Rocky outcrop reported to have collapsed is covered in snow but intact, says chair of Nepal Mountaineering Association

This article is more than 3 years old

This article is more than 3 years old

Nepalese climbers have disputed reports that a famous rocky outcrop near the peak of Mount Everest has collapsed, saying the so-called Hillary Step is covered in snow but intact.



The British mountaineer Tim Mosedale said at the weekend that the section of rock first traversed by Sir Edmund Hillary and Tenzing Norgay in their successful ascent of Everest in 1953 had collapsed – probably due to a 2015 earthquake.

Named after Hillary, the step is a 12-metre high outcrop on the south-eastern ridge of the mountain, considered the last significant challenge for climbers en route to the summit. It is just 58 metres below Everest’s 8,848-metre peak.

But the chairman of the Nepal Mountaineering Association is among several Nepalese climbers to cast doubt on Mosedale’s claim. “The Hillary Step is in its old position,” Ang Tshering Sherpa said.

“[It is] intact, except that there’s lots more snow on it so the rock portion is not easily visible,” he told the Associated Press.

Another climber, Pasang Tenzing Sherpa, said confusion might have come about because mountaineers marking a new route to the summit had approached it from another side, “from where the Hillary Step cannot be seen”.

“Last year, I was the coordinator of the team that opened up the route to the summit. Since there were no climbers on the mountain in two years, it appeared like a new mountain with lots of snow,” he said.

“I did not see any marking of the older route. For safety reasons in the Hillary Step, I changed the route a little to the right,” said Pasang, who has scaled Everest 11 times.

“We decided to follow the ridge rather than traverse or cutting through the section. That is why people are confused. There is a lot of snow and the rock is buried under the snow.”

The government of Nepal has yet to take a position. “We have only heard such information [about the outcrop’s collapse] from news,” said Dinesh Bhattarai, the head of the country’s tourism department. “We have not received any formal report or information.”

Lila Basnet, a climber from Nepal who was among the first to reach the summit this year, agreed the feature was unchanged.

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She said: “It appears there was much more snow in the area but we found nothing wrong with the Hillary Step. This is the fifth time I have climbed Everest and it all appears good.”

Mosedale stood by his account, saying the step was “simply not there”. He said its collapse would make the ascent to the summit much more dangerous. The climber, who reached Everest’s summit for the sixth time on 16 May, posted a photograph of what remains of the step when he returned to base camp.



“This year and last year a snow ridge formed which we were able to ascend with relative ease. But in future years, if the ridge doesn’t form, it could be a particularly difficult area to negotiate,” he said.

“The loose debris comprising some rocks that look to be precariously perched and ready to slide could be very hazardous indeed.”