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The Second Step is the best known of the rocky steps. The steep section, at an altitude of 8,610 m, has a climbing height of 40 metres (130 ft), of which the last five are almost vertical. The steep section, at an altitude of 8,610 m, has a climbing height of 40 metres (130 ft), of which the last five are almost vertical.
The four-member summitting team set off at 9 a.m. on 24 May. Xu Jing became exhausted and was replaced by Qu Yinhua. At 12 p.m., they reached the Second Step. After several unsuccessful attempts to climb over the Step's last section, Liu Lianman, who was previously a fireman, suggested a "human ladder". [7]
The direct access to the Second Step from the First involves a treacherous traverse. Instead of taking it, they dropped down to follow the lower, easier traverse pioneered by Norton in 1924. Observing the Second Step from 30.5 metres (100 ft) below it, Wyn-Harris declared it "unclimbable."
At that time he rated the difficulty of the Second Step as 5.10—well outside of Mallory's capability. In June 2007, Anker returned as a member of the Altitude Everest Expedition 2007, and with Leo Houlding successfully free-climbed the Second Step, after removing the "Chinese ladder" (which was later replaced). [42]
A severe climbing hindrance, at the time an unknown obstacle, was the so-called Second Step at 8,605 m (28,230 ft), one of three breaks in slope on the upper northeast ridge. This step is approximately 30 m high and has a slope of more than 70 degrees, with a final wall of nearly seven vertical metres.
In a good climbing situation, it was about a two-hour climb from the South Summit to the Hillary Step, one to two hours to climb the cliff, and then another 20 minutes from the top of the Hillary Step to the summit of Mount Everest. [15] Only one climber at a time could traverse it. [15]
British climbers George Mallory and Andrew Irvine died on Everest in 1924. New research sheds light on whether they reached the summit first. 100 years ago they disappeared on Everest.
Once above the Second Step the inconsequential Third Step is clambered over, ascending from 8,690 to 8,800 m (28,510 to 28,870 ft). Once above these steps, the summit pyramid is climbed by a snow slope of 50 degrees, to the final summit ridge along which the top is reached.