Survivor Uses Cooking Pots to Escape Deadly Everest Blizzard
What began as a scenic trek through the majestic Tibetan slopes of Mount Everest turned into a harrowing survival story for 30-year-old Feng Holiday. The seasoned hiker and her friends were caught in an unexpected October blizzard that left hundreds stranded in extreme conditions.
Feng’s group set out from Youpa Village in Tibet’s Shigatze prefecture on October 1, eager to explore the beautiful Gama Valley, located on the eastern side of Everest. But three days into their journey, a powerful snowstorm swept through the region, transforming their adventure into a desperate fight against nature.
By Saturday night, the rare blizzard had dumped over three feet (95 cm) of snow — nearly triple the usual amount for this time of year — burying campsites and collapsing tents. More than 580 trekkers, along with 300 local guides and porters, were forced to evacuate to safety in the small township of Qudang, according to China’s state news agency, Xinhua.
Cooking Pots Become Lifesaving Tools Amid Whiteout
At first, Feng said she wasn’t worried when the snow began to fall, as her group was well prepared. But as thunder echoed through the peaks and the snowfall intensified, panic began to set in. “By midnight, the snow was getting heavier, and my sleeping bag wasn’t cutting it,” she recalled. “Condensation was dripping inside the tent, making everything wet.”
When Feng stepped outside, she realized her teammates were trapped under the snow. Without shovels or proper tools, they resorted to using cooking pots to dig each other out — a grueling effort that likely saved their lives. “We all had to dig together. It was exhausting and terrifying,” she said.
October is typically one of the best months for trekking in the Everest region, when skies are clear and temperatures moderate after the monsoon season. The timing also coincided with China’s Golden Week, drawing hundreds of adventurers to the Himalayas. But this year, the weather proved dangerously unpredictable. “The guide said he had never seen anything like this in October,” fellow trekker Chen Geshuang told Reuters. “It was wet, freezing, and hypothermia was a real danger.”
Videos shared on Chinese social media showed trekkers struggling to clear snow off their buried tents amid whiteout conditions. By morning, Feng and her friends abandoned most of their gear to lighten their load and began descending the mountain. After nearly 12 hours of trekking, they finally reached safety at the base, where local authorities and rescuers were waiting.
The storm was part of a week of extreme weather that swept across the Himalayas, causing floods and landslides in Nepal and India that claimed over 70 lives. In Nepal, a South Korean climber died while summiting Mera Peak during the same period, underscoring the region’s growing vulnerability to erratic weather patterns.
Reflecting on her terrifying ordeal, Feng expressed gratitude for her survival and shared a sobering takeaway: “We have to respect nature. No matter how prepared we think we are, the mountains will always have the final say.”
