🔗 Share this article

Rescue teams have successfully guided all of the last adventurers near the east-facing slopes of Mount Everest in Tibet to security, along with numerous of native guides and animal tenders, authorities stated. This wraps up one of the largest search-and-rescue operations ever conducted in the region.

Large-Scale Evacuation Operation Concluded

Several hundred of hikers were became trapped in deep snow over the weekend in the remote Karma valley, after an exceptionally intense snowstorm unleashed heavy snowfall across the territory.

Snow kept coming down 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 security.

Initial updates had indicated that the last group of roughly 200 individuals were anticipated to reach a secure area by Tuesday.

In total, 580 mountaineers, along with more than 300 local guides, animal handlers, and other crew members were evacuated, according to authoritative statements released on Tuesday evening.

Those Rescued Recount Extreme Situations

One from China trekker shared how their group had been “too scared to sleep” on Saturday, as snow swiftly built up around their tents, obliging them to remove it every 90 minutes. They decided 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 found out the snow was deep in the valley, too; community members, incapable to contact their children on the mountain, were extremely worried.”

Climbing Schedules Disrupted

The snowstorm also disrupted the plans of alpinists guided by a United States mountaineering outfit to ascend Cho Oyu, an 8,188-meter (26,864-foot) peak on the frontier between the People's Republic of China and Nepal.

Visitor Increase in the Area

Karma valley was first visited by western travelers a century ago. In recent years, with the growth of the Everest region in Tibet as a prominent tourism destination, the area has drawn an rising number of tourists. More than 540,000 tourists explored the Everest region last year, marking a unprecedented number.

Area Still Off-Limits

The Everest region remains for the time being inaccessible to the visitors, encompassing the Karma and Rongshar valleys, as well as Cho Oyu.

Wider Effect

The heavy snowfall over the weekend also affected many of travelers in other parts of the western regions of China, for example Xinjiang, Qinghai, and Gansu. Tragically, at least one traveler lost their life, due to a combination of low body temperature and high-altitude illness.

Unusual Weather

October is typically a high season for the area, with typically fine and pleasant weather, but one trekker of an 18-person hiking party that got back to Qudang commented that the weather this year was “atypical.”