triggering a large-scale rescue operation.

Evacuation Efforts Underway

Officials in China reported that around 350 people had made their way down 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.

Large groups of visitors had traveled to the region for "Golden Week," an week-long holiday period in China. However, local officials, who administer the Tibetan Autonomous Region, confirmed heavy snowfall had hit the area on the weekend, trapping numerous of individuals at tent sites at an altitude of more than 4,900 meters (16,000 feet).

"It was the harshest weather I've experienced in all my hiking adventures, undoubtedly," Dong Shuchang stated on Weibo, detailing a "violent convective snowstorm on the eastern slope" of Everest.

"Glancing upward in the late hours and saw that the accumulation had almost covered the top," said a hiker on Xiaohongshu. "It was the initial instance I truly felt the fear of being engulfed by snow."

Eyewitness Reports

One Chinese trekker said their party had been "too frightened to sleep" on Saturday as accumulation rapidly built up around their shelters, forcing them to remove it hourly. They chose to descend on Sunday as the weather worsened.

"On the way, we encountered our guide's father who had come looking for him. That's when we discovered the storm was heavy in the lowlands as well; locals, unable to contact their children on the mountain, were deeply concerned."

The northern and eastern side of Everest is easier to reach than locations on the neighboring side of the border and attracts high numbers of visitors for easier hiking, not requiring ascent of the peak.

Visual Evidence

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

"The snow was very deep, and the path very slick. Trekkers often slipped – some fell, some were jostled by yaks," noted a trekker, who clarified that everyone made it down and were transported by bus.

Current Status

By Sunday afternoon, about 350 people had arrived in Qudang, a village about 30 miles away from the Tibet-side base camp of Everest, "safe and sound," official sources announced.

No fewer than 200 more were still stranded but had been reached, the updates indicated. Local news reported that hundreds of rescuers had gone up the mountain to assist those trapped and clear snow from obstructing the exit route.

There was little official reporting or new details about the rescue effort on the following day. Uncertainty remained if the weather had affected anyone 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 phone services, with attempts to contact shops not connecting. Several trekkers reported electricity was cut in Qudang when they arrived.

Seasonal Context

Autumn is a peak season for the area, with typically calm and pleasant weather, but one trekker, one of 18 members of a hiking party that returned to Qudang, said that the climate this year was "unusual."

"Our leader said he had never encountered such weather in the fall. And it happened very abruptly."

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

Regional Impact

Neighbouring countries were affected as well by extreme weather. Torrential downpours caused mudslides and flash floods that have blocked roads, destroyed crossings, and claimed the lives of at least 47 people since the start of the weekend in the neighboring country.