Rescuers have guided nearly all remaining trekkers to safety from the eastern slopes of Mount Everest in Tibet after a powerful blizzard stranded hundreds over the weekend. In what officials called one of the region’s largest coordinated rescues, more than 580 hikers and 300 guides and support staff were evacuated by air and ground teams.
Chinese state broadcaster CCTV news reported that about 10 trekkers still descending last night reached a rendezvous point and rescue crews were assisting them.
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Access to several popular valleys — including the Karma and Rongshar valleys — has been suspended while conditions are reassessed, Reuters reported. The snowstorm also disrupted an expedition led by U.S.-based Madison Mountaineering. The group aimed to summit Cho Oyu, an 8,188-meter peak located on the border between China and Nepal.
Elsewhere in western China, at least one person died of hypothermia compounded by altitude sickness, according to Reuters.
How the storm hit
The blizzard struck the isolated Karma Valley at roughly 13,800 feet. It dumped unusually heavy snow that buried campsites and cut off access to mountain trails.
The Everest region in Tibet — which drew more than 540,000 visitors last year — remains vulnerable to severe weather and limited infrastructure. The Washington Post reported that the extreme weather coincided with a national holiday that drew a surge of domestic tourists.
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The Everest region in Tibet drew more than 540,000 visitors last year.
How the rescue unfolded
Rescue teams launched operations Sunday after the storm trapped about 1,000 trekkers above 16,000 feet with little shelter, according to earlier reporting from Straight Arrow News.
By Monday, roughly 350 hikers had reached a safe point in Tingri. At that time, hundreds more were still being guided down the mountain.
CCTV said rescuers used horses, drones and local villagers’ oxen to reach stranded groups in areas unreachable by vehicle. One survivor, 41-year-old Eric Wen, told Reuters his group trekked 12 miles through knee-deep snow. He said they were following footprints from others to find their way out.
“Thankfully, some people ahead of us were breaking trail,” he said.
