Famed Swiss mountaineer
UELI STECK
Afamed Swiss climber acclaimed for his rapid ascents — including scaling dozens of peaks in the Alps in a little more than two months — has died in a mountaineering accident near Mt. Everest in Nepal, expedition organizers and officials said.
Ueli Steck died Sunday at Camp 1 of Mt. Nuptse, Mingma Sherpa of Seven Summit Treks said. Steck’s body was taken to Lukla, where the only airport in the Mt. Everest area is located.
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,” his family said on Steck’s website.
Nepalese mountaineering officials said Monday that Steck’s death was accidental and would not require an investigation.
“It was an unfortunate mountaineering accident, and we are not planning any specific investigation,” Durga Dutta Dhakal of the tourism department said, adding that a police report was being prepared and an autopsy would be done.
Ang Tshering of the Nepal Mountaineering Assn. said Steck was climbing alone when he died because his accompanying Sherpa had frostbite.
Steck was planning to climb Mt. Everest and nearby Mt. Lhotse next month.
He was the first casualty in Nepal’s spring mountaineering season, which began in March and will end in May. Hundreds of foreign climbers are in the Himalayan region to attempt to climb peaks in May, when weather is most favorable.
Steck, 40, 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 peak in the Bernese Alps that he climbed in two hours and 47 minutes without a rope.
In 2013, he achieved the first solo climb of Annapurna’s 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, Steck decided to climb all 82 peaks in the Alps higher than 13,100 feet, traveling between mountains by foot, bike and paraglider only. He completed the feat in 62 days, helping cement his reputation as the “Swiss Machine.”
Steck considered himself an “outsider” in the mountaineering scene because athletic achievement was more important to him than adventure.
In a recent post on his website, Steck mused about the transience of success in mountaineering and the inevitable decline that comes with age.
“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.”
Steck suffered a setback during his last trip to Everest, in 2013, when he became involved in an altercation with a group of local guides. On his return this year, he aimed to perform a quick climb of Everest and Lhotse, including an overnight stop at more than 26,000 feet, an altitude that’s known as the “death zone” because of the thin air.
Asked about the upcoming expedition, Steck told Swiss daily TagesAnzeiger in an interview last month: “When I’m on Everest, I can stop at any point. The risk is therefore quite small. For me it’s primarily a physical project. Either I get through, or I don’t have the strength for the whole traversal.”
“Of course I want to climb Everest and Lhotse,” Steck told the paper when asked about his measure of success. “But that’s a very high goal. Failure for me would be to die and not come home.”