The Hillary Step was a near vertical rock face about 12 metres tall, near the summit of Everest. Climbing it was apparently one of the more technically difficult parts of the climb, plus zone of death.
It collapsed in the 2015 earthquake.
So what effect did that collapse have on the final summit approach? easier? harder?
The thread is new so I can’t make any jokes about Sen. Clinton. I suppose no matter how interested I am in the question and the climb, any mention of my unfulfilled desire to name my twin daughters Mallory and Hillary is probably out of place. Alas!
Never mind.
I don’t think the Hillary Step could actually collapse collapse. Some of its rocks may have fallen, so as to rearrange the line up it somewhat. What are the details of this ‘collapse’?
See here:
From the referenced article:
It’s pretty much as I guessed — rocks fell (including one big one), and its climbing line has been altered. And its climbing challenge depends on how much snow is up there.
Easier, apparently, though not necessarily a lot safer.
Mountaineers returning from the summit this month have unanimously said that what was once a near-vertical 12 metre (40 feet) rock face is now a gradual snowy slope and makes the final ascent quicker and easier.
Climbers say the disappearance of the step has left little more than an undulating ridge to the summit.
“The area of the Hillary’s Step is a moderately steep snow ridge, but does not stand out more prominently than any other section between the south summit and main summit,” said a climber who declined to be named.
See here for side-by-side photos that show the ridge with and without the Hillary Step. It looks pretty hair-raising to me either way.
Moderator Note
Reminder: Hold off on the joke answers in GQ until after the topic has been addressed factually, please.
