World

Hundreds of hikers hit by snowstorm on Mount Everest

Written by ABC Audio ALL RIGHTS RESERVED on October 6, 2025

(SEOUL, South Korea) — Scaling the world’s highest peak is a risky adventure. But even hanging around the base camp can be dangerous, as hundreds of holiday makers being trapped when the area was hit in an unexpected blizzard over the weekend.

Taking advantage of an eight-day National Day holiday in China, many visitors and tour groups flocked to Tibet, trekking through the remote Karama Valley, which leads to the eastern side of Mount Everest, known in Tibetan as Qomolangma.

Tour groups heading to Mount Everest during the holiday were fully booked months in advance. Usually, the weather on Mt. Everest is great at this time of year. But an unexpected blizzard trapped hundreds of trekkers in the mountain.

A local government release said that, as of Sunday, 350 trekkers had reached the small township of Qudang, while authorities had made contact with the remaining 200-plus trekkers.

Qu Zhengpu, a 27-year-old experienced hiker, told ABC news he believes that there are more trekkers on the mountain with no cellphone signal, so it’s almost impossible for the rescue teams to get contact with them. Some of his experienced hiking friends even chose to stay on the mountain and wait for the snow to stop.

“This scale of snow storm is very rare this time of the year for Mount Everest, even my local friends haven’t seen that for years,” he said.

There are two trails on the China side of Mount Everest. The northern part is mostly for mountain hikers, while the eastern side for trekkers.

After hiking up the northern side of Mount Everest, astronomy photographer and mountaineering enthusiast Geshuang Chen wanted to explore and film more on the mountain, so she joined a trekking tour group this holiday, and became one of the members trapped by the blizzard.

Chen got off the mountain safely.

She told ABC News that the heavy snow storm started on the night of Oct. 4.

“The snow was so heavy, the thunder and lighting made it terrifying,” Chen said. “On the morning of the 5th, the snow was more than 3 feet deep, already up to my thigh. I barely slept for the whole night, I was so worried.”

The local government has organized a rescue team of police and villagers with yaks to go into the mountain to help the trapped trekkers. Chen said she was extremely grateful to arrive in the nearby town safely, where she was greeted by the local villagers with warm milk tea and food.