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A famous feature near the summit of Mount Everest, known as the Hillary Step, has collapsed, potentially making the world's highest peak even more dangerous for climbers. Last year, pictures appeared to show a change in shape to the 12-metre rocky outcrop, named after Sir Edmund Hillary, the first person to scale the mountain. It is thought to have been destroyed in Nepal's 2015 earthquake, but snow coverage made the news hard to confirm. British mountaineer Tim Mosedale confirmed the collapse after he reached the summit this week. "It's official — The Hillary Step is no more," he said in...

Italian mountaineer conquers Nanga Parbat but 10 minutes was all he could allow himself to enjoy his achievement Simone Moro stood atop Pakistan's "Killer Mountain" last week and observed the curve of the Earth -- a view which had never been seen by anyone in winter until the climber and his team conquered Nanga Parbat. The expedition had taken three months and came more than six decades after the mountain was first summited, but 10 minutes was all Moro could allow himself to enjoy his achievement. "Now you have to come back... But you are so completely exhausted," the...

SYDNEY (AP) — Mountaineer Lincoln Hall, who was rescued a day after being given up for dead near the summit of Everest in 2006, died Wednesday of cancer in Australia. He was 56. Hall reached the peak of the world's highest mountain but became gravely ill from oxygen deprivation during the descent. His guides helped him initially then left to save their own lives. American guide Daniel Mazur, his two clients and a Sherpa guide were just two hours from the 29,035-foot peak on the morning of May 26 when they came across Hall, who had been left alone a...

MIAMI -- Global Positioning System technology is turning up in more and more devices, like watches and cellphones. But a Miami company has used the technology to develop shoes that can be located anywhere in the world. The shoes' developer Sayo Isaac Daniel said people can forget to carry their phones, but they can't leave the house without their shoes. The design allows wearers to press a hidden button to send a distress signal. The Quantum Satellite Technology shoes are planned to hit stores in March at a price of $325 to $350.

Fervent hopes and a brief break in the weather brought no satisfaction to relatives and friends of three climbers missing on the dangerous north side of Mount Hood. The clear, cold morning turned foul by midday Saturday, before searchers on two sides of the mountain and helicopter crews retired for the night because of weather and darkness, finding no trace of the three men. The Hood River County sheriff's office, a lead agency in the search, said efforts would continue Sunday. On Saturday, a C-130 with infrared heat-seeking capability from the Nevada Air National Guard took to the skies over...

It starts with mumbling and stumbling. Then come violent shivers and then, paradoxically, a false sense of warmth that makes some people strip their clothes off. Eventually, they may curl into a fetal position as their muscles go rigid, their skin goes waxy, and the heart slows down, then stops. Whether two climbers missing on Mount Hood for more than a week are still alive is not clear. But if they are somehow still hanging on in the brutal cold and howling winds, perhaps hunkered down in a snow cave, they may be going through what veteran climbers say is...

One climber found dead on Mt. Hood

A missing climber found dead in a snow cave on Mount Hood was identified as a Dallas man who had placed a distress call to relatives a little more than a week ago, a person close to the family said Monday. Searchers found the cave Sunday near the spot located by cell phone signals traced from Kelly James, who made a four-minute call to his family Dec. 10 just below the summit, said Jessica Nunez, a spokeswoman for the climber's family. On Monday, a recovery team was expected to retrieve the body, which remained on the mountain over night because...

December 17. 2006 11:50PM Raceland man informed his brother died on Mount Hood A Raceland man was told by authorities tonight that his brother’s body was the one rescuers found during a search for three missing climbers near the summit of Mt. Hood in Oregon. Ben James traveled to Oregon Friday to join other family members as they awaited word during a search often thwarted by difficult conditions. He said his brother, Kelly James, a Texas architect, was an experienced climber. Ben James said he was told the body was found in an ice cave that he was building for...

Search stymied, but families hang on Hood - With harsh conditions, crews discuss the difficulty of survival for the three climbers Thursday, December 14, 2006 MATTHEW PREUSCH and STUART TOMLINSON The Oregonian GOVERNMENT CAMP -- No one went far up the slopes of Mount Hood on Wednesday, and nothing came down but wind, rain and snow. Searchers looking for three climbers missing since last week were unable to get far above the tree line because of knock-down winds and blinding snow. And it's expected to get worse today. "We're limited," said Bernie Wells, search coordinator for the Hood River-based Crag...

Sir Edmund Hillary expresses regret and indignation over recent incident where Everest climbers allow fellow climber to die.

KATHMANDU (AFP) - Seven French climbers and 11 Nepalese mountain guides were killed in a massive avalanche last week in the northwest of Nepal, the head of the Himalayan Rescue Association said. "All the team members of the French Mount Kangaru expedition have died," Bikram Neupane, president of the Himalayan Rescue Association, told reporters Monday in the capital after he visited the site and talked to rescue teams. The private association sent a 10-member rescue team to find survivors of the October 20 avalanche, Neupane said. The lead rescuer, Padam Ghale, told him that the snow depth precluded finding anyone...

Ian Ith, Staff Reporter of the Seattle Times. Pete Schoening's name will forever be etched in the annals of mountaineering for his conquests of many of the highest and most treacherous peaks on Earth. For being one of the first two Westerners to summit the remote Pakistani peak Gasherbrum I, a 26,470-foot monster also called "Hidden Peak," Mr. Schoening is listed among such luminaries as Sir Edmund Hillary, the first to scale Everest, as one of the world's renowned climbers. But whether the famously humble man wanted it this way or not, climbers will forever associate the name Pete Schoening...