“If I don’t take myself out of this game I will die sooner rather than later.” – Ueli Steck from swissinfo.ch

People familiar with Ueli Steck likely feel that this is a guy who is gonna die soon. Apparently he knows that. He knows that he is going to have to stop doing these speed ascents without ropes. But, in his mid-30s he is his prime for high altitude climbing and speed ascensions. Will he stop soon? Nope. But hopefully he’ll stop before it’s too late.

This guy Ueli Steck has been doing some incredible speed ascents. Speed climbing the North Face Eiger in under 3 hours was his most famous success. He climbs hard, he climbs fast, he climbs high, and he climbs without ropes.

video of Ueli’s record speed ascent of the North Face of the Eiger…that has already been beaten by another Swiss climber

36-year old Ueli just tried a speed ascent of Mt. Everest. He stopped about one our short of the summit due to his feet being very cold. He decided losing his toes wasn’t worth the summit of Everest. Good call.

“Finally it gets dawn. I hope the sun can warm me a little bit. Stil I cannot feel any difference. My feet are numb since a while. I can feel how my heels get cold and without feeling. Not a good sign. I move on to the Third Step. A Sherpa tells me that I would need max. 1 hour to the summit. Shall I…? Shall I not…? It’s not long. But my feet. I am at another mountain, without oxygen. I have to accept that. I turn down. As fast as I can down. I do not want to sacrifice any of my toes for Everest.” – Ueli Steck on Everest summit day

Check out this detailed interview with Ueli at Everest base camp on swissinfo.ch: