Ueli Steck died at age 40 in an accident on Nuptse in the Himalayas, he was one of the finest alpinists ever. The “Swiss machine” had a focus unlike many climbers that helped him break speed records on some of the biggest challenges in the Alps, most famously the original route on the north face of the Eiger. He set the speed record in November 2015 at two hours, 22 minutes and 55 seconds. Steck once said, “Speed is nothing new, but the times are.”
In 2007, on his first expedition to Annapurna, a falling rock knocked him out and he fell 300 metres to a glacier. He awoke with a concussion and was found by a team member who spotted him. The following year, trying the same objective, he became involved in a heroic attempt to save the Spanish climber Iñaki Ochoa. In borrowed boots, climbing alone and wading at times through chest-deep snow, Steck managed to reach the Spaniard, who had suffered a stroke high on the mountain, and inject him with steroids. Despite Steck’s best efforts, Ochoa died the following day.
His target for spring 2017 was the traverse of Everest and Lhotse, he died on a training day. He once climbed Shishapangma, the world’s 14th highest mountain, in only 20 hours. Steck started his working life as a carpenter, but was in demand as a public speaker. He was one of the first alpinists to embrace social media and rose to the top with big sponsors and continuous trips.
He used an Olympic coach and focused on training as much as climbing. Steck’s ascent of a new route on the south face of Annapurna in October 2013 drew criticism from his peers because he climbed alone, doing the hardest section at night, but also lost his camera and failed to keep a GPS track. Two Sherpas witnessed seeing his headlamp above all difficulties and his account was enough to satisfy the jury of the influential Piolet d’Or, which gave him his second such award. His achievement was hailed as a landmark in mountaineering history.
In the summer of 2015, Steck, with various partners, climbed all 82 peaks in the Alps over 4,000 m, cycling, running and even paragliding between each mountain, in only 62 days.
In Memory Film
Steck climbed Everest without bottled oxygen in 2012 and found himself at the centre of a confrontation with Sherpas the following spring, while preparing for the same traverse of Everest and Lhotse that he was planning to attempt in 2017. The event went viral and Steck, wholly blameless in the affair, became severely depressed.
Steck was also an accomplished big wall free climber. In 2009, Steck fell only once on an onsight bid on the free big wall Golden Gate VI 5.13b on El Capitan. He slipped on the 5.11 crack off El Cap Spire while on his honeymoon with his wife, Nicole, because the crack was wet. He met Nicole at an ice-climbing competition and climbed the north face of the Eiger with her.
In Canada, he would often visit the Canadian Rockies during winter. In 2007, Steck stormed the scene and established a number of bold and still unrepeated routes, as well as repeated other classics. First, he and Simon Anthamatten climbed the 800-metre Polarity VI WI6 and added a 50-metre serac pitch; then they climbed Riptide VI WI6/7 225 m; then made the first ascent of Rocketbaby VI M8+ WI5+X; he then soloed Sacre Bleu WI5+ and Ten Years After WI5+ M5; then with Anthamatten climbed the new Not Flying is Not Trying M8 WI6 on all natural gear; before finishing their trip with the first ascent of Cockfight M9+ WI5+.
About the still unrepeated Rocketbaby, Steck said, “After pitch three there is a WI5+X pitch. This pitch is 59 metres long and there is no real protection. You have to just keep climbing and trust your ice tools. We topped out around 5 p.m. and we finished a perfect day at 7:30 p.m. in Lake Louise by having a coffee. Another great day in the Canadian Rockies.”
Steck was one of the greatest alpinists of all time. His Instagram page is still up and people continue to leave messages on his posts (see below). We’ll end this with a quote by Steck: “I like to be alone. I am focused on what I am doing. I feel the nature and I feel my body. It’s so simple.”
