Every Single Mountaineers Currently Secure Following Multiple Days Stranded in Severe Snowstorm

Emergency crews have successfully guided all of the last adventurers near the eastern slopes of Mount Everest in Tibet to a secure location, including numerous of regional escorts and livestock handlers, officials announced. This concludes one of the largest rescue and recovery operations ever undertaken in the region.

Massive Evacuation Effort Completed

Hundreds of explorers were found themselves stuck in thick snow over the recent weekend in the isolated Karma valley, after an unexpectedly fierce snowstorm deposited significant snowfall across the region.

Snow persisted all day Saturday in the valley, which is located at an mean altitude of 4,200 meters (13,800 feet). By Sunday, rescue personnel had led approximately 350 hikers to a safe zone.

Initial updates had indicated that the remaining roughly 200 hikers were projected to reach their destination by Tuesday.

In total, 580 trekkers, in addition to more than 300 escorts, livestock herders, and other assistants were rescued, according to government reports released on Tuesday night.

Survivors Describe Severe Situations

One from China hiker described how their group had been “too frightened to sleep” on Saturday, as snow quickly piled up around their tents, obliging them to remove it every 90 minutes. They chose to descend on Sunday as the situation worsened.

“On the way, we came across our guide’s father, who had set out for him. That’s when we found out the snow was heavy in the valley, too; local residents, not able to contact their children on the mountain, were extremely worried.”

Climbing Plans Disrupted

The severe weather also thwarted the objectives of alpinists guided by a American climbing company to summit Cho Oyu, an 8,188-meter (26,864-foot) peak on the frontier between the People's Republic of China and Nepal.

Tourism Increase in the Region

Karma valley was first explored by foreign travelers a century ago. In the past few years, with the development of the Everest region in Tibet as a major visitor draw, the area has drawn an growing number of tourists. More than 540,000 visitors visited the Everest region last year, marking a all-time high.

Area Still Closed

The Everest region is still temporarily off-limits to the public, covering the Karma and Rongshar valleys, as well as Cho Oyu.

Wider Effect

The heavy snowfall over the weekend also affected hundreds of hikers in other parts of western China, including Xinjiang, Qinghai, and Gansu. Sadly, at least one person died, due to a combination of exposure and high-altitude illness.

Atypical Conditions

October is typically a busy season for the area, with typically fine and mild weather, but one member of an 18-person expedition team that got back to Qudang remarked that the weather this year was “not normal.”