According to the UK's Daily Telegraph, the Nepal Mountaineering Association plans to install ladders near the summit of Mount Everest to alleviate overcrowding among climbers reaching the top.
The report states that the ladders will be placed on the step at an altitude of 8,839.2 meters close to the summit of Mount Everest, a section formerly named after the first Everest explorer Sir Edmund Hillary, known as the "Hillary Step." It is the final obstacle before reaching the summit, which all climbers must pass—both ascending and descending—and only one person can go through at a time. Now, with hundreds of climbers attempting the summit each year, this area has become a bottleneck, forcing many to wait their turn.
May 26, 2013, marked the 60th anniversary of Sir Hillary’s first ascent of Mount Everest, and Nepal plans to install ladders at the "Hillary Step." Dawa Steven Sherpa, a senior official of the Nepal Mountaineering Association, said: “We are currently discussing the installation of ladders at the Hillary Step, but there is still controversy. It would make climbing easier, and while it may be considered from a safety perspective, it could also be the wrong move.”
The plan to install ladders has received support from Frits Vrijlandt, president of the International Climbing and Mountaineering Federation. He said the ladders could be restricted for descent-only use, thus not affecting the difficulty of the climb.