Some people worry about the cables; After doing both, I'd gladly do the cables twice and skip these steps, if that were possible.
At over 8000 feet altitude, this sea-level dweller found it worked best to stop every 3-4 steps and wait until my body discovered that I was out of breath.
I've heard various names for this...the granite steps on sub-dome, quarter dome, etc., but the one that describes it best is "satan's staircase" 8^)