Blizzard Traps HUNDREDS on Mount Everest as Rescuers Battle to Save Lives

A deadly blizzard hit Mount Everest’s Tibetan slopes this weekend, trapping nearly 1,000 climbers and hikers in brutal conditions as rescue teams race against time to bring them down alive.

The storm struck suddenly Friday during China’s National Day holiday, dumping heavy snow and rain across the Himalayas and cutting off major mountain routes. At least 350 people have been rescued so far, according to Reuters, while hundreds more remain stranded in freezing camps above 13,000 feet.

Local villagers and members of Tibet’s Blue Sky Rescue Team have been wading through waist-deep snow, responding to frantic distress calls about collapsed tents, missing trekkers, and hypothermia cases. “It was so wet and cold in the mountains—hypothermia was a real risk,” one survivor, Chen Geshuang, told Reuters after reaching safety in Qudang township.

Rescuers say many hikers were caught near the Karma Valley, on Everest’s remote eastern Kangshung face — a notoriously unforgiving region where weather can turn deadly in minutes. “The guide said he’d never seen anything like this in October,” Chen said. “It happened all too suddenly.”

Authorities have shut down the Everest Scenic Area and suspended ticket sales as machinery and rescue convoys work to reopen snow-blocked passes. Helicopters are standing by for emergency lifts, though visibility remains dangerously low.

The storm’s effects have stretched beyond Tibet — across the border in Nepal, landslides and flash floods triggered by the same system have killed at least 47 people and left dozens missing.

As hundreds fight to survive on the world’s highest mountain, the blizzard has served as a stark reminder: on Everest, even the most experienced climbers are never truly in control of nature’s fury.