Pen-y-Gwryd expeditions took place, at Helyg near Capel Curig. On the right at the hotel entrance there is a Tyrolean-style Stüberl (dining room) with the signatures, written on the ceiling, of the teams that did the first ascent of Everest in 1953 and of the first ascent of Kangchenjunga in 1955 – these include Sir Edmund Hillary, Tenzing Norgay, Sir John Hunt, Charles Evans, George Band, Joe Brown, John Angelo Jackson, Wilfred Noyce, Tony Streather, Tom Mackinnon, Norman Hardie, Neil Mather, John Clegg and others, including Noel Odell from Mallory's 1924 expedition and Chris Bonington of later successes. There are many
Hillary Step but did offer some protection from the elements. An unaided Hillary Step climb was rated as a Class 4 rock climb, but at almost altitude. When Hillary and Tenzing first climbed the Hillary Step on 29 May 1953, they climbed the crack between the snow and the rock. Hillary reported that the snow on the step was harder than at lower elevation. In later years ascent and descent over the Step has generally been made with the assistance of fixed ropes, usually placed there by the first ascending team of the season. With increasing numbers of people climbing the mountain,