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Hikers have described facing "harsh" situations after an unexpected blizzard during one of China's busiest festive periods stranded hundreds of individuals on Mount Everest, triggering a massive rescue operation.

Rescue Operations Underway

Officials in China reported that approximately 350 individuals had made their way down but at least 200 were still trapped at the Everest Scenic Area, located to the east of the mountain, on the Tibetan side of the border.

Crowds of visitors had traveled to the area for "Golden Week," an week-long festive break in China. However, Chinese authorities, who administer the Tibetan Autonomous Region, confirmed heavy snowfall had hit the area on Friday and Saturday night, stranding hundreds of individuals at tent sites at an elevation of more than 4,900 meters (16,000 feet).

"It was the harshest conditions I've ever faced in all my trekking experiences, without question," Dong Shuchang said on Weibo, detailing a "intense snowstorm on the eastern slope" of Everest.

"I looked up in the middle of the night and noticed that the snow had almost covered the peak," said another trekker on a social platform. "It was the initial instance I genuinely experienced the terror of being buried alive."

Eyewitness Reports

One Chinese trekker said their group had been "too scared to sleep" on Saturday as snow rapidly built up around their shelters, compelling them to remove it every 90 minutes. They decided 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. That's when we learned the storm was intense in the valley too; locals, unable to contact their children on the mountain, were deeply concerned."

The north and east side of Everest is more accessible than sites on the neighboring side of the border and draws large crowds of tourists for easier hiking, without summiting the peak.

Online Documentation

Images and footage shared on the internet showed tents buried in snow and lines of trekkers walking through waist-high drifts to get down the mountain.

"The snow was extremely thick, and the trail extremely slippery. Trekkers often slipped – some fell, others were bumped by yaks," noted a trekker, who added that everyone made it down and were picked up by bus.

Latest Developments

By the weekend, about 350 people had reached Qudang, a small town about 30 miles away from the Tibetan starting point of Everest, "in good health," state media announced.

At least 200 more were still stranded but had been reached, the reports said. Media outlets reported 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 Monday. It was also not clear if the weather had impacted anyone on the north face of Everest, also in Tibet. The region is tightly controlled by the Chinese government, and media entry is restricted. The conditions also appears to have have affected phone services, with calls to local businesses not connecting. Several trekkers reported power was out in Qudang when they arrived.

Weather Patterns

Autumn is a peak season for the area, with usually calm and pleasant weather, but one trekker, among 18 members of a trekking group that returned to Qudang, commented that the climate 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 said ticket sales and access to the Everest Scenic Area were halted from Saturday.

Regional Impact

Adjacent nations were affected as well by severe conditions. Torrential downpours caused mudslides and sudden flooding that have closed routes, destroyed crossings, and claimed the lives of at least 47 individuals since the start of the weekend in the neighboring country.