I feel like 7k was always a deliberate tall tale. Like, 700 is just too believable and not awe inducing enough to attract pilgrims, you know?

The Graybeards must surely have such strong thighs under their robes.

I never struggled with the frost troll, tbh.

I like the theory that there are 7000 steps but as the mountain is one of the towers holding up the world (like red mountain and the adamantine tower) time is warped as you step so you don't experience all the steps.

In the game world I always just assumed a lot of the steps were destroyed over time by landslides, or obscured by snow.