It's 'quicker and easier' to climb Everest than ever before! Mountain's notorious near-vertical 40ft rock face called Hillary Step has collapsed and is now just a 'snow slope', say climbers

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A rocky outcrop below the summit of Mount Everest is now just a slope, making it quicker and easier than ever before to get to the top.

Climbers returning from the mountain this month have confirmed that a rock face known as the Hillary Step, named after the first man to climb the mountain Edmund Hillary, has collapsed.

The mountaineers have unanimously said that what was once a near-vertical 12 metre (40 feet) rock face is now a gradual snowy slope which makes the final ascent to Everest's peak quicker and easier.

Mountaineers in 2009 use ropes to help navigate the surface on the lead up to Hillary Step (circled), a near-vertical 40ft rock face situated beneath the peak of Mount Everest in Nepal

A recent photo of the Hillary Step now shows how the face has collapsed into a snowy slope making it considerably easier for climbers to pass

The Hillary Step is situated on the final climb to the summit of Everest, which is reached roughly 20 minutes after mountaineers pass the once tricky facade

'The Hillary Step is not like we've known it to be,' said Nepali guide Dawa Phinjo Lama Bhote, one of seven climbers AFP spoke to.

'A big stone of about five metres is gone. The area is now easier to climb,' added the seven-time Everest summiteer.

Experts say that the collapse could have been caused by an earthquake or climate change.

This would mean that broadcaster Ben Fogle, who reached the top last week, had an easier climb to the summit than virtually every other climber in history.

The step formed part of a narrow, exposed ridge connecting Everest's south summit (8,749 metres) with the true summit (8,848 metres).

Hillary and Tenzing Norgay famously scrambled up the sheer step in 1953 when they became the first climbers to conquer Everest.

Since that first successful summit, all climbers summiting Everest via the southern route have used ropes to pull themselves up the formidable obstacle, before swinging one leg over a 'saddle' at the top.

But straddling the top boulder and shuffling along the precipice is no longer necessary.

Another recent photo from social media shows mountaineers ascend Everest on the approach to the Hillary Step that is now being likened to a snowy slope

In 2009, climbers pause ahead of tackling the Hillary Step as they prepare to make their way up the south side of the world's tallest mountain

'The Hillary Step has changed. We now climb it on the right hand side going up a snow slope,' said British climber Kenton Cool, who made his 13th summit of Everest last week.

'It clearly doesn't have the little corner between the snow and the rock that used to be there. There's not the rock on the top of the step that you used to go 'à cheval' (straddle) and shuffle along.'

Climbers say the disappearance of the step has left little more than an undulating ridge to the summit.

'The area of the Hillary's Step is a moderately steep snow ridge, but does not stand out more prominently than any other section between the south summit and main summit,' said a climber who declined to be named.

TV star Ben Fogle finished his summit up Everest on April 16, meaning he had an easier climb to the top than virtually every other climber in history 

Climbers began speculating in 2016 that a powerful earthquake in Nepal the year before could have radically altered the step.

Geologists, however, have questioned if the 7.8-magnitude earthquake was powerful enough to shift rocks near Everest's summit, which stands 450 kilometres (280 miles) east of the epicentre.

Climate change has emerged as another possible culprit.

Some peaks in Europe's Alps have been dramatically altered by warming temperatures as ice has repeatedly melted and refrozen, loosening rock and causing landslides.

But Dr Jeffrey Kargel of the US-based Planetary Science Institute said Everest's extreme altitude would protect the Step from such a 'freeze-thaw' cycle.

'It is far too cold near Everest's summit, even on sunny summer days and (at) high noon,' said the climate change scientist, leaving the question of what has happened to the fabled rock hanging.

Nepali authorities — who make millions from climbers paying to ascend Everest each year — last year insisted it remained unchanged.

Head of Nepal's tourism department Dinesh Bhattarai this year stood by that claim, saying: 'I have not heard anything different this year.' 

Meanwhile, climbers told AFP they were instructed by the department not to speak to the press about the fabled step, and warned they could face a mountaineering ban if they did. 

The question of what has happened to the fabled rock leading to the summit of Everest remains unanswered

On Monday, a celebrated Japanese climber who lost all but one finger to frostbite on Everest died on his eighth attempt to reach the summit.

Nobukazu Kuriki, 35, had fallen ill and was descending when his team lost contact with him. He is the third climber this month to perish on the world's highest peak.

Yesterday, two Sherpa guides were also confirmed dead bringing the death toll on the world's highest peak to five this climbing season.

The Nepalese Tourism Department issued a record 371 permits last year to people to scale the 8,850-meter (29,035-foot) mountain, compared with 289 in 2016. 

An equal number or more Nepalese Sherpa guides accompany the mountaineers. 

The 2015 season was scrapped after 19 climbers were killed and 61 injured by an avalanche at the base camp triggered by a massive earthquake. In 2014, an avalanche at the Khumbu Icefall killed 16 Sherpa guides.

Climbers who had permits for the 2014 season were allowed to receive a free replacement permit until 2019, while climbers with 2015 permits were given only until this year. Climbers normally must pay $11,000 to the government for a permit.

The best month to climb Everest is May, when there usually are several periods of favorable weather on the summit.