We are elderly couple : how steep the climbs in Summer palace

Reading comments a bit confused about the steepness of the climbs in both rear hill area and the front hill area. If we enter from the North gate is the climb and the steps steep and/or difficult. also we need to know about the difficulty climbing the front hill.
If we get down at Xihuan metro station (one next to Beigomanen) how much walking distance to the East gate (as an alternative to the North Gate) What transport also available from station to the east gate