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Trekkers have recounted facing "extreme" situations after an unexpected snowstorm during one of China's busiest festive periods stranded hundreds of people on Mount Everest, sparking a large-scale rescue effort.

Evacuation Efforts In Progress

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.

Crowds of visitors had traveled to the region for "Golden Week," an week-long festive break in China. However, local officials, who control the Tibetan Autonomous Region, said heavy snowfall had hit the area on Friday and Saturday night, stranding numerous of people at tent sites at an altitude of more than 4,900 meters (16,000 feet).

"This was the harshest conditions I've ever faced in all my hiking adventures, without question," Dong Shuchang stated on social media, describing 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 peak," said another trekker on a social platform. "That was the first time I genuinely experienced the fear of being buried alive."

Eyewitness Reports

A hiker from China said their group had been "too frightened to sleep" on that night as accumulation quickly piled up around their shelters, forcing them to clear it hourly. They decided to go down on the next day as the weather deteriorated.

"During the descent, we met our guide’s parent who had come looking for him. It was then we learned the snow was heavy in the valley as well; locals, unable to reach their family on the mountain, were deeply concerned."

The northern and eastern side of Everest is easier to reach than sites on the neighboring side of the border and attracts large crowds of tourists for easier hiking, without summiting the peak.

Visual Evidence

Images and footage posted online depicted shelters covered by snow and lines of hikers moving through deep snowbanks to get down the mountain.

"The snow was very deep, and the trail very slick. Hikers often slipped – a few tumbled, others were bumped by pack animals," noted a trekker, who clarified that all safely descended and were picked up by bus.

Latest Developments

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

At least 200 more remained trapped but had been reached, the updates said. Local news reported that scores of emergency workers had ascended the mountain to help people and clear snow from obstructing the way out.

There was minimal updates or updated information about the rescue effort on Monday. It was also not clear if the weather had affected individuals on the northern side of Everest, within the same region. The area is tightly controlled by the authorities, and journalistic access is restricted. The conditions also seemed to have affected phone services, with attempts to contact shops not connecting. A number of hikers reported power was out in Qudang when they arrived.

Seasonal Context

Autumn is a peak season for the region, with typically calm and pleasant conditions, but one trekker, one of 18 participants of a trekking group that made it back to Qudang, said that the weather this year was "not normal."

"Our leader said he had never encountered conditions like this in October. And it occurred very abruptly."

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

Regional Impact

Adjacent nations were affected as well by extreme weather. Heavy rains triggered mudslides and flash floods that have blocked roads, washed away bridges, and claimed the lives of at least 47 individuals since the start of the weekend in the neighboring country.