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Trekkers have described encountering "extreme" situations after an unseasonable blizzard 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

Officials in China reported that around 350 people had descended safely but at least 200 remained stranded at the Everest Scenic Area, situated to the east of the mountain, on the Tibetan side of the border.

Crowds of visitors had journeyed to the area for "Golden Week," an week-long holiday period in China. However, local officials, who administer the Tibetan Autonomous Region, said intense snow had hit the area on the weekend, trapping numerous of people 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 trekking adventures, without question," a Chinese trekker said on Weibo, detailing a "violent convective blizzard on the east face" of Everest.

"I looked up in the middle of the night and noticed that the accumulation had almost buried the top," said another trekker on a social platform. "That was the initial instance I genuinely experienced the terror of being engulfed by snow."

Eyewitness Reports

A hiker from China said their party had been "too frightened to sleep" on Saturday as snow quickly piled up around their tents, forcing them to clear it hourly. They chose to go down on the next day as the conditions worsened.

"During the descent, we encountered our guide’s parent who had come looking for him. It was then we discovered the snow was intense in the valley too; villagers, 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 draws large crowds of tourists for easier trekking, without summiting the peak.

Online Documentation

Photos and video shared on the internet showed tents covered by snow and rows of hikers walking through waist-high drifts to descend the mountain.

"It was very deep, and the path extremely slippery. Hikers stumbled frequently – some fell, some were jostled by pack animals," noted a trekker, who clarified that all safely descended and were transported by bus.

Current Status

By Sunday afternoon, about 350 people had arrived in Qudang, a small town roughly 50 kilometers away from the Tibetan starting point of Everest, "safe and sound," state media reported.

At least 200 additional remained trapped but had been reached, the reports indicated. Media outlets stated that hundreds of emergency workers had gone up the mountain to assist those trapped and remove accumulation from obstructing the way out.

Officials provided minimal updates or updated information about the operation on the following day. It was also not clear if the weather had affected anyone on the north face of Everest, within the same region. The area is tightly controlled by the authorities, and journalistic access is restricted. The weather also seemed to have disrupted phone services, with calls to local businesses not connecting. Several trekkers said power was out in Qudang when they reached the town.

Weather Patterns

October is a busy period for the area, with usually calm and pleasant conditions, but Chen Geshuang, one of 18 participants of a trekking group that made it back to Qudang, said that the climate this year was "not normal."

"Our leader told us he had not experienced such weather in October. And it happened all too suddenly."

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

Regional Impact

Adjacent nations were also hit by extreme weather. Heavy rains caused landslides and sudden flooding that have blocked roads, destroyed crossings, and claimed the lives of at least 47 individuals since the start of the weekend in the neighboring country.