A huge snowstorm swept the slopes of Mont Everest this weekend, trapping hundreds of mountaineers and forcing help to proceed with high altitude evacuations.
The moment of the Blizzard was particularly unhappy because the legendary mountain was full of tourists during the Chinese national holiday.
The unexpected blizzard has bathed the Himalayas of snow and rain on Friday and continued throughout the weekend. The conditions were particularly hard on the eastern side of Mont Everest, which is in Tibet occupied by China.
The six days of Chinese national holiday, which commemorates the foundation of the Communist People’s Republic of China by the dictator Mao Zedong, began on Wednesday. National Day is always a big season for travel and tourism in China. According to Chinese state media, traffic in the main tourism destinations has been particularly heavy This year.
The Chinese communist government has kept repress On indigenous Tibetans and other agitated populations, before national holiday, to facilitate tourism. Chinese dictator Xi Jinping made a rare visit to Tibet in August to commemorate the 60th anniversary of his conquest. One of the major themes of Xi’s visit was the extent of the integration of Tibet into the Beijing Empire and the extent to which the inhabitants benefited from this integration.
According to local authorities, no mountaineers have been trap by the Blizzard on the Nepalese side of Mont Everest. The Chinese part has experienced a boom in tourism since the restrictions linked to the coronavirus were relaxed, while Nepal was more prudent as to the authorization of expeditions. Some Nepalese complain Their government was too stingy by authorizing climbers, depriving Nepal for essential tourist income, while some climbing experts fear that the Chinese part has become dangerously overcrowded.
These fears seemed to be realized on Friday, when almost a thousand mountaineers would have been failed In various places in Everest due to the sudden blizzard. Some mountaineers found themselves stuck at altitudes greater than 16,000 feet. Mount Everest peaks at 29,000 feet above sea level.
Rescuers said on Sunday, said they were in contact with about two hundred hikers still stuck in high altitude. 350 other people were recovered and escorted to a gathering point in the Chinese county of Tingri. The exact number of blocked mountaineers was not known, but the first estimates amounted to a thousand.
Hundreds of rescuers were involved in the massive recovery efforts, supported by the villagers of the lower course of Everest who helped to house and feed the rescued mountaineers. The local villagers also contributed to the snow removal of the blocked trails.
“It was so wet and cold in the mountains, and hypothermia represented a real risk. The time this year is not normal. The guide said that he had never met such a time in October. And it happened too suddenly,” said hiker Chen Geshuang, while quoted by Reuters.
Other hikers interviewed by Reuters said that they had chosen to go down the mountain when the snow started to intensify, but they failed to go completely before overwhelming amounts of snow, and then cause them to collapse.
Several mountaineers were treated for hypothermia, but on Monday afternoon, no death was reported on Mount Everest. A South Korean hiker was killed by the Blizzard as he climbed the Pic Mera, culminating at 21,246 feet, in Nepal. His body was recovered by helicopter on Monday.
