All Mountaineers Currently Safe After Days Trapped in Powerful Blizzard

Emergency crews have successfully guided all of the last hikers near the eastern slopes of Everest in the Tibet region to safety, including hundreds of local guides and yak herders, officials stated. This concludes one of the most extensive search-and-rescue operations ever conducted in the zone.

Massive Evacuation Operation Concluded

Several hundred of explorers were found themselves stuck in deep snow over the recent weekend in the secluded Karma valley, after an unexpectedly intense blizzard deposited substantial snowfall across the region.

Snow kept coming down throughout Saturday in the valley, which sits at an average altitude of 4,200 meters (13,800 feet). By Sunday, rescue personnel had led approximately 350 hikers to security.

Earlier reports had indicated that the last group of roughly 200 hikers were projected to reach their destination by Tuesday.

In total, 580 hikers, in addition to more than 300 guides, yak herders, and other support staff were rescued, according to government reports released on Tuesday late in the day.

Those Rescued Describe Harsh Conditions

One Chinese trekker recalled how their group had been “too scared to sleep” on Saturday, as snow quickly piled up around their tents, obliging them to remove it every 90 minutes. They decided to go down on Sunday as the situation deteriorated.

“On the way, we encountered our guide’s father, who had come looking for him. That’s when we realized the snow was deep in the valley, too; community members, incapable to contact their children on the mountain, were very anxious.”

Climbing Plans Thwarted

The blizzard also hindered the plans of climbers led by a US-based mountaineering outfit to ascend Cho Oyu, an 8,188-meter (26,864-foot) peak on the border between the People's Republic of China and Nepal.

Visitor Growth in the Area

Karma valley was first visited by western travelers a hundred years ago. In modern times, with the expansion of the Everest region in Tibet as a prominent visitor destination, the area has brought in an rising number of visitors. More than 540,000 visitors explored the Everest region last year, establishing a unprecedented number.

Region Still Closed

The Everest region remains currently off-limits to the visitors, including the Karma and Rongshar valleys, as well as Cho Oyu.

Wider Effect

The heavy snowfall over the weekend also affected hundreds of trekkers in other parts of the western regions of China, for example Xinjiang, Qinghai, and Gansu. Tragically, at least one individual succumbed, due to a blend of low body temperature and altitude sickness.

Atypical Conditions

October is typically a busy season for the area, with usually fine and mild weather, but one participant of an 18-person trekking group that made it back to Qudang commented that the weather this year was “unusual.”