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Hikers have described facing "extreme" conditions after an unseasonable snowstorm during one of China's busiest holiday weekends trapped hundreds of people on Mount Everest, triggering a large-scale rescue operation.

Rescue Operations Underway

Officials in China reported that around 350 people had made their way down but at least 200 remained stranded at the Everest Scenic Area, situated to the eastern side of the mountain, on the Tibet side of the border.

Crowds of tourists had journeyed to the region for "Golden Week," an eight-day festive break in China. However, Chinese authorities, who control the Tibetan Autonomous Region, confirmed heavy snowfall had hit the area on the weekend, trapping hundreds of people at tent sites at an altitude of more than 4,900 meters (16,000 feet).

"It was the harshest conditions I've experienced in all my hiking adventures, undoubtedly," Dong Shuchang stated on Weibo, describing a "intense snowstorm on the east face" of Everest.

"I looked up in the late hours and noticed that the accumulation had nearly buried the peak," said another trekker on a social platform. "It was the initial instance I genuinely experienced the fear of being buried alive."

Eyewitness Reports

A hiker from China mentioned their group had been "too scared to sleep" on that night as snow quickly piled up around their shelters, compelling 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. That's when we discovered the snow was intense in the valley too; locals, unable to contact their family on the mountain, were extremely worried."

The north and east side of Everest is easier to reach than locations on the Nepal side of the border and draws large crowds of visitors for easier trekking, not requiring ascent of the peak.

Online Documentation

Images and footage posted online showed shelters covered by snow and rows of trekkers moving through deep snowbanks to get down the mountain.

"It was extremely thick, and the path very slick. Trekkers often slipped – some fell, others were bumped by yaks," noted a trekker, who clarified that everyone made it down and were picked up by bus.

Current Status

By Sunday afternoon, about 350 individuals had reached Qudang, a small town about 30 miles away from the Tibetan starting point of Everest, "in good health," official sources reported.

No fewer than 200 additional were still stranded but had been contacted, the reports indicated. Media outlets stated that hundreds of emergency workers had ascended the mountain to assist those trapped and remove accumulation from blocking the exit route.

There was little official reporting or updated information about the rescue effort on the following day. It was also not clear if the storm had affected anyone on the north face of Everest, also in Tibet. The area is tightly controlled by the Chinese government, and journalistic access is restricted. The weather also seemed to have affected local communications, with attempts to contact shops not connecting. A number of hikers said power was out in Qudang when they arrived.

Weather Patterns

October is a busy period for the area, with usually clear and mild conditions, but Chen Geshuang, among 18 members of a hiking party that made it back to Qudang, said that the weather this year was "unusual."

"Our leader told us he had never encountered conditions like this in the fall. And it occurred very abruptly."

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

Regional Impact

Adjacent nations were also hit by extreme weather. Torrential downpours caused mudslides and sudden flooding that have closed routes, washed away bridges, and claimed the lives of at least 47 individuals since Friday in the neighboring country.