Image copyright STR/AFP/Getty Images Image caption The Hillary Step (pictured as it used to look) was the last big technical challenge before Everest's summit

A famous feature of Mount Everest has collapsed, potentially making the world's highest peak even more dangerous to climbers. The Hillary Step is believed to have been damaged during the 2015 Nepal earthquake that killed nearly 9,000 people and injured nearly 22,000. The near-vertical 12-metre (39 ft) rocky outcrop stood on the mountain's southeast ridge, and was the last great challenge before the top. The Hillary Step, named after Sir Edmund Hillary who, along with the sherpa Tenzing Norgay, was the first person to climb the mountain in 1953, may have been destroyed during the 2015 Nepal earthquake. British mountaineer Tim Mosedale took to social media to confirm the news of the Step's demise on a Facebook post after reaching the summit on May 16, dubbing the loss as "the end of an era". Image copyright George W. Hales/Fox Photos/Getty Images Image caption Tenzing Norgay (C), and Edmund Hillary (R), the first men to scale Mount Everest, with Colonel John Hunt (L) who led their 1953 expedition

"It was reported last year, and indeed I climbed it last year, but we weren't sure for certain that 'The Step' had gone because the area was blasted with snow," Mr Mosedale wrote on Facebook. He concluded: “This year, however, I can report that the chunk of rock named ‘The Hillary Step’ is definitely not there any more.”

Mr Mosedale, who is due to go back up Everest later this month, said he believed the Step was most likely a victim of Nepal’s 2015 earthquake. The report cites mountaineers who have claimed that the disappearance of the 12 m step which stood on mountain’s southeast ridge is likely to make the climb on snow-covered slope easier, but spells danger for those battling conditions of low oxygen and frostbite, as it could create a bottleneck near the top of the mountain.
Mountaineers led by Tim Mosedale confirm suspicions that Mount Everest's famous Hillary Step had completely collapsed.