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Rescue teams have successfully guided all of the last adventurers near the eastern slopes of Mount Everest in Tibet to a secure location, including hundreds of local guides and yak herders, authorities announced. This marks the end one of the largest rescue and recovery missions ever seen in the region.

Massive Rescue Effort Completed

Numerous of explorers were became trapped in heavy snow over the weekend in the secluded Karma valley, after an unexpectedly powerful winter blast dumped substantial snowfall across the territory.

Snow kept coming down all day Saturday in the valley, which rests at an average altitude of 4,200 meters (13,800 feet). By Sunday, rescuers had guided approximately 350 hikers to security.

Earlier reports had estimated that the remaining roughly 200 hikers were expected to reach safety by Tuesday.

In total, 580 trekkers, coupled with more than 300 local guides, yak herders, and other crew members were evacuated, according to authoritative statements released on Tuesday night.

Survivors Recount Severe Situations

One from China hiker shared how their group had been “too anxious to sleep” on Saturday, as snow quickly piled up around their tents, forcing them to clear it every 90 minutes. They chose to move to lower ground on Sunday as the weather worsened.

“On the way, we came across our guide’s father, who had come looking for him. That’s when we learned the snow was intense in the valley, too; community members, unable to contact their children on the mountain, were deeply concerned.”

Climbing Schedules Disrupted

The snowstorm also hindered the objectives of mountaineers guided by a United States mountaineering company to ascend Cho Oyu, an 8,188-meter (26,864-foot) peak on the border between the People's Republic of China and Nepal.

Tourism Growth in the Region

Karma valley was first visited by western travelers a hundred years ago. In modern times, with the development of the Everest region in Tibet as a prominent tourism attraction, the area has attracted an rising number of visitors. More than 540,000 sightseers visited the Everest region last year, setting a all-time high.

Area Remains Off-Limits

The Everest region is still temporarily off-limits to the public, including the Karma and Rongshar valleys, as well as Cho Oyu.

Broader Impact

The heavy snowfall over the weekend also affected numerous of travelers in other parts of the western regions of China, such as Xinjiang, Qinghai, and Gansu. Tragically, at least one individual lost their life, due to a combination of hypothermia and high-altitude illness.

Atypical Weather

October is typically a high season for the area, with usually clear and moderate weather, but one trekker of an 18-person trekking group that returned safely to Qudang remarked that the weather this year was “unusual.”