[Peakboy]

This is shocking.

http://www.alanarnette.com/blog/2017/04/30/everest-2017-ueli-steck-dies-on-nuptse/

[Will Hunt]

Bloody hell. Terrible news.
The link above didn't work for me but this is also being reported here:
https://thehimalayantimes.com/nepal/swiss-machine-ueli-steck-killed-in-mt-everest-accident/

[Wood FT]

That's very sad, rip Ueli

'Only those who will risk going too far can possibly find out how far one can go'
- TS Elliot

[jwi]

Aweful.

[dave]

Legend. Terrible loss.

[Oldmanmatt]

Shit! Just woke to this across my FB feed.

There are old climbers and there are bold climbers, but...

RIP

[Oldmanmatt]

WTF!



"A group of six rescuers discovered a body of the multiple-record holder mountaineer near Nuptse Face of the Mt Everest where he could have slipped and fell on the ice-covered slope. “The team has collected the scattered parts of the climber’s body.” A Fishtail Air helicopter has also been sent to Camp I to conduct a long line rescue, according to a source at base camp."

I hope they mean his equipment?

[petejh]

There are old climbers and there are bold climbers, but...

Yeah this.

Tragic for his family.

[miso soup]

Steve House on Ueli:

http://mailchi.mp/uphillathlete/uelisteck

[jwi]

Colin Haley on Ueli Steck. Link.

When I heard that Ueli had died, it was through the grapevine, as I was already off the grid, in the beginning of my trip to the Central Alaska Range. As has been the case in the past when a climbing friend died in a far-away place, it felt, and still feels, surreal - For some reason it takes a long time before I truly realize that I won't ever see Ueli again. It is always sad when someone's ambitions in the mountains cause the end of his or her life, but to me personally Ueli's death, and the events of the past few years, feel like a more tragic tale than normal. It was clear when I hung out with him recently that the accusations that he had fabricated his Annapurna climb had deeply affected him, and I can't help but wonder if that effect on his psychology played some role in the decisions that led to his fatal fall. I am generally as much of a skeptic as anyone else, and there are plenty of instances in climbing history in which it seems overwhelmingly clear that someone lied about a climb - Ueli's climb on Annapurna is not one of those examples, but instead an instance in which Ueli couldn't prove his claim, and his doubters can't prove their side either. At this point no one will ever truly know if Ueli soloed the south face of Annapurna or not, but I certainly believe that he did. Having climbed with Ueli on a variety of different types of terrain, it makes perfect sense to me that he was able to accomplish this climb, even if it was so far above anyone else's level that it is difficult to comprehend. I've been sport-climbing with Ueli and watched him casually send 8a as his first warm-up after breakfast, when he had been training for alpinism and had hardly rock climbed in months. I've been climbing with Ueli in the Alps and watched him free-solo down-climb AI4 faster than some people walk down a snow slope. I've been to the Himalaya with Ueli and watched him break trail through deep snow for 2,000 meters while three others of us, all very fit climbers, couldn't even keep up following in his tracks. I think that even Ueli's most jealous rivals knew inside that he was the most all-around talented alpinist in the world. I do use the words "jealous" and "rivals" intentionally, because as sad as it may be, I do feel that is actually the case sometimes in the climbing world, and I have felt the effects myself sometimes. Being the best in anything, like Ueli in alpinism, means that people love to build you up into a larger-than-life character, and they also love to tear you down. It is tragic no matter what you believe: that the world's best alpinist felt the need to fabricate an ascent, or that the word's best alpinist was called a liar for his crowning achievement.

Ueli was a friend and climbing partner of mine, but it would be misleading to say we were close. Ueli was a fairly private person, and our relationship, while totally fun and amicable, was pretty much exclusively about climbing. But, deep and introspective or not, hanging out with Ueli was always fun, chatting with him about techniques, training, and equipment was always enlightening, and climbing with him was always downright amazing. It is almost a cliché because so many people have said it, but Ueli was definitely a humongous inspiration to me. There is no one else I have drawn as much inspiration from during the past several years, not even by a long shot. Like when I first teamed up with Rolo Garibotti in 2008, climbing with Ueli in recent years opened my eyes to a level of expertise, talent, fitness, and dedication that I had never witnessed before. Both literally and metaphorically, It is almost always easier to follow than lead, and Ueli left a legacy that most of us will dream of following for a long time. One way in which I would not like to follow in Ueli's footsteps is in his level of risk acceptance. Ueli was smart and conscious of risk, not by any means a reckless and oblivious idiot, but most of us who climbed with him saw that he was willing to stick his neck out far more than average - It simply was one of the many ways in which Ueli, more than anyone else in the world, was willing to dedicate himself completely to his vision of taking alpinism to the next level.

Ueli will be missed for many reasons, but perhaps the biggest reason is because the way forward will be much less clear without him leading the way for all the rest of us.

[submaximal gains]

You can read Johnathan Griffith's eulogy for Ueli on his website

http://alpineexposures.com/euro/ueli-steck-a-eulogy