Famed Swiss climber Ueli Steck killed in fall close to Mount Everest

Famed Swiss climber Ueli Steck was killed yesterday in a mountaineering accident near Mount Everest in Nepal, expedition organisers have said.

Ueli Steck, 40, nicknamed the Swiss Machine, died after falling to the foot of Mount Nuptse, a smaller peak in the area, said Mingma Sherpa of the Seven Summits Treks company that organised Steck’s expedition.

His body has been recovered from the site and been taken to Lukla, where the only airport in the Mount Everest area is located.

Mr Steck’s family said the exact circumstances of his death were still unclear.

“The family is infinitely sad and asks that the media refrain from speculating about his death out of respect and consideration for Ueli,” it said in a statement on Mr Steck’s website.

The Swiss climber was planning to climb 8,850m (29,035ft) Mount Everest and nearby Mount Lhotse next month.

He was the first casualty in the spring mountaineering season in Nepal that began in March and will end in May. Hundreds of foreign climbers are on the mountains to attempt scale Himalayan peaks in May when there are a few windows of favourable weather.

The 40-year-old Steck was one of the most-renowned mountaineers of his generation. He was best known for his speed-climbing, including setting several records for ascending the north face of the Eiger, a classic mountaineering peak in the Bernese Alps that he climbed in two hours and 47 minutes without using a rope.

In 2013 he achieved the first solo climb of the Annapurna south face in Nepal after almost losing his life in a fall there in 2007. For that he received the “Piolet d’or” – considered the Oscar of mountaineering – the following year.

In 2015, Mr Steck decided to climb all 82 peaks in the Alps higher than 4,000m (13,100ft) travelling between mountains by foot, bike and paraglider only. He completed the feat in 62 days, helping cement his reputation as the “Swiss Machine”.

The renowned mountaineer once said he considered himself an “outsider” in the mountaineering scene because athletic achievement was more important to him than adventure.

“A record is broken again and again, and the world keeps on turning,” he wrote. “You are getting older and there comes a time when you have to adjust your projects to your age.”