Hundreds of hikers are still stuck on Mount Everest after they were exposed to a violent snowfall

A severe snowstorm struck Tibet and Nepal on Friday evening, which cut off hundreds of hikers near the eastern side of Mount Everest. While 350 people were moved to safety, more than 200 people are still waiting for the rescue until Monday morning.

The Chinese -backed Chinese news website, Jimu News, reported that the hikers were trapped at an altitude of more than 16,000 feet (4900 meters), according to the Chinese -backed Chinese news website. news agency. This is approximately from the middle of the road to the 29035 feet high (8850 meters). The government CCTV channel said on Sunday that the rescue teams contacted the remaining 200 people and postponed others to the small town of Kodang, about 30 miles from the camp of the Jabal Everest base on the Tibetan side. I mentioned.

A previous report issued by Jimu News said that hundreds of local villagers and rescue teams have been deployed to help remove snow that prevents access to nearly 1,000 hikers trapped in Mount Everest, according to Reuters. Gizmodo has communicated with the local rescue authorities to clarify this contradiction in the numbers, but it did not receive a response until the time of publication.

On Monday, CCTV reported that one of the hikers died due to low body temperature and height disease in Qinghai Province, another mountainous area in western China affected by the snowstorm, according to CCTV. CBS news. 137 others were evacuated in the northern region of the governorate. The National Association of Mountain Guides in Nepal as well certain Tigong Park, 46, from South Korea, died on the Mira top after his disappearance on Saturday, amid the deterioration of weather conditions.

An unprecedented snowstorm in October

The storm struck while the parks flocked to the Tibetan side of Mount Everest during a week -long national holiday in China. Snow fell over the weekend, which led to the besieging of the hikers at the locations of the camps that were quickly buried.

The officials did not announce the total snowfall until Monday morning, but the survivors told the Chinese and American media that the snow accumulated 3 feet (one meter) and was heavy enough to crush the tents.

“It was the most cruel weather that I faced in all my experiences walking, undoubtedly,” said Dong Shuchng, a Chinese park that survived this ordeal, on the Weibo website. The Guardian. Dong described a “violent snowstorm on the eastern slope” of Mount Everest.

“The weather was very wet and cold in the mountains, and the decrease in body temperature was a real danger,” Chen Jeishuang, another survivor, told Reuters. “The weather this year is not normal. The guide said that he had not faced such weather before in October. It suddenly happened.”

In early October is a suitable time to climb the highest in the world, according to the guiding company Himalayas ice river. This window opens after the summer seasonal winds decline, giving the area to dry weather. Consequently, the snow storm at the end of the week represents a major exit from the usual weather in October in the Himalayas, as it causes heavy rains on climbers within hours.

Climate change makes Mount Everest more volatile

For decades, mountain climbers relied on the expected weather patterns of Jabal Everest to plan their trips during the appropriate weather periods. But as greenhouse gas emissions are destabilized, the weather on the Everest Mountain – and other climbing destinations in the Himalayas – are increasingly irregular.

Research has shown that climate change He is Transformation Rain patterns in the Himalayas, with more severe storms during the dry autumn. The rescue mission, which is currently unveiled on Mount Everest, talks about the consequences of this change. Since the high global temperatures makes this peak more dangerous than they are already, climbers, their guides and tourism industry in Mount Everest will face unprecedented challenges.