Hundreds of trekkers stranded by a sudden blizzard near Mount Everest’s eastern face in Tibet have been brought to safety, where a snowstorm has trapped nearly 1,000 people in campsites, Chinese state media reported on Sunday, as heavy snow and rain battered the Himalayas.
By Sunday, 350 trekkers had reached the small township of Qudang, while contact had been established with the remaining 200-plus trekkers, CCTV reported, as quoted by the news agency Reuters.
The hikers were trapped at an elevation of more than 4,900 meters (16,000 feet), according to an earlier report from Jimu News, a Chinese online site. Mount Everest is about 8,850 meters (29,000 feet) tall.
The trekkers had been visiting the remote Karma valley, which leads to Everest’s eastern Kangshung face, taking advantage of an eight-day National Day holiday in China.
“It was so wet and cold in the mountains, and hypothermia was a real risk,” Chen Geshuang, part of an 18-member trekking team that reached Qudang, was quoted as saying by Reuters.
“The weather this year is not normal. The guide said he had never encountered such weather in October. And it happened all too suddenly,” Chen added.
Hundreds of local villagers and rescue teams were deployed to clear snow and help the trekkers.
Nearly 1,000 people had been trapped, according to an earlier report by state-backed Jimu News. The remaining trekkers are expected to arrive in Qudang in stages with the guidance of local authorities, CCTV reported. The report did not mention whether local guides and support staff were accounted for.
Snowfall in the valley, which averages 4,200 metres (13,800 feet) in elevation, began on Friday evening and continued through Saturday.
“It was raining and snowing every day, and we did not see Everest at all,” Eric Wen, who survived the ordeal, was quoted as saying by the Reuters.
North Face
The Karma valley, first explored by Western travellers a century ago, is a relatively untouched part of the Everest region. Unlike the peak’s arid north face, it has vegetation and alpine forests fed by meltwater from the Kangshung glacier.
It was unclear if trekkers near Everest’s north face were affected. The north face, accessible by paved road, usually attracts large numbers of tourists, especially in October when skies often clear after the monsoon.
