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Trekkers have recounted encountering "extreme" conditions after an unseasonable snowstorm during one of China's most crowded festive periods trapped numerous of people on Mount Everest, triggering a massive rescue operation.

Evacuation Efforts Underway

Officials in China stated that around 350 people had descended safely 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 tourists had journeyed to the region for "Golden Week," an week-long holiday period in China. However, local officials, who administer the Tibetan Autonomous Region, said intense snow had affected the area on Friday and Saturday night, stranding hundreds of people at campsites at an elevation of more than 4,900 meters (16,000 feet).

"This was the most extreme weather I've ever faced in all my trekking experiences, undoubtedly," a Chinese trekker stated on social media, detailing a "violent convective blizzard on the east face" of Everest.

"I looked up in the middle of the night and saw that the accumulation had almost buried the top," said another trekker on Xiaohongshu. "It was the first time I truly felt the fear of being engulfed by snow."

Eyewitness Reports

A hiker from China said their group had been "too frightened to sleep" on Saturday as snow quickly piled up around their tents, forcing them to remove it hourly. They decided to descend on the next day as the weather deteriorated.

"During the descent, we encountered our guide’s parent who had come looking for him. That's when we learned the storm was heavy in the valley too; villagers, unable to contact their family on the mountain, were extremely worried."

The northern and eastern side of Everest is easier to reach than locations on the neighboring side of the border and draws large crowds of tourists for easier trekking, not requiring ascent of the peak.

Visual Evidence

Photos and video shared on the internet showed tents buried in snow and lines of hikers walking through deep snowbanks to descend the mountain.

"The snow was extremely thick, and the trail extremely slippery. Hikers often slipped – some fell, some were jostled by pack animals," said one, who clarified that all safely descended and were transported by bus.

Current Status

By the weekend, about 350 people had arrived in Qudang, a village roughly 50 kilometers away from the Tibetan starting point of Everest, "in good health," official sources reported.

No fewer than 200 more were still stranded but had been reached, the updates indicated. Media outlets stated that hundreds of emergency workers had gone up the mountain to help people and remove accumulation from obstructing the exit route.

Officials provided minimal updates or new details about the operation on the following day. Uncertainty remained if the storm had impacted 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 appears to have have affected local communications, with attempts to contact shops failing. Several trekkers reported electricity was cut in Qudang when they arrived.

Weather Patterns

Autumn is a peak season for the area, with typically 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."

"Our leader told us he had never encountered conditions like this in October. And it happened all too suddenly."

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

Regional Impact

Adjacent nations were also hit by severe conditions. Torrential downpours caused mudslides and flash floods that have closed routes, washed away bridges, and claimed the lives of at least 47 individuals since Friday in the neighboring country.