Great north faces of the Alps), for which he received the nickname "Swiss Machine".

Died on April 30, 2017 in the Himalayas during an acclimatization trip in preparation for a high-speed passage of the Everest-Lhotse traverse without the use of additional oxygen.

I grew up near the mountains and started climbing at the age of 12. I discovered them for myself, and it was an omen. Mountaineering is an ideal way to learn to think and learn at the same time. The rules are simple and obvious. If you didn't take a sleeping bag, you'll be cold. If you are not strong enough, you will not be able to climb...

Already at the age of 17, Uli climbed the eastern ridge on (a 30-pitch route with a difficulty of 5.10 on the YDS scale), and a year later (in 1995) together with Markus Iff (eng. Markus Iff) he climbed in two days in alpine style The northern face of the Eiger (according to the classics, which later, in total, was climbed more than three dozen times, including along new routes). Over the next few years, he honed his skills on classic alpine routes. In 1998, Uli soloed the 1000-meter Haston Couloir to the top of Mönch (TD + (fr. très difficile) - " extremely difficult"according to the French scale), in winter 2001 he climbed Pointe Walker (Grand Jorasses) along the ridge of the same name (English: Walker Spur) (an extremely difficult route over 1200 meters long) and in the same year made the first ascent in the Himalayas (c) along the western face at Pumori (1400 meters, M4 [M scale]). A year later in Alaska, he and Sean Easton laid new route Blood from a stone (Blood From the Stone)(5.9-A1-M7-AI6+, 1600 m) on, considered one of the most impressive first ascents in this region in the first decade of the 21st century.

Steck's focus always remained on the north wall of the Eiger. By the beginning of the new millennium, Uli had climbed it along almost all previously laid routes. On October 15, 2001, together with him, he climbed to the top along his own new route along the center of the northern wall - The Young Spider (Young spider), 1800 meters, A2, W16/M7. In 2003 (after two unsuccessful attempts to climb the northern face of Jeanne) on June 29-30 - in two days, Steck, together with Siegrist, climbed the redpoint route (“pure” climbing without using stationary belay points) La Vida es Silbar(900 meters, 7C, V [via Red Rock]).

Having already made a name in the mountaineering community, Steck became most famous in 2004 after free climbing (without using ropes) an extra-difficult alpine route along the edge Excalibur(5.10d) (the ascent was filmed from a helicopter by his friend and professional photographer Robert Boesch, and these pictures were later spread around the largest Swiss media). Uli did not fail to capitalize on his sharply increased popularity with sponsorship from famous brands such as Wenger, Scarpa, Petzl, Mountain Hardwear and others, and since then his name has become the eponymous brand associated with new mountaineering achievements. Regarding this impressive sponsorship, Steck stated: “ I want to live from climbing... I don't want to live in a pickup truck» .

In June of the same 2004, he and Siegrist climbed the northern walls of the Eiger, Mönch and Jungfrau in just 25 hours (it took them nine hours to complete the route Heckmair to the Eiger, three hours for the route Lauper to Mönch and five hours for the route Lauper on the Jungfrau - at the last of the total time they spent three hours covering only the last 150 meters). A year later, Uli took part in the Khumbu-Express Expedition, during which he made the first solo ascents of the north wall(6440 m) and the eastern wall (6505 m), and in the winter of 2006 (from January 7 to 11) he walked his own route to the Eiger for five days, but already solo Young spider .

A year later, on February 21, 2007, Ueli Steck set a world speed record for ascent on the north face of the Eiger (via the classic route), reaching the summit in 3 hours 54 minutes, improving the previous speed record set in 2003 by 36 minutes (according to statistics This was Steck’s 22nd ascent of the wall, and by that time he had spent 48 days of his life on the wall). In the spring, Steck made his first solo attempt on the South Face of Annapurna, which ended on May 21 with a fall from a 300-meter height, and only by miracle did the climber survive (he was swept off the wall by a rockfall and then managed to independently reach the base camp).

2008 was the culmination of the Swiss's career. On 13 February he broke his own speed record for climbing the Eiger, improving his time to 2 hours 47 minutes 33 seconds. On April 24, together with Simon Anthamatten (German: Simon Anthamatten), he made the first ascent in alpine style on the northwest face of Teng Kang Poche (6,487 m, VI, M7+/M6, A0, 85 deg., 2000 m ), for which the bundle was awarded the highest award in mountaineering - the Golden Ice Ax award (2009). In May (together with Anthamatten) he made a second attempt to climb the South Face of Annapurna, but it was unsuccessful - instead of a solo program, Uli participated in the rescue of a Spanish climber, who developed pulmonary edema at altitude. Steck, with medicines at an accelerated pace, despite the high avalanche danger, rose from the base camp (3000 m below) to 7400 m in three days and tried to save him, but the efforts were in vain, and the Spaniard died in his arms. After this tragedy, Uli admitted that he would need time to return to the mountains again. However, at the end of the year, on December 28, he made the fastest ascent in history to the Grande Jorasses along the North Face (to the Pointe Walker peak) along the route Colton - Mc'Intyre(Colton-MacIntyre Route, M6, WI6, 1200 m) - 2 hours 21 minutes (Steck had not previously climbed this route; for the ascent he took with him a 50-meter bay of 5 mm rope [K 1], two ice screws, two bolts and four carbines, but he didn’t need this arsenal either). Two more weeks later - on January 13, 2009 - Steck set an absolute record for completing the first three, covering 1000 vertical meters in 1:56 ( Schmid Route) along the North Face of the Matterhorn. On May 30, 2008, Ueli Steck in Grindelwald became the first laureate of the Eiger Award, established in the same year, awarded for “ popularization of mountaineering through our own achievements» .

The Swiss devoted the next few years of his career to climbing in the Himalayas. In February 2011, he launched his ambitious Project Himalaya (sponsored by Mountain Hardwear), during which it was planned to make high-speed ascents of three eight-thousanders, including Everest, within one season (April - May). On April 17, in just ten and a half hours, he solo climbed the southwest face from the base camp on Shisha Pangmu (8027 m) (20 hours ascent/descent). 18 days later, on May 5, together with the American climber Uli, in less than a day, climbed from the foot to the top of Cho Oyu (8188 m) - the sixth highest peak in the world, and on May 21, together with Bowie, he attempted to climb to the top of the world, however, due to the risk of frostbite on his legs, he was forced to interrupt it a little over a hundred meters from the final goal. "" [To 3] The following year, on May 18, 2012, Uli, together with Sherpa Tenji Sherpa, climbed Everest along the classic route from the south, and it became the fifth eight-thousander in his career.

... I'm not going to sacrifice any of my fingers to Everest... So it's better to go down. Everest will remain, and I can return!

Also in 2012, “Swiss Machine” Ueli Steck performed in a role that was not quite usual for him. On August 18-19, together with Markus Zimmerman (German: Markus Zimmerman), in less than 15 hours he completed “ climbing-paragliding transition» along the Jungfrau-Mönch-Eiger route. The partners took off on paragliders with a tailwind from the observation deck of a restaurant at the top of the Schilthorn, after 6 km of flight they landed on the other side of the valley, climbed 1000 meters in altitude to the shelter, where they spent the evening, “ enjoying the beautiful sunset" At 3 a.m. the couple began climbing the Rottalgrat ridge (German: Rottalgrat), and already at 8 a.m. from the top of the Jungfrau they flew in the direction of Mönch, the foot of the northern wall of which Uli reached after 27 minutes of flight (Zimmerman was carried by the wind to the other side of the mountain). Climbing the route in 1 hour 55 minutes Lauper to the top, Steck flew towards the shelter on the eastern ridge of the same name of the Eiger. Having safely reached it, Uli followed it at 15:13 to the last peak of the famous trio, “in”. Having descended a little along the western ridge, Uli paraglided down again and landed at exactly 17.00 in the parking lot of the village, where a car was waiting for him.

another, countless times, but still an exciting and special moment for me

In April 2013, Ueli Steck and his team (Simone Moro and high altitude cameraman Jonathan Griffith [ Jonathan Griffith]) found themselves at the center of an international mountaineering scandal. As part of the planned implementation of the Everest-Lhotse traverse project, the Uli group, during the acclimatization trip along the classic route from the south, due to the inconsistency of their actions with the Sherpa guides [K 4], hanging ropes between the high-altitude camps on the eve of the start of the season, after descending to Camp II was subjected to physical attack by the latter due to an allegedly dropped piece of ice from above. This incident, as a real threat to the life and health of Steck and his partners, not only led to the unscheduled end of the expedition (despite the “peace agreement” signed later), but also to a comprehensive discussion of the conflict in the mountaineering community and, naturally, media coverage. However, already in the fall, Ueli Steck returned to the Himalayas again to try for the third time to climb the South Face of Annapurna, and this time his attempt was successful - on October 9 (within 28 hours of ascent/descent from the base camp), Steck was the first in the world to climb soloed one of the most technically difficult walls on an eight-thousander (along an unfinished route in 1992), for which in 2014 he became a two-time winner of the Golden Ice Axe. After the ascent, Uli stated: "" [K 5].

I think I've finally found my altitude limit; if I climb anything more difficult than this, I'll definitely kill myself. But I really wanted to go through something technical like this.

Not stopping there, on March 17, 2014, Uli, together with a German climber, climbed all three northern walls of the Tre Cime di Lavaredo massif for the first time in winter in a record 15 hours 42 minutes (along the route Cassina on Chima-Ovest, Komichi on Cima Grande and Innerkofler on Cima Piccola), and at the end of 2015 he broke the record for the speed of ascent on the north face of the Eiger for the third time, climbing it alone in 2 hours 22 minutes and 50 seconds, thus becoming the absolute record holder for speed ascents on the great northern walls of the Alps (Uli's previous record for speed climbing the Eiger in 2008 was broken by a Swiss on April 20, 2011, his time was 2 hours 28 minutes).

In the same 2015, in just 62 days, Steck climbed all 82 alpine peaks over 4000 meters high, although according to the original plan he allocated 80 days for the implementation of this project. Of these, 31 were completed solo, and 51 with various partners, including his own wife Nicole, Michi Woleben and others. This brilliant achievement, however, was overshadowed by the death of the Dutch climber Martijn Seuren as a result of a fall in the Mont Blanc massif.

In the spring of 2016, Ueli Steck, together with the German climber Dafyd Göttler (German: David Göttler), intended to climb a new route along the South Face of Shisha Pangma, but due to weather conditions it was not successful. As part of this expedition, climbers discovered the remains of the American team and David Bridges (We are all inclined to talk about more modest intentions, but if we succeed in achieving something more ambitious, why not report it. The Horseshoe is extremely difficult, no one has climbed it. But if who was capable of this was only Ueli Steck... He was the one who made the impossible possible

Despite his impeccable reputation, the facts of the ascent of Shisha Pangma 2011 and Annapurna 2013, for which Ueli Steck received his second Golden Ice Ax, were questioned by the mountaineering community, since Ueli was unable, first of all, to provide only direct (photo, video) evidence of being on the peaks, but also even indirect - GPS data, hand altimeter, etc. Steck’s main accuser of falsifying these achievements was the French journalist Rodolphe Popier, who in his investigation, in addition listed facts, drew attention to many other factors. Among them are discrepancies in the testimony of Uli himself, the unevenness of the rhythm during ascents (at the highest and most difficult sections of the climb, Uli’s speed increased significantly compared to simpler sections of the route), and the inconsistency of the testimony of outside observers with those presented by Steck. One of the weighty arguments “against” Annapurna was the fact that ten days later a French team climbed Annapurna along Steck’s route, but they found no traces of Uli above his bivouac. However, according to the French themselves, during the 10 days that separated the ascent, a half-meter layer of snow fell on Annapurna, which, naturally, hid all traces.

The arguments of the critics, reflected in the reports of Rodolphe Popier, were considered at the International Forum on Proof in Mountaineering under the auspices of Piolets d’Or. As of 2017, there is no question about the inconsistency of Ueli Steck's claims regarding the ascents of Shisha Pangma and Annapurna.

Ueli Steck was married to Nicole Steck. He spoke French, English and Italian.

His achievements were not the result of a combination of nature-given physical and emotional qualities with motivation. Back in 2007, after climbing the Eiger, being, in his own opinion, at the peak of his athletic form, Ueli was examined at the Swiss Federal Institute of Sports Magglingen, which, based on the results of the research, issued a short verdict: “ Out of shape unsympathisch My main source of inspiration is my thirst for learning. Knowledge gives freedom. To acquire this knowledge, you need to study. To be free, you need to be calm, and to be calm, you need long and painful training. In order to achieve mastery top level, you need to fully immerse yourself in the sport, you need passion, but at the same time you must accept, feel that you are just starting out, like a student, and continue to study. This is important to understand if you want to be a professional and strive for success.

According to World Radio Switzerland, the strongest Swiss climber is currently undergoing acclimatization before climbing the southeast ridge of Everest without the use of oxygen. In an interview from base camp three days ago, Uli stated: “If I don't quit the game, I'll die sooner rather than later.”.

Ueli Steck, whose achievements are covered by Rock and Ice magazine, is best known for his record-breaking solo speed ascents of the Eiger North Face (2:47), the Grandes Jorasses North Face (2:21), the Matterhorn North Face (1:56) and for using his signature style - high-speed soloing in the Himalayas - in 2011, like lightning, he ran up Shisha Pangma (8027 m) in just 10 hours 30 minutes.

This spring, Steck arrived in the Everest region with Freddie Wilkinson, who had recently received the Piolet d'Or award for the first alpine ascent of the world's second unclimbed peak, Saser Kangri II (7,518 m - India).

Uli received five permits: Cholatse (6440 m), Lobuche (6145 m), Ama Dablam (6812 m), Taboche (6542 m) and Everest.

On April 16, the Swiss reported climbing Lobuche in preparation for climbing the highest peaks. On April 23, Uli wrote in his blog that he and Wilkinson were forced to turn back when climbing the north face of Cholatze due to too loose snow. Three days later, together with their partner, they climbed to the top of Ama Damblam.

It is unknown whether Ueli Steck will try to set a speed record on Everest, but at least another climber, Chad Kellogg from Seattle, also in the area, is counting on a new speed record without the use of oxygen, which currently belongs to Kazi Sherpa, set by him in 1998 and amounting to 20 hours 24 minutes along the southeastern ridge. The record with oxygen - 8 hours 10 minutes belongs to Pemba Korje Sherpa, who climbed the same ridge in 2004.

Among the hundreds of climbers preparing to climb Everest this spring, everyone's eyes are focused on one person - the “Swiss machine” Ueli Steck, his route and climbing style.

swissinfo.ch: Your latest project is quite ambitious - attempting to climb three challenging Himalayan peaks (Taboche, Cholatse and Ama Dablam) before climbing Everest. Doesn't it bother you that you might covet a piece that you can't swallow?

Ueli Steck: That's right, a busy program, and although my main goal is to reach the top of Everest without oxygen, I would rather climb other peaks than sit around in base camp for two months. Even if I manage to climb at least one peak out of three, that will be something.

swissinfo.ch: You call your project “Khumbu Express”, which makes it seem as if you are running up the mountain and back without taking the time to enjoy it.

U.Sh.: I probably enjoy the mountains more than most people here. Climbers going to Everest climb and descend several times to acclimatize. I go to other peaks, where I admire different things (landscapes). Some people feel like I take on too much, but I prefer to climb mountains rather than sit around doing nothing.

swissinfo.ch: How important is it for you to climb Everest without oxygen?

U.Sh.: Climbing Everest via the classic route is certainly not the greatest achievement of my career. On the other hand, this is the most high point planet and reaching the top without oxygen and the help of Sherpas is a serious challenge. There are several things on my mountaineering bucket list that I would like to achieve, and Everest is one of them.

swissinfo.ch: Is there a lot of pressure on you in your quest to rise to the top of the world?

U.Sh.: I have to be very careful because a lot is expected of me. If I don't quit this game, I'll die sooner rather than later. I have never climbed Everest without oxygen, so this is a serious challenge, even on the classic route. I hear a lot of rumors about my plans, and some of them are nonsense. At the end of the day, I do what I have to do, and if I fail, it's not the end of the world. I no longer feel pressured and I don't care what others say.

swissinfo.ch: You are a true mountaineer, known for your remote and challenging routes. How do you like life at the luxurious and commercial Everest Base Camp?

U.Sh.: There are people involved in commercial expeditions, just like those who climb Everest with oxygen. But when you come here, you have to accept it. Commercial expeditions are not for me, but they bring money to Nepal - a poor country. If you want adventure, don't come to Everest. There are so many other interesting mountains around. Here you can only choose whether to climb with or without oxygen, but giving up the fixed railings is not an option at all.

swissinfo.ch: Will you use railings installed by Sherpas?

U.Sh.: What kind of question is it - to use railings or not? It's like driving a car without wearing a seat belt - stupid, like not checking the weather forecast in advance. I'll probably go without a safety net, but if I decide there's a need for it, I'll probably snap into the ropes.

swissinfo.ch: You're known as a climber who does crazy things, and many people think you might die young. Have you ever felt like you were risking your life?

U.Sh.: First of all, it's too late for me to die young - I'm already 36! And no, I never risked my life. I'm a control freak. When I made a high-speed solo ascent of the north face of the Eiger, I was probably safer than the guys in the ropes - I knew that I wouldn’t fall. It's like going down the stairs - as you move your feet you never think about falling. However, you need to be honest with yourself - such things can only be done in certain periods of life, if you try to repeat them without the necessary skills, you risk a lot. Risk is always associated with your skills, and I trust mine.

swissinfo.ch: Have you ever thought about what you will do if you can no longer climb?

U.Sh.: In the long term, I would like to move away from sponsorship so that I can completely decide what I would like to do. I know for sure that I would like to climb for the rest of my life. When you are sponsored, they put a lot of pressure on you and expect a lot from you - and then suddenly you become too old, even at 36 years old. I'll have to make a living in another way, and I'm already working on it. I’m currently writing my third book and I’m really enjoying this side of my career. I discovered a lot of new things in myself through writing.

swissinfo.ch: Your record for speed climbing the North Face of the Eiger was broken by a young Swiss. What do you think about this?

U.Sh.: That's life - the bars are raised, and I always knew that sooner or later it would happen. I can still be proud of the fact that I opened a new direction in speed climbing.

swissinfo.ch: How do you manage to stay sane as a celebrity?

U.Sh.: It's hard sometimes, especially when I'm treated like a superhero. If it gets really unbearable, I have to tell myself that I'm an ordinary guy - and if I can't (convince myself), then my wife certainly can.

Ueli Steck's family spends the evening ( Gedenkfeier) in his memory in Interlaken on May 24, at the Congress Center Kursaal Interlaken.

Below are two articles from the Swissinfo website

Swiss super-climber Ueli Steck has forever gone down in history with his unforgettable and unique achievements in the field of solo speed climbing. Anyone who believes that records were the meaning and purpose of his entire life is deeply mistaken. At the same time, it is clear that, ultimately, he turned himself into a real machine, functioning like a precise Swiss watch movement. And in this sense, Ueli Steck was and will forever remain the ideal type of a true Swiss.

(AFP)

Ueli Steck, who died last week in the Himalayas, was for the Swiss the living embodiment of all those qualities that, according to outside observers, form the basis of a unique Swiss identity. He was successful, diligent and modest, and he was a man who was not inclined to exaggerate the magnitude of his achievements. Yes, he had successes to his credit, but this was only because before that he had worked hard and received every right to his 15 minutes of fame. Ueli Steck was a very humble man.

By oneself

Moreover, he just as vividly embodied all the values ​​that we Swiss like to ascribe to ourselves. It was literally accurate to the millimeter. He was open-minded, flexible and had a talent for quick and carefully calculated responses. Finally, Ueli Steck was a true born loner. If he forced himself to enter into any alliances or alliances, it was only when it was required by the conditions of the project in which he participated completely voluntarily. He had many friends and practically no enemies. He was respected by everyone he encountered at least once, not to mention those with whom he worked on a regular basis.

It is not surprising, therefore, that his tragic death came as a real shock to Switzerland. He left behind thousands of people whom he somehow met or encountered in the Swiss Alps. Where an ordinary tourist dragged himself heavily to the top, puffing and wiping sweat from his forehead, there Ueli Steck easily pranced on his trained legs, having repealed, as it seemed to many, the law universal gravity, and at the same time a couple more postulates and constants. At the same time, he never turned his nose up at overtaking his fellow citizens who were overweight; he always greeted them politely and kindly, as required by inexorable Swiss etiquette.

He often gave public lectures in which he talked about his plans and views on life and which were one of the sources of his income - and these conversations in the style of "alone with everyone" always enjoyed lasting popularity. Ueli Steck was a talented storyteller, but he never lost the ability to critically evaluate himself.

Motives and guidelines

The main motive of Ueli Steck's entire life was not the constant hunt for meters and records. He simply liked to work on himself, set goals for his body and come up with ways to achieve them. To do this, he endlessly improved both his purely physical form and his climbing technique. He especially liked fitness classes, for which he followed, for example, a strict diet, completely rebuilding his fat and carbohydrate burning system with the goal, as he imagined, of qualitatively improving his athletic performance. There was nothing new in this, but in the end he really managed to widely expand the horizons of the possible, and this perfectly suited his nature, because Ueli Steck admired the seemingly endless possibilities to the same extent human body, in which he admired the mountains, better than which, as you know, there can only be mountains that he has never been to!

And so, step by step, he began to conquer such peaks and conquer such spaces that were already beyond the limits of common sense and rational human reason. Speed ​​climbing became such an attraction, which turned into his distinctive brand, into his brand, which became his strong point. Many simply shook their heads in bewilderment, viewing Ueli Steck's speed records as an expression of his pride, narcissism and even eccentric egoism. Many believed that by doing so he was violating the philosophy that originally underlay the relationship between the Mountains and the Swiss, and the main principles of which were calmness, work, inspiration and respect for the eternal peaks, against the background of which any, even the most “significant” person involuntarily looks small and lost. Ueli Steck did not particularly pay attention to all these commandments, turning the legendary North Face of Mount Eiger into a distance that, it turns out, can be overcome in just 2 hours and 22 minutes.

(SRF-SWI)

Ueli Steck was a man who mercilessly pushed himself forward all the time, and he was absolutely aware of this. That is why he devoted so much time to issues of insurance and safety, and his main focus was not on hooks, ropes and carbines. He was sure that in the mountains, and in life in general, the human factor comes first, and that is why he tirelessly polished, honed and improved all his already almost superhuman abilities. All this turned him into an outstanding athlete and a shining reference for a whole generation of young super-climbers, who have long been trying to conquer not even the mountains, but themselves.

Tendency to extremes

And so the question arises - what should a person do next who has developed his abilities so that for him climbing to the top of 4 thousand meters has long turned into a Sunday run? And he can only do one thing - move the boundary of the possible further and further, set goals for himself that are increasingly incredible and impossible to achieve. There was and could not be any other alternative. This is exactly what the laws of sport - and marketing - required of him!

Less risk, greater endurance, greater peaks - this is how he formulated his main task for himself. Ueli Steck was afraid of death, given the fact that he had already had a couple of opportunities to look into her pewter eyes. And then... Who would have thought that the brilliant racer Michael Schumacher would become a victim of a seemingly routine ski trip? And who would have thought that Ueli Steck would face a similar blow of fate? He knew that sooner or later, simply according to the laws of statistics, a serious misfortune would happen to him. But the death on the side of Mount Nuptse last Sunday? He did not plan this and died while making the most ordinary ascent. He was an outstanding Swiss and a great climber.

Ueli Steck on illusions, speed and heroism

(John Heilprin/swissinfo.ch)

Two weeks ago, the great Swiss mountaineer Ueli Steck died. For the first time, we are publishing an exclusive interview with him, conducted in Basel in 2010.

Grammar requires the past tense - “was”, “climbed”, “passed”, but the mind goes on strike and completely refuses to believe. Will I never see Uli again? Well, at least at his speeches, where he talked about his crazy rise to the top, illustrating them with photographs and videos. After all, this is exactly how we met eight years ago: a minute before the start of Steck’s slide show, I ran into a crowded hall, all the seats were occupied, the audience was waiting, only one young man, thin and inconspicuous, stood between the rows.

Convinced that he was the Swiss equivalent of the grandma-ticketeer of the St. Petersburg theaters, in desperation I rushed to him for help. Quietly, it seems, even silently, he led me across the hall to the only free seat (in the first row!), and then went up onto the stage and turned out to be... Ueli Steck. That same evening, delighted and enchanted, not only by Uli’s records, but also by Uli’s human qualities, I asked him for an interview. In March 2010, I left Zurich for Basel to meet with the world’s coolest extreme climber.

Solo. In free fall

The Swiss Ueli Steck is a superman: he does the impossible. He climbs without oxygen tanks on rocks, on ice, on mixed terrain, on sheer walls at a height where most professional climbers get altitude sickness. He discovers new routes in the mountains and prefers to go through the most difficult of them alone - solo. He rarely uses belay and sets world records for ascent speed.

I'm waiting for Ueli Steck in a private park near Basel, in a rectangular pavilion made entirely of glass. There are no walls, everything is transparent, and I can look at Uli without being seen. He drives up in a car with Bernese license plates, gets out, hanging his bag over his shoulder, and walks towards the pavilion with a very characteristic gait, as if the law of attraction, by special arrangement, binds him weaker to the earth. In a park near Basel, the wind howls for a long time, trying to get through the cracks of the glass pavilion. Steck enters, shivering from the cold.

However, Steck does not take a sleeping bag with him even when he goes to the Himalayas and spends the night on the peaks in thirty-degree frost. In pursuit of speed, he refuses the most necessary things - provisions, a sleeping bag or a safety rope. The lighter the weight, the faster the rise. Few can boast that they have been to an eight-thousander.

Are you frozen?

Yes, I'm frozen. I love it when it's warm!

How do you feel when you are at the top? And in general - how is it up there?

At such a height, of course, there is less oxygen, the air is more rarefied, it is heavier, and it is also cold. Today, not only athletes can climb the eight-thousander. You can buy a commercial tour. Therefore, it is not just a matter of the height at which the peak is located. It’s also a matter of which route to choose and which wall to climb. I choose the most difficult ones or those that no one has walked yet.

The last eight-thousander (out of fourteen in the world) was climbed in 1964. In those years, the most important thing was the maximum height, and the easiest route was chosen. Today, there are completely different trends in mountaineering - extreme climbers are attracted by complexity and inaccessibility.

What about the feeling of loneliness?

Yes, it is, because I go alone, solo. In such cases, you realize that a person cannot equate himself with nature. When you are on a wall of two thousand meters, you spend the night in it, you realize how majestic the mountain world and nature are, how powerful they are.

Why do you prefer solo ascents?

This is the most serious test.

Isn’t it too frivolous to constantly risk your life and tempt fate?

I live very intensely and am very aware of what it means to live. What will happen to us tomorrow, none of us knows, including you. The feeling of complete security is an illusion. I learned this in mountaineering because I constantly put myself in danger. But I didn’t do it lightly; on the contrary, I always knew what risks I was taking. The degree of risk in mountaineering can be calculated; it is important to be well prepared.

Weather forecasts are very accurate these days.

But probably not in the Himalayas.

The Himalayas are much better than Switzerland! Even their forecasts for Switzerland are more accurate than our local ones... Much can be predicted. Perhaps from the outside my “experiments” really look frivolous, but they are not. I am a typical Swiss, very careful, organized, correct. For example, climbing a route like Excalibur seems crazy to an ordinary person.

At first the wall seemed absolutely smooth to me, then I began to study it and saw that it had a structure, irregularities that you could cling to. I mentally created a plan for myself, and in the end, I didn’t think twice about what move to make. I could go this route with eyes closed, I knew all the difficult parts by heart and could draw them on a piece of paper. Good preparation gives a feeling full control over the situation.

Concentration becomes meditation

Exalibur is a three hundred and fifty meter rock wall in the Bernese Highlands. Before climbing without a belay and alone, Ueli Steck climbed there five times with a belay, studying every step, every roughness of the stone, tapping the rock like a doctor tapping a patient’s chest. During the climb to Exalibur, he was so focused that there was simply no room for any thoughts other than those that calculated the next step. There are situations when there is only a second, only now!

At such moments, concentration becomes meditation. In a solo style, you can always - as a last resort - grab a hook and wait for help; in free solo style there are no auxiliary means, you rely only on your own strength. This requires not only excellent physical preparation, but, above all, a flexible psyche, capable of instantly adapting to different situations.

On Exalibur, Uli was watched by chamois. He took salt for them on training climbs, and over time the animals became almost tame and came very close - half a meter. These few chamois made the ascent with Uli and descended the Exalibur with him. But they could not climb the route of an extreme climber - they are excellent climbers, but not as tenacious as Steck. In a small cave in the rock of Exalibur, he left his jade amulet - a gift from a jeweler friend - in gratitude to the mountain for the fact that the extremely difficult and dangerous climb was successful.

I have the impression that you almost personify the mountains; for you they are not just stones, but something living.

For me, all nature is alive, mountains are not just dead mass. I have deep respect for mountains.

Which mountains do you have a special relationship with?

Each is attractive in its own way. But I know that I can’t conquer every peak on Earth—I simply don’t have enough time. It’s hard to say why I go to a particular mountain; it depends on many factors, including accidents. Sometimes mountains that I haven’t been to, maybe even never seen, are attractive to me. Sometimes, on the contrary, there are mountains with which I have already built a relationship - for example, Makalu or Annapurna.

I don't require a reward

Annapurna in the Himalayas is the first eight-thousander mountain to be climbed. Uli was there twice, and both times he had to interrupt the expedition. In 2007, due to a stone falling on him, breaking his protective helmet to smithereens, he lost consciousness and fell as much as three hundred meters. In 2008 - because of one tragic story in the Himalayas on the South Face of Annapurna.

Ueli Steck and his Swiss mountaineer friend, with whom he was preparing the first ascent of the wall, were at base camp when they received a radio call from above, from a height of seven and a half thousand meters, and asked for help. The Spaniard Iñaki Ochoa and his expedition comrade Horia Colibasenu developed altitude sickness. The helicopter called to rescue Iñaki and Horiya could not fly above the base camp, it vibrated and had difficulty keeping itself from capsizing into the gorge.

Ueli Steck took dexemethasone and began to make his way upstairs into the night, into the snow. When, three days later, falling through the snow, having climbed three thousand meters, he reached the climbers, Iñaki could no longer move. For two days, Uli melted the snow, gave him water and injections, while consulting with a doctor in Switzerland. But nothing helped the Spaniard. When Iñaki died, Ueli Steck buried him, throwing his body into a crevice.

For providing assistance to the climbers, Uli, other members of the international expedition (several of them Russian) and the Sherpas received the gold medal of the Spanish government “For merits in sports.” Another award was presented to W. Steck in 2009 - the French Order “Piolet d’or”, the mountaineering “Oscar”.

You have several awards, don't you? For example, a medal from the Spanish government.

I didn't see her in person. This is completely normal when you are at the top and the person there is in trouble, you need to help him. It is I who must help - this is my personal opinion. I didn’t go to the awards ceremony; I’m not interested in it at all. It is unthinkable that one can be rewarded for help; this is some kind of problem in our society.

But you had to interrupt your project in the Himalayas; it required enormous preparation! And you climbed up to Iñaki for a long time in very difficult conditions!

I went up three days and spent two days with him.

Another of your awards is Eiger. You received it for the speed record on the North Face. What does this mountain mean to you?

The Eiger is a special mountain for me, I have been there so many times already. About thirty times - I mean only the North Wall. And that’s why I have a lot of impressions from Iger, different, but very positive, and this gives me a feeling of something familiar. Great feeling! The Eiger is the mountain where I feel at home.

Speed. Chasing speed

The Eiger is one of three nearby famous mountains of the Bernese Oberland - Eiger, Mönch and Jungfrau. From the top of the Jungfrau originates the largest glacier in Europe - Aletsch, a glacial desert twenty-four kilometers long. The highest mountain in Europe leads to the Jungfrau Railway, it was this that partly determined the popularity of the North Face of the Eiger. It is also called the “wall of death.” After all, this is the most difficult route in the Alps, requiring not so much rock climbing as ice climbing, a very special technique.

After another death during an attempt to conquer the Eiger, the Berne court even imposed a ban on climbing the North Face. However, after a few months it was canceled. Only the most experienced climbers can conquer the Eiger. The ascent takes about two days. They spend the night tied with safety ropes, sitting on small ledges that the wall has carefully prepared for its rare guests.

In 2003, a South Tyrolean climbed the North Face of the Eiger in four and a half hours, which made Ueli Steck wonder how 1,800 meters of rock and ice could be climbed in such a short time. In February 2007, he climbed the wall twice to study it better, then climbed the classic Heckmeyer route and achieved a record time of 3 hours 54 minutes!

After analyzing his record, Uli realized that he had not used his capabilities to the maximum. For a year he prepared for the next ascent - and it became a sensation. Having abandoned the safety rope (saving on weight and time spent on insurance) and having lost five kilograms, Steck literally flies up the “wall of death”, breaking his own record - in 2 hours, 47 minutes, 33 seconds.

Ueli Steck is famous for the speed of completing the most difficult routes. By the way, two books about Uli published by National Geographic are called “Speed” and “Solo”. There are thirty-three routes to climb the North Face of the Eiger, and one of them was discovered by Uli with another famous Swiss climber, Stefan Siegrist. This is the most direct and most difficult route.

When you look at photographs in which you cling to steep cliffs above an abyss, you get the impression that you are a fearless hero, just like James Bond. Do you know what fear is?

I am a very fearful person. Fear is an important feeling. If a person does not feel fear, he can overestimate himself and make a mistake that could cost him his life. Fear helps us survive, especially in our profession, it helps us prepare well for a hike and correctly assess the situation. But I - I'm really very cautious and, in fact, even fearful. You laugh, but that’s exactly how it is. Even in everyday life! I am a typical Swiss, I take security issues very seriously, this also applies to different types social insurance and pension fund or thoughts about the future.

Do you ride a bicycle with a helmet?

Well, no, not that much. But, for example, I am terribly afraid to walk through dark alleys in cities.

But you can always run away.

Yes, I run fast.

What do you especially appreciate when returning from hiking in the mountains?

Probably comfort, especially when I return home from a long expedition. Not freezing when getting out of bed in the morning and drinking a cup of warm coffee is great! But then there comes a time when I have to step out of my comfort zone, when I have to leave. Because staying home is too easy. This is not for me.

Solo style

It’s time for Steck to leave: we need to prepare for the performance, which will soon begin in the hall of the glass pavilion. These reports, in which pictures are much more expressive than words, are his main income. We say goodbye and he thanks me for coming to Basel.

I walked to the exit along the central path of a private English-style park—to a high gate with a wrought-iron grille. They were tightly closed, and I had to find the place where the brick frame of the gate connected to the wire fencing. And, although I was sure that the entrance to the park was being monitored by video cameras, I turned around and, making sure that there was no one behind me, climbed over the fence. In solo style and without insurance.

We continue to publish articles, in this article we will talk about:

October 4, 1976, Langnau im Emmental (Switzerland) - April 30, 2017, Nuptse (7861), Nepal

If you try to list on the fingers of one hand the most outstanding climbers of our time who are creating history here and now, then, undoubtedly, the name of the Swiss Ueli Steck will be in this top ten. Anyone interested in what is happening in mountaineering will be familiar with this name. It is making sensational headlines both in the mountaineering community and in the wider European press.

The main motive of Ueli Steck's entire life was not the constant hunt for meters and records.
He simply liked to work on himself, set goals for his body and come up with ways to achieve them. To do this, he endlessly improved both his purely physical form and his climbing technique. He especially liked fitness classes, for which he followed, for example, a strict diet, completely rebuilding his fat and carbohydrate burning system with the goal, as he imagined, of qualitatively improving his athletic performance.
There was nothing new in this, but in the end he really managed to expand the horizons of the possible, and this perfectly suited his nature, because Ueli Steck equally admired the seemingly endless possibilities of the human body, how he admired the mountains, better than which, as we know, there can only be mountains that he has never been to before!

And so, step by step, he began to conquer such peaks and conquer such spaces that were already beyond the limits of common sense and rational human reason. Speed ​​climbing became such an attraction, which turned into his distinctive brand, into his brand, which became his strong point. Many simply shook their heads in bewilderment, viewing Ueli Steck's speed records as an expression of his pride, narcissism and even eccentric egoism.
Many believed that by doing so he was violating the philosophy that originally underlay the relationship between the Mountains and the Swiss, and the main principles of which were calmness, work, inspiration and respect for the eternal peaks, against the background of which any, even the most “significant” person involuntarily looks small and lost.
Ueli Steck did not particularly pay attention to all these commandments, turning the legendary North Face of Mount Eiger into a distance that, it turns out, can be overcome in just 2 hours and 22 minutes.

The future legend of mountaineering, Ueli Steck was born on October 4, 1976 in the small Swiss commune of Langnau im Emmental, in the heart of the Alps.

Being the youngest of three brothers, Uli came to the sport through ice hockey, playing in youth teams as a defenseman, and who knows, perhaps the world has lost a great hockey player.

However, Uli, who grew up in the enchantment of which he could see from home, could not get past the mountains.
After spending several years of his early youth in a hockey rink, he learned perseverance, endurance and sports anger. Having become a climber, he transferred all his qualities and attitudes to the “vertical terrain”.
When the teenager Uli climbed his first peak, Sheideggwetterhorn (3361m), at the age of 12, he thought: "This is a real mountain." Then his obsession with the Eiger took off. It is noteworthy that, apart from Uli, no one in his family was essentially interested in mountains.

The path to high-altitude mountaineering in those years lay through rock climbing, and Uli, having given up hockey, himself, without anyone’s help outside help and advice, he joined the Swiss climbing club, in which, a couple of years later, he received a place in the Swiss national junior climbing team, with which he even competed in national competitions, and at the age of 17 he was able to complete rock difficulty 8a.
But the artificial walls of climbing walls and small climbing routes on natural terrain quickly bored Uli, and the majestic mountain peaks were so tempting and so close...

Uli about himself:

"When I was little, I played hockey. It's such a cool team game, in which if your team lost, of course, it was the fault of this or that player. If there are no culprits among the players, then everyone understands that the problem is the bad work of the coach. He must change his tactics, strategy and training system. In mountaineering, everything turned out to be different - if a person does not reach the top, then it is no one’s fault but his own. And this philosophy is close to me"

In 1995, at the age of 18, Uli began his legendary mountaineering career. And the first truly “adult” climb for him was the mountain he had dreamed about for so long. The ascent was made by . This ascent was neither solo, because Uli’s partner was his comrade Markus, nor high-speed, because the couple climbed to the top at the “usual” mountaineering pace, nor facilitated, because the young and inexperienced Uli could not afford to risk his life in an environment essentially unknown to him.

At the same time, he managed to climb the Bonatti route on the South Face of Mont Blanc.

Young Uli, like most of his fellow novice climbers, understands that you can’t make a living by climbing mountains alone (without a mountain guide certificate), and the growing desire to climb more and more required more and more investments in equipment and preparation for expeditions.
Uli was forced to look for a profession for himself, and this profession was the profession of a carpenter, which he learned after leaving school.

Subsequently, some critics of Ueli Steck clung to this profession, saying that he never aspired to become a mountaineer:
“A former carpenter, Uli never aspired to become a real climber or mountain guide, he simply turns mountaineering into a “sport”, and his position in the world is maintained by no more than a dozen of his fans.”- say Uli's critics.
There was some truth in these words, Uli never aspired to become a professional, making a living by taking clients to the mountains; his vocation in the mountains became something else.

Uli's unrestrained, temperamental character soon led the young Swiss to the idea of ​​solo and high-speed races to the tops of the mountains.
Thus, among his first achievements one can note a solo ascent along the Haston Couloir to the top of the four-thousander Mönch (4001 m, Switzerland) in 1998, which he climbed in 3.5 hours and a race along the Lauper route, passing along the North-East face of the Eiger, He climbed this route in 5 hours.

It is worth saying that Uli, as it may seem, did not immediately come to the Eiger, even with climbing experience; before his first mountaineering ascent, he had to learn new skills. Uli recalled one of these first experiences as follows:

Uli about his first mountaineering experience:

One day my father's friend asked me:
- Do you want to climb? Do you see the route? Climb.
In his mind, to climb means to be in the lead, not to be second to climb.
We had two pythons. Rope. No gazebos.
- Come on, I'll follow you.
- But I don’t know how to insure!
- What can you do - put a rope around yourself and give it out, like this.
I was terribly scared.
This was normal, this is how mountaineering developed.
It probably influenced me somehow.

In 2000, Uli came up with another route on the Eiger North Face - "Yeti", which he climbed in pairs with his compatriot. This was the second ascent of the route.
In the same 2000, Uli opened his first climbing route: the 1000-meter "Nordwand Express" passing along the diretissima of the northern face of Mount Mönch. This route is categorized as difficulty M5/WI5.

Also, 2000 was his first experience of winter climbing: Uli climbed the route to the top of Pointe Walker peak - 4208 meters high, which is.

Starting next year, 2001, Ueli Steck entered the “world stage”, discovering the Himalayas and the highest peaks of the world.

And the first Himalayan peak for him was the seven-thousander Pumori (7161 m), on an expedition to which he was invited by a professional mountain guide from Switzerland, his namesake, Ueli Bühler. On this expedition, the duo discovered a new route to the summit, walking a 1400-meter line along the Western face of the mountain. The difficulty category of this route is rated as M4 with a key 80 degree ice slope located at around 6600 meters.

On this expedition, the team decided to make an unprecedented ascent of the stunning 1400 meter rocky Western Wall of the mountain, this ascent took place in an easy alpine style, without pre-prepared camps and a lot of equipment. The duo walked the entire route with a 60-meter rope.
However, despite Bühler’s professionalism and Steck’s incredible energy, the ascent did not pass without incident: Bühler was injured by a rockfall on a rocky area, and Uli, walking on a snow balcony, inadvertently collapsed it, also falling down, and if not for Bühler’s insurance , Uli was unlikely to return from this climb.

The entire ascent took the Swiss two days with a cold night on the wall. The descent from the summit followed the standard route along the Eastern ridge of the mountain. In general, the entire assault lasted 43 hours.

Returning home, again paired with Stefan Siegrist, in 2001 the 24-year-old Uli opens another big route: the 1100-meter "The Young Spider", passing along the center of the North Face of the Eiger. This line has a difficulty category of 7a A2 M7 WI6 and is by far the most difficult route on the Eiger!

Eiger. North wall. route "The Young Spider" number 29

The following year, 2002, Uli teamed up with American climber Sean Easton to open a stunning route in Alaska to a 2,909-meter peak.
This 1600 meter line, called "Blood from the Stone" was laid on the eastern, vertical wall of the mountain. The difficulty category of the route is rated as 5.9 M7 A1 AI6+ X.

Mount Dickey, route "Blood from the Stone"

The following spring, in a team with Erhard Loretan and Stefan Siegrist, Uli attempted to climb the North Face of the Nepalese seven-thousander Jannu (7710 m).
Their assault ended at 7100 meters due to bad weather.

During the summer of 2003, Uli and Stefan returned to the Eiger, where they climbed the route "La Vida es Silbar" (V 7c, 900m), which was bolted by Siegrist and Konrad Anker in 1999.

Another attempt to climb a new route to Jeanne, also paired with Erhard Loretan, again ended without success.

Uli about attempts to climb Zhanna:

“It was cool, we were completely blown away. I was just a kid then, I didn’t have any experience, and I thought: “Oh, we’ll climb the north face of Zhannou!”
I was invited by Erhard Loretan “Oh, I’ll climb the northern wall of Jeanne with my idol!”
And even though we didn’t climb, it was an important step in my life, in my climbing career, I learned so much.
Erhard Loretan had a huge influence on me. Even just spending time in the mountains with him...

He explained to me a bunch of things that I used on Annapurna, for example, to continue climbing at night, then you don’t need to drag a sleeping bag - this is all his influence.
I learned a lot and it was great. When you are young, you should come up with such ideas, this is important, I think in mountaineering in general it is important to have crazy ideas and just try.
I mean when you have no chance of climbing badly."

In November of the same year, in a team with David Faselem, Ralph Weber and Stefan Siegrist, Uli went to Patagnia, where he repeated the ascent along the route of Ermanno Salvaterra "Spigolo dei Bimbi" to the top of Punta Geron. This was the second ascent along the route and only the third to the top itself!

Uli's further growing reputation as a strong and successful climber allowed him to leave his profession as a carpenter and devote all his time to mountaineering.

Uli about himself:

“When you start something new, everything - time, energy - everything goes into preparation. You think about how you will do it, prepare your consciousness to perceive what you have planned as the norm.
After everything is left behind, you need some time to comprehend what you have done. Usually it's: "Crazy!"

2004 was a significant year for Uli, because it was with the speed climbing of the famous “Alpine Trilogy”, which includes the three walls of the Bernese Alps: Eiger, Mönch and Jungfrau, that Uli became a world famous climber in just 25 hours.
It is worth noting that in our usual category of difficulty of climbing routes to these peaks are rated as 6A, 5B, 5A with a total elevation difference of about 3800 meters.

Also in 2004, Uli returned to rock routes, free climbing lines such as Silberfinger (6b, 200m) and Excalibur (6b, 350m). And I made the first repetition of the route of Stefan Glowacz "Letzte Ausfahrt Titlis" (8b, 500 m) which is located on the East face of the Swiss mountain Titlis. Uli and Ines Papert, who later repeated the passage, suggested downgrading this line to 8a+.

In 2005, Uli decided to prove that the idea of ​​quickly climbing a number of mountain peaks in one expedition is quite applicable to the Himalayas, the highest peaks in the world.
He decided to organize his expedition called “Khumbu-Express” in the Khumbu Valley (Nepal) and the first of a series of peaks was the North Face of Mount Cholatse (6440m), on which Uli climbed the French route in 1995, but to which, in the upper part mountains (above 5900 meters) added my own version. Uli himself described this route as “very difficult and at times very dangerous.” Key points on this route were rated 5+ M6 90 degrees on an ice slope.
The summit of Mount Uli was reached after 37 hours of assault.

The second goal in this program was the East Face of Mount Tawoche (6495 m), which Uli reached after only a week of rest after Cholatse!
Tavoche, namely its Eastern Wall, remained impregnable for seven years despite many attempts by climbers to pass it. But for Uli this was not a reason to retreat; on the contrary, the Swiss literally ran this huge 1500 meter wall in a record 4.5 hours!
It is worth noting that Uli climbed in a free-solo style, without insurance or a partner, having with him 20 meters of 5 mm Kevlar rope, three ice screws, two ice axes. The lower part of the route is a mixed route of M5 difficulty, and the upper section consists of vertical ice cliffs.
The assault ascent began half an hour before midnight, and already at 8 am the next day Uli was drinking tea at the base camp!

The third peak in Uli’s program was the “icon of the Himalayas” - namely, the Strauf Belak Memorial Route, which was first discovered by the Slovenian team Furlan - Humar.
Unfortunately, on this climb, Uli was forced to leave the route at 5900 meters due to heavy snowfall.

Nevertheless, this “Himalayan trilogy” was highly appreciated by the international mountaineering community and, as proof of this, Uli was nominated for the most prestigious mountaineering award in the world: .

Let us note that to this day this “Himalayan trilogy” remains untraversed by anyone to the end.

Uli spent the beginning of 2006 solo climbing in the Alps, where in January, within five days, he was able to repeat his route “The Young Spider” on the North Face of the Eiger. But this time Uli essentially “did the impossible”; not only is this line considered the most difficult on one of the most difficult walls of the Alps, he climbed it in a solo climb, and even in winter!

In March 2006, Uli sets a new speed record for climbing the Bonatti route along the North Face of the Matterhorn.

And in July 2006, the young Swiss discovers his first eight-thousander: he goes to the Karakoram, where he joins the team of Hans Mitterer and Cedric Hählen to climb the eight-thousander Gasherbrum II.
In this expedition, the team opens a new route, passing along the northern edge of the eastern shoulder with access to the secondary peak Gasherbrum II East (7772 m)!
And although the team’s main goal was never achieved: they did not climb the main peak of the eight-thousander due to difficult weather conditions, their route became significant in this mountain range, especially since the ascent itself, which was initially planned as a quick, sporting exit, took place in very difficult conditions. During the first assault, which took place on July 5, the conditions on the mountain were so bad that the team was even caught in an avalanche that occurred in the area of ​​the third high-altitude camp.
Fortunately for them, everything turned out well, and on July 10 a second assault was planned, which ended with an ascent to the top.

This was the first ascent from the Chinese side to the peaks in the area of ​​Broad Peak, Gasherbrum and Hidden Peak!

2007 was an amazing year in the history of mountaineering: in 3 hours 54 minutes, Uli was able to surpass the achievement of Christoph Heins by 30 minutes and set a new world record for speed climbing on the North Face of the Eiger! But this record did not last long, and already the next year, having carried out the strongest and most focused training, Uli surpasses his own achievement, setting a new record of 2 hours 47 minutes and 33 seconds!
This record remains unsurpassed by the free solo ascent of the Eiger North Face.

Uli about himself:

“It all started with the North Face of the Eiger, which I first climbed in 1995 with my friend Markus. In 2004 - after several ascents - I climbed it “solo” for the first time, in 10 hours. After that, I couldn’t get it out of my head Thomas Bubendorfer (4 hours 50 minutes) and Christoph Heinz (4 hours 30 minutes) came out. Simply incredible results! It took me twice as long. From then on I began to seriously work on myself.
In the following years I climbed a lot "solo", and although I had no idea how to break the record, I didn't really care - I just wanted to climb faster. The result of 3 hours 45 minutes gave me strength. However, I was still far from my limit. Whole year I trained and got my time down to 2:47.
"

Video from Ueli Steck's record-breaking 2008 ascent of the Eiger North Face:

From the Editor:

“The history of solo ascents to the North Face of the Eiger was discovered in 1963 by the Swiss Michel Darbelet.

• In 1974, Reinhold Messner set the ascent speed record at 10 hours.

On February 13, 2008, the Swiss Ueli Stack reached the summit on the north face in 2 hours 47 minutes, thereby breaking his previous record of 3 hours 54 minutes, set a year earlier.

On August 6, 2008, the famous climber climbed solo on the North Face of the Eiger without a safety net, using a base jumping parachute in case of failure, and after the ascent, Dean jumped with a parachute.

For his approach to mountaineering and his willingness to abandon his own plans to save a like-minded person, as well as for his achievements in sports, Uli was awarded the prestigious Swiss Eiger Award.

route "Paciencia" 8a on the North Face of the Eiger

It is noteworthy that Uli and Stefan began working on this route back in 2003, but then they were only able to complete it up to the “Rote Fluh” mark, above which they used aid technology.

In 2009, Uli climbed his first eight-thousander, Gasherbrum II, and although the ascent followed a standard route, Uli completed it in a high-speed style and without any outside help. Uli used this ascent as a launching pad for his next project: the ascent of the eight-thousander Makalu in the fall of the same year.

It is noteworthy that Uli came to Gasherbrum II with his wife Nicole, with whom he spent their honeymoon on the rocks of Yosemite (USA), having climbed the 41-pitch classic Golden Gate route on El Capitan as a couple just a month before leaving for Pakistan .
In the ascent of Gasherbrum II, Uli planned to climb to the top with Nicole, however, due to unstable and bad weather, he decided to go out on the assault climb alone, Nicole awaited his return at the high altitude camp.

In the fall of 2009, Uli climbs the classic route to his second eight-thousander -.

Uli about himself:

“There is always a risk, but I will not climb a route if I am not sure of one hundred percent readiness. But even in this case, I am not immune from failure. It all depends on skill.”

In the following years, Uli concentrated his efforts on the eight-thousanders and mountains of the Himalayas. In addition, he did not forget about his home Alps, so in 2010 Uli climbed the northern face of Mount Les Droites in a speed climb, setting a record of 2 hours 8 minutes.

In 2011, Uli returned to the Himalayas with an ambitious project: climbing three eight-thousanders in one expedition: Shishapangma, Cho Oyu Everest!
As an acclimatization before these climbs, Uli, together with Freddie Wilkinson, climbs the peaks of Cholatse and Lobuche.
In climbing Shishapangma, Uli sets a solo ascent record, completing the standard route in just 10.5 hours!
The next eight-thousander was Cho Oyu, which Uli climbed together with Don Bowie, also along the standard route.
However, the third peak, Everest, was not conquered by Uli: being only 150 meters from the peak, he was forced to abandon the climb due to the risk of frostbite.

The following year, 2012, Uli climbs his fifth eight-thousander: Everest, following the standard route from the southern, Nepalese side, and his climbing partner is the Nepalese Sherpa Tenji Sherpa, who will become his constant partner in the Himalayan ascents.

Returning from Nepal, Uli decides to try another type of high-speed mountaineering: a mountaineering-paragliding route along the route of the trilogy of the Alps: Jungfrau, Mönch and Eiger.
Together with Markus Zimmerman, he manages to complete this route in just 12 hours and 15 minutes.
You can read more about this Uli project in our article:

The year 2013 began for Ueli Steck with a very unpleasant event, which turned into world news, shocking the entire climbing community!
The reason for this was the conflict on the highest mountain in the world - Everest, to which Uli and his partners came with the goal of speed climbing along a new route.

On April 27, 2013, leaving the second high-altitude camp, a trio of climbers got into conflict with a group of Nepalese Sherpas marking the ascent route. The result of this conflict was a terrible and even life-threatening situation for the climbers.

“The moment I realized that the Sherpas wanted to kill me, the whole world collapsed for me.”- with these words the famous Swiss climber Ueli Steck described his sad experience on the slopes of Everest in 2013 ( Ueli Steck) on the pages of his new book: "The Next Step".
“After that, my view of the world changed... I decided to leave Everest because I could no longer trust anyone.”- said Uli.
However, after a couple of years, Uli could not overcome his craving for the Himalayas and returned to Everest, as it turned out, his last mountain in his life...

From the Editor:

Let us remind you that you can read in detail about the incident on Everest that occurred in the spring of 2013 in our articles:

2. Jonathan Griffith's emotional report:

And numerous interviews, one of which we presented on our website:

In addition, a few months later, an interview with one of the Sherpas who participated in the conflict was published: we cited this interview in the article:

And only six months after the unprecedented events,...

In the fall of 2013, Uli returned for the third time to his long-time goal: an attempt to climb the eight-thousander Annapurna.
And on October 9, the famous Swiss climber soloed the South Face of Annapurna.
It was an outstanding ascent in world mountaineering - Ueli Steck became the first person in the world to climb the southern slope of Annapurna Peak alone!

Let us note that Ueli Steck’s ascent was not met with unanimous recognition from the mountaineering community; some critics said that Ueli never set foot on the summit of Annapurna.
You can read more about this criticism in our article:
This ascent of Uli was so unique and outstanding in the history of mountaineering that all the media trumpeted about it.
Some climbers began to have doubts about Uli’s successful ascent.
It is worth noting that this is not the first time that Ueli Steck has been criticized for his “Olympic” approach to mountaineering, when the focus is not on the spirit of mountaineering, but on sprinting, for which, by the way, Ueli Steck received his nickname “The Swiss Machine”.
This criticism was mainly made by journalists, mountain guides and German climbers

In 2017, a month before the tragic death of Ueli Steck, criticism of Ueli Steck’s ascents in the Himalayas flared up with renewed vigor in the international mountaineering community.
So, quite recently, on international level, as part of the 25th ceremony of presenting the most prestigious mountaineering award: a kind of Oscar in the world of mountaineering: “Golden Ice Ax” (Piolets d'Or 2017), the question was raised about the lack of evidence of Uli’s ascent to the peaks of eight-thousanders.
You can read more about this in our article:

Ueli Steck, nicknamed "The Swiss Machine". After climbing Annapurna

The ascent of Annapurna, despite the criticism, has become legendary in mountaineering history and it is not surprising why

In 2014, Ueli Steck and German climber Michi Wohlleben made the first ever high-speed winter ascent of the three North Faces of the Tre Cime di Lavaredo mountain group in the Italian Dolomites.

Their climbs took three routes (one for each wall) in just 16 hours!

The year 2014 for Uli was overshadowed by a great tragedy when he, together with Benedikt Bohm, tried to climb the eight-thousander Shishapangma.

September 24, 2014, 6:55 a.m. local time: Five climbers are climbing to the 7,900-meter mark of the eight-thousander Shishabangma (Shisha Pangma, 8,027 m) when an avalanche forms under their feet...

The injured climbers: Sebastian Haag and Martin Maier from Germany and Italian Andrea Zambaldi were carried away by the avalanche several hundred meters down the slope.
Two other climbers: German Benedikt Böhm and Swiss Ueli Steck miraculously escaped the avalanche, remaining on the mountainside.
In this tragedy, 36-year-old Sebastian Haag and 32-year-old Andrea Zambaldi died; Martin Mayer was able to miraculously escape from the avalanche and independently descend to a high-altitude camp, where Sherpas and climbers from other expeditions took over his rescue.

Benedikt Bohm and Ueli Steck, having avoided being hit by an avalanche, descended to the high-altitude camp on their own.

The moment of the avalanche on Shishapangma: who was where

In 2015, Uli again came to his mountain - the North Face of the Eiger, on which he climbed the Heckmeier route in a speed climb, setting a new speed record: 2 hours 22 minutes and 50 seconds!

Uli about himself:

“It’s much more convenient for me to run to the top at a fast pace than to trudge for several days, this pace gives me new challenges. And I would like to complete this path completely. After all, we all live in a crazy world, a world where immediately after an outstanding climb you are asked: what's next?
I will ask and answer this question myself, perhaps to calm others down for a while. Today I no longer need to collect a collection of all the eight-thousanders in the world; first of all, I am interested in difficult walls and new routes."

In his 2016 interview, Uli talked about the risks of climbing 8,000-meter peaks:

In the spring of 2016, Ueli Steck and the German climber David Göttler outlined an ambitious goal: .
The descent from the peak was planned along the northern side of the mountain, that is, a new route had to be created with a complete crossing of the top of the eight-thousander.

However, their goal was never achieved, the team stopped at 7800 meters, and bad weather prevented them from reaching the summit. Moreover, in their first attempt they climbed the 1995 Spanish route “Corredor Girona” to 7800 meters, the next time they climbed the 1982 British route to 7600 meters.

You can read more about this expedition in our article:

Let us remember that this pair of climbers set themselves an ambitious task: . The descent from the peak was planned along the northern side of the mountain, that is, a new route had to be created with a complete crossing of the top of the eight-thousander.

2017 was supposed to be no less significant for Uli than the previous incredible ascents.
He spoke about his project: the traverse of the eight-thousanders Everest - Lhotse in an interview in the fall of 2016, after returning from the Indian Himalayas, where he and his wife climbed to the top of Mount Shivling (this 6543-meter peak with a difficult mountaineering terrain lies in the north of India) as a wedding anniversary.

In December 2016, Udi already revealed the details of his plan, saying that the expedition would take place in an alpine style and without the use of oxygen cylinders.

From the Editor:

It should be noted that the traverse of the Everest - Lhotse peaks was first traversed by a Swiss expedition in 1956. You can read more about this story in our article:

On his expedition, Uli invited his friend, 24-year-old Nepalese Sherpa Tenji Sherpa, who had already climbed to the top of Everest in 2012 and made this climb without the use of oxygen cylinders.

“Tenji belongs to a new generation of Nepalese Sherpas for whom climbing to the top is not only a business, but to a greater extent it is mountaineering.”- said Uli, "I'm looking forward to the expedition when I can climb in tandem with Tenji."

Before this difficult expedition, Uli trained extensively in the Alps and Nepal, and as acclimatization covered a total of about 250 kilometers with a total altitude gain of 15,000 meters.

From the Editor:

For more than 10 years, Simon Thrashel has been the compiler training program Ueli Steck, while simultaneously working as a coach for professional cross-country skiing teams. For Uli, who trains like an Olympic champion, Simon developed special program, which combines trail running, strength building, freeride, mountaineering and rock climbing. Simon explains that “the program provides a high workload to develop endurance, but Lately it also includes a decent amount of specific strength training."
Uli trains non-stop, with the precision of a Swiss Machine. Uli told L'Equipe magazine about his preparation before leaving for Everest: “I need to know that my body is strong, otherwise I will not be at ease.” For his current project, Steck trained for 1,200 hours in the last year alone: ​​80,000 meters of vertical change, 848km of running and 296 hours of specific training to increase the strength of his arms and legs.While he was in the Khumbu Valley to acclimatise, the Swiss covered 236km with a drop of 16,200 meters in 13 days.

The key to the new adventure is endurance, which, however, does not exclude less important components such as speed and accuracy. The goal justifies the training.

Uli spoke about his training and preparation for Everest in his latest interview, which you can read on our website:

Death of Ueli Steck

First of all, before reviewing the tragedy, we present an appeal from the Ueli Steck family:

“The climber’s family has already reported that they are in endless sadness in connection with his death and that they ask to abandon any speculation and speculation related to the circumstances of his death and that the family and friends themselves are currently not ready to provide any additional information. "

So, Everest 2017. A few days before the tragedy, Ueli Steck and Tenji Sherpa were finishing their acclimatization program, climbing both neighboring peaks and along the standard Everest route.
During one of these trips, Tenji received frostbite on his hands and was forced to temporarily leave the Everest base camp and descend to the Khumbu Valley to restore strength and health.

Left alone, Uli continued his race and, a couple of days before the tragedy, made an easy and fast ascent along the standard route for climbing to an altitude of 7000 meters on Everest.
He wrote about this in his last post on Facebook:

"Speed ​​ascent from Base camp to 7000 meters and back in one day! I love these mountains, they are huge here. I still believe in an active acclimatization program, it is much more effective than spending long nights in high altitude camps."- Uli wrote on April 26, 4 days before his death.

April 30 in the morning (around 8-9 am local time). Uli went out for the acclimatization climb early in the morning, according to his own words, which he shared the day before this climb, the mountain was in good condition: not too much snow and not as cold as it could have been.
The accident itself occurred at 7200 meters, where the route enters a rocky area. As a result of the accident, Uli fell 1000 meters down the slope.
Several people saw Uli fall, and soon his body was discovered just below the second high-altitude camp, at around 6400 meters along the Nuptse route.

By unanimous decision of the entire Uli family,

Ueli Steck was a man who mercilessly pushed himself forward all the time, and he was absolutely aware of this. That is why he devoted so much time to issues of insurance and safety, and his main focus was not on hooks, ropes and carbines.
He was sure that in the mountains, and in life in general, the human factor comes first, and that is why he tirelessly polished, honed and improved all his already almost superhuman abilities.

All this turned him into an outstanding athlete and a shining reference for a whole generation of young super-climbers, who have long been trying to conquer not even the mountains, but themselves.

Ueli Steck was afraid of death, given the fact that he had already had a couple of opportunities to look into her pewter eyes. And then... Who would have thought that the brilliant racing driver Michael Schumacher would become a victim of a seemingly routine ski trip? And who would have thought that Ueli Steck would face a similar blow of fate?
He knew that sooner or later, simply according to the laws of statistics, a serious misfortune would happen to him. But the death on the side of Mount Nuptse last Sunday? He did not plan this and died while making the most ordinary ascent.

He was an outstanding Swiss and a great climber.

Chronology of Ueli Steck's major ascents:

• 1995 Eiger, North Face, route "Heckmair" (1800m ED).
• 1998 Mönch, "Haston Couloir" solo in 3.5 hours (1000m ED-).
• 1999 Eiger by "Lauper", solo in 5 hours (1800m, ED-).
• 2000 Eiger, North Face, second ascent of the Yeti route (7c/A0).
• 2001 Mönch, North Face, first ascent of Diretissima (1000m, M5/Wi5).
• 2001 Pumori, first ascent with Uli Bühler, new route on the Western Face (1400m, M4/80°).
• 2001 Grande Jorasses along the "Walker" route, winter ascent (1200m, ED).
• 2001 Eiger, first ascent, new route on the North Face: “The Young Spider” (1800m, M7/Wi6; 7a/A2).
• 2002 Mount Dickey, Alaska, first ascent (1700m, M7+ AI6 5.9/A1).
• 2002 First ascent attempt on a new route to the North Face of Janou in a pair with Erhard Loretan.
• 2003 Another attempt on the North Face of Janou with Erhard Loretan.
• 2003 Punta Heron, Patagonia.
• 2003 Redpoint on the route "La vida es silbar" on the North Face of the Eiger (900m, 7c).
• 2004 Trilogy “Eiger-Mönch-Jungfrau” in a pair with Stefan Siegrist, in one day.
• 2005 "Khumbu-Express" solo first ascent Eastern wall Tavoche (6515m) and the North Face of Cholatze (6440m).
• 2006 solo ascent of the Northern Faces of the Matterhorn, Eiger and the first winter ascent (solo!!!) of the route "The Young Spider" on the Eiger.
• 2006 First ascent of the North Face of Gasherbrum II (7772 m).
• 2007 North Face of the Eiger, absolute speed record 3:54. Solo!
• 2008 North Face of the Eiger, new absolute speed record 2:47:33. Solo!
• 2008 North face of Grand Jorasses, absolute speed record route "Colton-McIntyre" 2:21. Solo!
• 2009 North Face of the Matterhorn, absolute speed record 1:56. Solo.
• 2009 Solo ascent of Gasherbrum II (7772m)
• 2009 Makalu, classic.
• 2010 North Face of Drois, absolute speed record, route “Gina” 2:08. Solo!
• 2011 Shishapangma, southern wall. 10:30. Solo
• Cho Oyu, NW (classical). Solo 18 days after solo on Shishapanshma
• 2012 Everest from the south according to the classics, oxygen-free
• 2013 Annapurna, south face. 28 hours. Solo
• 2014 First winter ascent of the three northern walls of Tre Cime in one go with Michi Vohleben
• 2015 North Face of the Eiger, absolute speed record: 2:22:50! Solo!
• 2016 Shivling, Indian Himalayas, summit with his wife Nicole

Ueli Steck's awards and honors:

• 2008: Eiger Award for mountaineering technique.
• 2009: Golden Ice Ax Award for the first ascent, together with Simon Anthamatten, of a new route on the north face of Tengkampoche].
• 2010: Karl Unterkircher Prize (Italian: Karl Unterkircher) for versatile mountaineering achievements.
• 2014: Second Golden Ice Ax award for solo ascent of Annapurna on the south face.
• 2015: National Geographic Adventure magazine award.

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