Everest's Hillary Step: Has it gone or not?
Days after a British mountaineer claimed that a famous rock feature near the summit of Mount Everest had disintegrated, two Nepali climbers have contradicted him.
So has the Hillary Step collapsed, and if not, why the confusion?
Surely it's either there or it's not?
The Hillary Step is a 12-metre (39ft) rock face, forming the last great obstacle before the summit of Everest - wouldn't it be hard to miss?
Yes, says British mountaineer Tim Mosedale, who reached the summit on 16 May for the sixth time. He confirmed the step's disappearance to the BBC on Sunday, saying it was "definitely not there any more", and was most likely a victim of Nepal's 2015 earthquake.
But Pasang Tenzing Sherpa, a high-altitude guide who just returned from the mountain, insisted to BBC Nepali on Monday that the step was intact.
Ang Tshering Sherpa, President of Nepal Mountaineering Association, agreed. "Nothing has happened to Hillary Step as a result of the earthquake," he told BBC Nepali. "It's only that only a small portion of the rock is visible, the rest is under snow."
But Mr Mosedale and other climbers will not be swayed. "It's gone," he said adamantly again on Monday evening, via Facebook. "There's not enough snow to cover what was a MASSIVE block."
He has posted pictures which he says proves his point, and he plans to take more as he heads back to the summit on Monday evening, guiding other climbers.
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