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

Rescue Operations Underway

Officials in China reported that approximately 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 Tibet side of the border.

Large groups of visitors had traveled to the region for "Golden Week," an week-long holiday period in China. However, Chinese authorities, who administer the Tibetan Autonomous Region, said intense snow had hit the area on the weekend, trapping hundreds of people at campsites at an altitude of more than 4,900 meters (16,000 feet).

"It was the most extreme weather I've experienced in all my trekking adventures, without question," Dong Shuchang said on social media, detailing a "intense blizzard on the east face" of Everest.

"I looked up 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 terror of being buried alive."

Personal Accounts

One Chinese trekker mentioned their party had been "too scared to sleep" on that night as accumulation rapidly built up around their tents, forcing them to remove it hourly. They decided to go down on the next day as the conditions worsened.

"On the way, we encountered our guide's father who had come looking for him. It was then we learned the snow was heavy in the lowlands as well; locals, unable to reach their family on the mountain, were extremely worried."

The northern and eastern side of Everest is more accessible than locations on the neighboring side of the border and attracts high numbers of tourists for easier hiking, without summiting the peak.

Visual Evidence

Photos and video posted online showed shelters buried in snow and lines of trekkers walking through waist-high snowbanks to get down the mountain.

"The snow was extremely thick, and the path extremely slippery. Hikers often slipped – a few tumbled, others were bumped by pack animals," noted a trekker, who clarified that everyone made it down and were transported by bus.

Current Status

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

No fewer than 200 more remained trapped but had been reached, the reports indicated. Media outlets reported that hundreds of emergency workers had gone up the mountain to assist those trapped and clear snow from blocking the exit route.

Officials provided little official reporting or new details about the operation on Monday. It was also not clear if the storm had impacted anyone on the northern side of Everest, also in Tibet. The area is tightly controlled by the authorities, and journalistic access is limited. The conditions also appears to have have disrupted phone services, with calls to local businesses not connecting. Several trekkers said power was out in Qudang when they arrived.

Seasonal Context

October is a peak season for the area, with usually clear and mild conditions, but one trekker, among 18 participants 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 never encountered such weather in October. And it happened very abruptly."

The regional travel department announced ticket sales and entry to the Everest Scenic Area were suspended from Saturday.

Broader Effects

Neighbouring countries were also hit by severe conditions. Torrential downpours triggered mudslides and sudden flooding that have closed routes, destroyed crossings, and killed at least 47 individuals since Friday in the neighboring country.