Snowstorm traps 550 hikers on Everest during China's Golden Week

When a sudden snowstorm slammed the slopes of Mount Everest last Sunday, more than 550 hikers found themselves stuck at dizzying heights, sparking one of the biggest rescue drives of the year. The crisis unfolded amid China’s week‑long Golden Week holiday, a time when millions of citizens flood tourist hotspots, and officials scrambled to bring everyone down safely.

Background: Everest Tourism and Golden Week

Everest’s north face, accessed from Tibet, has become a magnet for adventure‑seeking tourists ever since China opened the region to commercial climbing in the early 2000s. The trek to the famed Base Camp, perched at 5,150 m, draws part‑time mountaineers, senior citizens, and even school groups, all hoping for a taste of the world’s roof.

Golden Week, officially known as the National Day holidayChina, translates to a seven‑day vacation that sees domestic travel soar by over 30 % compared with ordinary weeks. That spike means crowded camps, stretched supplies, and, as October 5 proved, heightened vulnerability to sudden weather swings.

The Storm Hits: Timeline of the Crisis

According to live updates from CCTV late on October 5, the snow began piling around 14:00 GMT on the north‑side routes. Within two hours, snow depths hit roughly one metre (three feet), crushing several canvas tents at the high‑altitude camps.

Li Ming, a 42‑year‑old hiker from Chengdu who managed to descend before the path sealed shut, told Jimu News that the wind howled like a freight train, and visibility dropped to less than ten metres. “We heard the snow thudding on our roofs, and then everything went quiet. The tents were flattened like pancakes,” he recalled, shivering even months later.

By sunset, rescue teams confirmed that 350 trekkers had regrouped at a designated meeting point in Tingri County, while about 200 remained stranded above 4,900 m, unable to move due to the drifts.

Rescue Operations on the Roof of the World

Hundreds of rescue workers, including seasoned sherpas, soldiers from the People’s Liberation Army, and volunteers from the China Mountaineering Association, converged on the mountain early Sunday morning. Equipped with snowcats, chainsaws, and a fleet of horses and oxen, they began clearing the blocked passes.

A local villager captured on video a serpentine line of rescuers trudging up the winding path, their breath forming clouds in the thin air. The footage, which quickly went viral, underscored the sheer scale of the effort: more than 80 % of the emergency personnel were operating above 5,000 m, where every step feels like a battle against gravity.

By Monday, according to a follow‑up report from CCTV, all 350 hikers at the Tingri meeting point were evacuated safely to the base camp. The remaining group of roughly 200, still spread across three temporary camps, received daily supplies via helicopter drops, and rescue teams worked around the clock to carve a safe descent corridor.

Parallel Emergencies in Western China

The Everest drama wasn’t an isolated incident. In the northern part of Qinghai Province, a separate snowstorm claimed the life of a 31‑year‑old climber from Xinjiang, who succumbed to hypothermia and altitude sickness. An additional 137 hikers were evacuated from the Qilian Mountains after their own shelters were buried under two‑metre snowbanks.

These twin crises highlighted a broader pattern: climate‑driven extreme weather is becoming more frequent across China’s high‑altitude zones, a trend that experts say threatens the safety of both local communities and the booming adventure‑tourism sector.

Impact and Lessons Learned

In total, more than 550 hikers were affected by the October 5 storm, making it one of the most extensive rescue operations during a single Golden Week holiday. The incident has already prompted the Ministry of Culture and Tourism to draft stricter weather‑monitoring protocols for high‑altitude treks.

“We need to integrate real‑time satellite data with on‑ground observations,” noted Dr. Yan Li, a climatologist at the Beijing Institute of Meteorology. “If we can issue alerts even thirty minutes earlier, we could prevent tents from being destroyed and reduce the number of people caught in the open.”

Meanwhile, trekking agencies are reevaluating their insurance policies and emergency‑response agreements. Some have already announced that future tours will require participants to undergo a mandatory altitude‑acclimatization test and carry personal GPS beacons.

Key Facts

• Snowstorm struck Everest’s north side on Oct 5, 2025.
• Snow depth reached ~1 m, crushing tents at >4,900 m.
• 350 hikers rescued to Tingri meeting point; ~200 remain in transit.
• Parallel emergency in Qinghai Province caused 1 death, 137 evacuations.
• Rescue force included >200 personnel, horses, oxen, and two helicopters.