Hikers rescued from Everest after blizzard traps hundreds

A Chinese state rescue mission, along with local guides and villagers, is underway to retrieve hundreds of trekkers from Mount Everest after a blizzard stranded them on the Tibetan side of the mountain. Around 1,000 people were initially trapped, with around 350 rescued on the night of Sunday 5 October – they were guided to the small township of Qudang as the day ended. However, as Monday 6 October dawned, more than 200 hikers were believed to be stranded – Chinese state media has reported that all have been contacted.

Local teams were trying to clear snow that was blocking the area to enable more people to leave, but continuing bad weather hampered the efforts.

Changing climatic conditions were noted as a problem, with one of the rescued trekkers saying: “The weather this year is not normal. The guide said he had never encountered such weather in October. And it happened all too suddenly.”

Rebecca Stephens, an experienced climber and the first British woman to summit Everest, spoke to the BBC about the changing weather patterns: “You would expect the monsoon to have finished weeks ago but we’re still seeing very heavy rainfall in Nepal. It tends to be drier on the Tibetan side of the mountain and this is an unusually heavy snow fall, which comes with avalanche risk.”

October busy climbing season

The month of October tends to be one of the busiest for climbers heading to Mount Everest, with clear skies leading to good conditions and clear skies enabling more people to summit. This year, however, heavy snowfall and rain is badly affecting the Himalayas, with landslides and floods both recently affecting travel in Nepal and resulting in multiple fatalities.

This is also Golden Week holiday in China, meaning more travellers are in the region, particularly the Karma Valley.