What mountaineer may seek to maintain crossing face of Everest (7)
I believe the answer is:
toehold
'what mountaineer may seek' is the definition.
I can't tell whether this definition defines the answer.
'to maintain crossing face of everest' is the wordplay.
'maintain' becomes 'hold' (synonyms).
'crossing' is an insertion indicator (to cross can mean to go over or around).
'face of' indicates taking the first letters.
The first letter of 'everest' is 'e'.
'to'+'hold'='tohold'
'tohold' enclosing 'e' is 'TOEHOLD'.
Can you help me to learn more?
(Other definitions for toehold that I've seen before include "Advantageous position" , "Precarious footing?" , "Small established position" , "Position of initial advantage from which further substantial progress might be made" , "Minor position from which further progress may be made" .)