Ueli Steck is a Swiss climber. He is a skilled carpenter and lives in Ringgenberg in Interlaken.
Steck is one of the world's best solo climbers. At the age of 17, he achieved the 9th Difficulty rating (UIAA) in Climbing. As an 18-year-old he climbed the north face of the Eiger, and the famous Bonatti Pillar in the Mont Blanc massif. In June 2004, he climbed with Stephan Siegrist the Eiger, Mönch and Jungfrau within 25 hours. Another success was the so-called Khumbu-Express in 2005, for which the climbing magazine "Climb!" named him one of the three best alpinists in Europe. The project consisted of the first solo-climb of the north wall of the Cholatse (6440 m) and the east wall of the Tawoche (6505 m).
In 2007, whilst climbing up the direct line on the southern flank to the summit of Annapurna in the Himalayas, he was hit by a falling rock which smashed his helmet. He was knocked unconsious, slipped more than 200 feet, but survived with just bruises and a concussion injuries. In May 2008 again climbing Annapurna he broke off his ascent of the route to a assist a Spanish climber Iñaki Ochoa de Olza who had collapsed. Medical help was slow in coming and the Spanish climber died despite Steck's help.
In 2008 Steck was the first recipient of the Eiger Award for his mountaineering achievements.
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