🔗 Share this article

Search parties have successfully guided all of the remaining trekkers near the east-facing slopes of Everest in Tibet to security, along with scores of local guides and animal tenders, authorities stated. This wraps up one of the largest rescue and recovery missions ever undertaken in the region.

Large-Scale Rescue Operation Completed

Numerous of hikers were left stranded in heavy snow over the recent weekend in the isolated Karma valley, after an unexpectedly powerful snowstorm deposited heavy snowfall across the region.

Snow persisted throughout Saturday in the valley, which is located at an average altitude of 4,200 meters (13,800 feet). By Sunday, rescuers had led approximately 350 hikers to security.

Previous accounts had indicated that the remaining roughly 200 individuals were projected to reach a secure area by Tuesday.

In total, 580 mountaineers, coupled with more than 300 local guides, animal handlers, and other assistants were rescued, according to authoritative reports released on Tuesday night.

Survivors Describe Extreme Conditions

One from China trekker described how their group had been “too scared to sleep” on Saturday, as snow rapidly accumulated around their tents, obliging them to shovel it every 90 minutes. They opted to go down on Sunday as the weather deteriorated.

“On the way, we met our guide’s father, who had set out for him. That’s when we learned the snow was heavy in the valley, too; villagers, incapable to contact their children on the mountain, were very anxious.”

Climbing Schedules Thwarted

The severe weather also disrupted the objectives of climbers guided by a United States climbing outfit to reach the top of Cho Oyu, an 8,188-meter (26,864-foot) peak on the frontier between China and the nation of Nepal.

Tourism Increase in the Region

Karma valley was first explored by foreign adventurers a century ago. In recent years, with the expansion of the Everest region in Tibet as a major travel attraction, the area has brought in an increasing number of tourists. More than 540,000 sightseers visited the Everest region last year, marking a new record.

Region Remains Closed

The Everest region continues to be for the time being off-limits to the general public, encompassing the Karma and Rongshar valleys, as well as Cho Oyu.

Broader Effect

The intense snowfall over the weekend also impacted many of hikers in other parts of western China, for example Xinjiang, Qinghai, and Gansu. Tragically, at least one traveler succumbed, due to a combination of exposure and altitude sickness.

Atypical Conditions

October is typically a peak season for the area, with normally sunny and moderate weather, but one trekker of an 18-person trekking group that got back to Qudang remarked that the weather this year was “atypical.”