World-renowned Swiss climber Ueli Steck killed near Mount Everest

Known as the ‘Swiss Machine’ for his mountaining feats, Ueli Steck was killed at Camp 1 of Mount Nuptse, according to organisers.

Swiss mounainteer Ueli Steck pictured at the foot of a climbing wall in Wilderswil, Canton of Berne, Switzerland, on September 11, 2015. Steck, 40, known as the ‘Swiss Machine’ has died in an accidentShow more

KATHMANDU // Swiss climber Ueli Steck, one of the most feted mountaineers of his generation and famed for his speed ascents of iconic Alpine routes, died near Mount Everest on Sunday.

“Today morning, he had an accident on the Nuptse wall and died. It seems he slipped,” said Ang Tsering Sherpa, head of the Nepal mountaineering association.

Steck, 40, was in the Everest region of Nepal acclimatising ahead of a bid to climb the highest mountain in the world in May.

Everest and neighbouring peak Nuptse share a common ridge, which is where Steck apparently slipped and fell, according to a government official.

“He skidded off about 1,000 metres from [Mt Nuptse] camp two early morning on Sunday. Other climbers ascending Everest saw him and asked for his rescue,” said Dinesh Bhattarai, director general at the department of tourism.

Steck was climbing alone when he died. His partner, Tenji Sherpa, sustained severe frostbite and was recovering at a lower camp.

“His body has been retrieved and is being brought to Kathmandu,” said Mingma Sherpa of the Seven Summits Treks company that organised Steck’s expedition.

The accomplished alpinist sought to pioneer new routes throughout his mountaineering career, earning the nickname “the Swiss Machine” for his solo record ascents in the Alps.

He was attempting to achieve another first this year by connecting a series of rarely climbed routes to summit both Everest and Lhotse, the world’s fourth highest mountain, all without the use of supplemental oxygen.

Steck was due to summit Everest via the West Ridge – a route that has recorded more fatalities than summits – before climbing Lhotse.

In a video recorded in early April and posted on YouTube, Steck said he would judge the attempt a success regardless of whether he reached the top – as long as he returned alive.

Mingma Sherpa, the first Nepali to summit all 14 of the world’s peaks above 8,000 metres, said the accident underscored the unpredictability of mountaineering.

“It is very sad news, he is a very experienced climber,” he said of Steck’s death.

“Things can be so unpredictable in the mountains and it can be challenging even for the most seasoned climbers.”

Steck made global headlines in 2013 when he and two other western climbers traded blows with a group of furious Nepali guides over a climbing dispute on Mount Everest.

The brawl shocked the mountaineering community, causing a damaging rift between western climbers and the often lowly-paid Nepali guides who are essential for commercial expeditions to the crowded summit.

An angry Steck swore never to return to Everest, telling a Swiss website that his “trust [was] gone”.

But he was back in the Himalayas months later, this time to scale Mount Annapurna, the world’s tenth highest peak.

After 28 hours of climbing – all without bottled oxygen – and a dangerous brush with an avalanche, Steck became the first mountaineer to complete a solo ascent of the 8,091-metre peak.

Controversially, he offered no photographic proof of his accomplishment, saying the avalanche knocked his camera out of his hand.

Nevertheless, he was awarded the Piolet d’Or, mountaineering’s top accolade, for the 2013 climb.

Speaking nearly two years before his death, Steck said he was never inspired by a quest for fame or “records”.

“Personal pleasure alone dictates my approach”, he said in an August 2015 interview in the French Alps town of Sigoyer.

* Agence France-Presse and Reuters