{"id":30546,"date":"2018-05-15T14:42:19","date_gmt":"2018-05-15T20:42:19","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/www.alanarnette.com\/blog\/?p=30546"},"modified":"2018-05-21T11:54:04","modified_gmt":"2018-05-21T17:54:04","slug":"everest-2018-hillary-step-or-slope","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.alanarnette.com\/blog\/2018\/05\/15\/everest-2018-hillary-step-or-slope\/","title":{"rendered":"Everest 2018: Hillary Step or Slope?"},"content":{"rendered":"

One of the hot topics readers have asked about is if the Hillary Step is still there or not.\u00a0There have been no comments thus far on the state of the Hillary Step from Sherpas or other climbers that have been in the area. The question is if it is still there or not after the 2015 earthquake.<\/p>\n

Hillary Step or Slope?<\/h3>\n

It is often described as a nearly vertical rock face with a height of around 12 metres (39 ft) at 28,839’\/8,790m feet just above the South Summit and 200’\/60m below the summit. News broke early in the 2016 season by five time South side summiter, David Liano<\/a>\u00a0that the Hillary Step was gone. He took pictures, posted on his blog and the second guessing began. Then last year, 2017, guide Tim Mosedale<\/a> posted on Facebook “The Hillary Step is no more” and that promoted denials for the Nepal Government.<\/p>\n

Government says it OK<\/strong><\/p>\n

CNN<\/a>\u00a0reported last year that Gyanendra Shrestha from the Nepal Tourism Board and Ang Tshering Sherpa, the President of Nepal Mountaineering Association, as saying that Mosedale is mistaken.\u00a0Shrestha said the step had been completely covered by snow so it \u201cmade it easier for climbers.\u201d<\/p>\n

\u201cThis is a false rumor,\u201d Ang Tshering Sherpa said. \u201cAfter this news surfaced \u2026 I checked with Sherpas, climbers, and officials at the Base Camp. Hillary Step is intact<\/strong>.\u201d\u00a0He said the rock face had been covered by \u201cexcessive snowfall \u2026 so some people assumed it had collapsed.\u201d<\/p><\/blockquote>\n

Guides Say its gone<\/strong><\/p>\n

But the two American guides, Garrett Madison with eight summits and Ben Jones with four told Outside Magazine<\/a> last year that it was gone. Madison was quoted\u00a0\u201cThe boulder formally know as the Hillary Step is gone. It\u2019s pretty obvious that the boulder fell off and has been replaced by snow. You can see some of the rocks below it that were there before, but the gigantic boulder is missing now.<\/strong>\u201d<\/p>\n

Sherpas say it still there<\/strong><\/p>\n

Last year,\u00a0Mingma Tsiri Sherpa who has nine summits told the Daily Mail<\/a>, “The fixed lines are more to the right of the step (than before). We’re now walking on the snow whereas before we had to walk on the rocky side. That is the reason for the confusion.<\/strong>” And 15 time summiter, Pemba Dorje Sherpa said\u00a0“The Hillary Step is as it was before, but a large stone above it has fallen<\/strong>”<\/p>\n

Verdict?<\/h3>\n

I’ve been eager to hear what the observation is this year so I’ve asked a long time experienced guide to see if his team can take a high-resolution picture and to see if we can decide if it is still a Step or now a Slope.<\/p>\n

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