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Trekkers have recounted encountering "extreme" situations after an unseasonable snowstorm during one of China's busiest festive periods stranded numerous of individuals on Mount Everest, sparking a large-scale rescue effort.

Evacuation Efforts Underway

Officials in China reported that around 350 individuals had descended safely but at least 200 remained stranded at the Everest Scenic Area, located to the eastern side of the mountain, on the Tibet side of the border.

Large groups of visitors had traveled to the area for "Golden Week," an eight-day holiday period in China. However, local officials, who administer the Tibetan Autonomous Region, said heavy snowfall had affected the area on Friday and Saturday night, stranding numerous of people at campsites at an altitude of more than 4,900 meters (16,000 feet).

"This was the harshest conditions I've ever faced in all my trekking experiences, without question," Dong Shuchang stated on Weibo, detailing a "intense snowstorm 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 a hiker on a social platform. "It was the first time I truly felt the terror of being engulfed by snow."

Eyewitness Reports

A hiker from China said their group had been "too scared to sleep" on that night as accumulation quickly piled up around their tents, compelling them to clear it every 90 minutes. They decided to descend on Sunday as the weather deteriorated.

"During the descent, we met our guide’s parent who had searched for him. It was then we discovered the storm was intense in the lowlands too; villagers, unable to contact their children on the mountain, were deeply concerned."

The northern and eastern side of Everest is more accessible than locations on the Nepal side of the border and draws high numbers of visitors for easier hiking, not requiring ascent of the peak.

Online Documentation

Images and footage posted online showed tents buried in snow and rows of trekkers walking through deep snowbanks to descend the mountain.

"The snow was very deep, and the path extremely slippery. Hikers often slipped – a few tumbled, some were jostled by pack animals," said one, who clarified that all safely descended and were transported by bus.

Latest Developments

By Sunday afternoon, approximately 350 people had reached Qudang, a small town about 30 miles away from the Tibet-side starting point of Everest, "safe and sound," state media announced.

At least 200 additional were still stranded but had been reached, the updates indicated. Local news stated that scores of rescuers 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 affected anyone on the north face 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 affected phone services, with attempts to contact shops failing. Several trekkers reported electricity was cut in Qudang when they reached the town.

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 climate this year was "not normal."

"Our leader told us he had never encountered such weather in October. And it occurred very abruptly."

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

Broader Effects

Adjacent nations were also hit by severe conditions. Torrential downpours triggered landslides and flash floods that have blocked roads, destroyed crossings, and killed at least 47 people since Friday in Nepal.