What is the Hillary Step, every climber who dreams of conquering Everest knows. Some say that this is a terrible place, littered with the corpses of the failed conquerors of the "Top of the World." Others - that the crest is nothing special and dangerous. In the Alps, for example, there are more complex walls. And if the weather conditions are favorable, and there is enough oxygen in the cylinders, then it’s easy to overcome the Hillary’s adapted body to overcome the hillside. Sherpas do this several times a season. They hang the ropes, for which climbers and commercial tourists then cling. But this article is not intended to answer the question of whether it is easy or difficult to overcome the Hillary stage. We will only tell you what it is. And from this information and photos you can make an impression of the complexity of the campaign.
Everest
In the mid-nineteenth century, the British Geodetic Survey determined using instruments the highest peak of the Himalayas. It turned out to be Peak 15, located on the border of Tibet and Nepal. The peak at 8848 meters above sea level was named after the head of the service, geodesist George Everest. The British did not realize that a name already existed at the mountain. Nepalese called her the Mother of the Gods - Sagarmatha. And the Tibetans called Mount Jomolungma. For them, the radiant peak symbolized the Great Mother of Life. This territory was considered sacred. Only in 1920, the Tibetan spiritual leader of the Dalai Lama allowed Europeans to try to storm it. However, Chomolungma submitted only to the eleventh expedition that came to the Hillary Step on Everest. It is named after one of its members, who, in conjunction with the Sherpas Tenzing Norgay, was the first to climb the “Top of the World”.
What is Hillary's Step
Climbing Mount Everest is not technically difficult. On the way there are no vertical ledges, except for which a prepared climber can climb. The problems faced by the conquerors of Everest are associated only with the huge height of the mountain. Over 8000 meters above sea level, the so-called death zone begins. Oxygen in a rarefied atmosphere is too little to sustain life. Low temperature and pressure do the most nasty things to a person’s consciousness, expose their base instincts. In such a situation, every step is difficult. And here, not far from the treasured peak, at an altitude of 8790 meters, the Hillary Step grows - a vertical ledge consisting of ice and compacted snow. There is no way around it. On both sides it is surrounded by very sheer cliffs. One thing remains - to climb the almost vertical thirteen-meter ledge.
Climbing Hillary to Everest
The eleventh expedition of 1953 consisted of more than four hundred people. The lion's share was porters and guides - Sherpas. This people has long lived at a great height. Due to adaptation, Sherpas have voluminous lungs and a strong heart, as well as amazing adaptability to frost. The expedition was moving slowly. Lifting and adaptation took two months. The group camped at an altitude of 7900 meters. The first to storm the summit were the two British rock climbers C. Evans and T. Bordillon. But since they had problems with oxygen masks, they were forced to return. The next day, May 29, New Zealander Edmund Hillary and Sherpa Tenzing Norgay set out to try their luck. After the South Saddle, a huge firn step blocked their path. Hillary tied himself with a rope and began to climb an almost steep slope. So he reached the snow cornice. Soon, Norgay climbed up the rope to him. The summit of this pair of climbers reached at 11.30 in the morning.
Hillary difficulty climbing
The first conquerors of Everest reached their goal before noon, and therefore were able to leave the "death zone" before sunset. This is a very important circumstance. Because spending the night above eight thousand meters above sea level means certain death. Now the conquest of the Chomolungma is put on a commercial basis. Many rich and ambitious tourists of varying degrees of training are sent to storm Everest. But both they and mountaineering enthusiasts have the same daily routine. Ascent dark, march up, photographing at the Top of the World for about 15-20 minutes and a quick descent to the camp. But the Hillary Step is too narrow a slope for two people to miss. As a result, queues are often created around her and even fights arise. After all, commercial tourists who paid several thousand dollars for climbing Mount Everest do not want to come to terms with the idea that they need to turn back, because the time is late. Some refuse conductors, go to the top and die on the way.
Business Travel Plans
There are several ideas on how to make Everest more accessible. Hillary's steps no longer manage to take so many victims. She no longer seems such an insurmountable obstacle. In early April, a team of Sherpas arrives at a stationary camp, equips its buildings, and then goes to the top. There, these courageous people hang ropes on the steps of Hillary, on which thousands of Europeans and Americans will climb during the season. These rich tourists will be followed by sherpas with luggage and oxygen tanks. That is why the idea of building ... an elevator on Everest is seriously considered. Of course, the top of the mountain will have to be put on a dome that will be pumped with air, like an airplane cabin. But even if this bold idea is put into practice, all the same, thousands of people will storm the mountainsides, rushing to the snowy peak.
Sherpas Plan
The guides, who also do not want to lose their earnings, proposed a less expensive idea than an elevator to Everest. It consists in laying several stationary stairs along the Hillary step. This plan does not look so unrealistic. Sherpas already set up facilities in the base camp at an altitude of 5300 meters. They lay metal stairs through the constantly moving Khumbu Glacier and equip a route to the Valley of Silence (6500 m). Previously, they hung two ropes at the narrowest point of the ledge. Now they are proposing to install wide metal stairs on the Hillary Steps. Thanks to them, Everest will become more accessible, because this rock will not have any queues.