AUCKLAND, New Zealand -- When climbers scramble to the summit of the world's highest peak, their last obstacle is a 40-foot rock face covered in ice -- the Hillary Step. Before May 29, 1953, it ...

The Hillary Step is located in the Everest “death zone”, an area between South Col at 8,000m and the summit where the level of natural oxygen is inadequate for survival.

More than 600 climbers made it to the summit of Everest last year but it was also the deadliest season on the mountain, with 18 fatalities. Thursday's grim news came on the same day that Nepali ...

In a separate incident, Kenyan climber Joshua Cheruiyot Kirue’s body was discovered near the ridge between Hillary Step and the summit while his guide, Nawang Sherpa, remains missing, according ...

“ It is not possible to search for the missing climbers right now because the British (mountaineer) and his Sherpa fell from the bottom of Hillary step, which is at about 8,800 meters (26,964 ...

Authorities in Nepal have denied reports that the famed "Hillary Step" on Mount Everest has collapsed, despite a veteran climber saying he saw it first hand during an ascent last week. Mountaineer ...

KATHMANDU, May 23 (Reuters) - A Kenyan climber has died on Mount Everest, officials said on Thursday, taking the season’s confirmed death toll on the world’s tallest mountain to three. Joshua ...

Norgay died in 1986 and is being represented by his son, Jamling, also an Everest climber, who said Tuesday that the first Everest climb benefited mankind. "They took a step farther into the unknown.

But for Rivard, 41 -- from Wayzata, the climb, at 29,032 feet -- about five-and-a-half miles above sea level -- comes after a journey of recovery when he was just a teenager.

Beside Everest they escape notice, such is the preeminence of the greatest," George Mallory, 1922. The climbing season on Mount Everest peaks in late May and early June every year.