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Emergency crews have successfully guided all of the remaining hikers near the eastern slopes of Mount Everest in the Tibet region to a secure location, along with numerous of regional escorts and livestock handlers, officials announced. This concludes one of the most extensive rescue and recovery efforts ever seen in the region.

Massive Evacuation Effort Completed

Numerous of explorers were became trapped in deep snow over the weekend in the remote Karma valley, after an exceptionally intense snowstorm deposited significant snowfall across the area.

Snow kept coming down throughout Saturday in the valley, which sits at an mean altitude of 4,200 meters (13,800 feet). By Sunday, rescue personnel had escorted approximately 350 hikers to security.

Previous accounts had indicated that the remaining roughly 200 travelers were expected to reach their destination by Tuesday.

In total, 580 mountaineers, in addition to more than 300 escorts, livestock herders, and other crew members were evacuated, according to authoritative statements released on Tuesday evening.

Survivors Recount Extreme Conditions

One from China hiker described how their group had been “too scared to sleep” on Saturday, as snow quickly piled up around their tents, forcing them to remove it every 90 minutes. They chose to move to lower ground on Sunday as the situation 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 heavy in the valley, too; community members, not able to contact their children on the mountain, were very anxious.”

Climbing Schedules Thwarted

The snowstorm also thwarted the plans of alpinists escorted by a United States expedition company to summit Cho Oyu, an 8,188-meter (26,864-foot) peak on the boundary between the People's Republic of China and the nation of Nepal.

Tourism Growth in the Area

Karma valley was first visited by western adventurers a century ago. In modern times, with the expansion of the Everest region in Tibet as a prominent tourism attraction, the area has attracted an increasing number of travelers. More than 540,000 tourists traveled to the Everest region last year, setting a new record.

Region Remains Closed

The Everest region is still temporarily inaccessible to the general public, encompassing the Karma and Rongshar valleys, as well as Cho Oyu.

Broader Impact

The heavy snowfall over the weekend also influenced numerous of travelers in other parts of the western regions of China, for example Xinjiang, Qinghai, and Gansu. Tragically, at least one individual lost their life, due to a blend of low body temperature and altitude sickness.

Unusual Conditions

October is typically a busy season for the area, with typically sunny and moderate weather, but one participant of an 18-person hiking party that got back to Qudang remarked that the weather this year was “not normal.”