Ueli Steck Quotes

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Ueli Steck

Profession : Athlete

Birth : October 4, 1976

I don't have a death wish. On the contrary, I'm hanging onto my life like never before.

Ueli Steck

That's what it's all about. It doesn't matter if you climbed the Eiger's north face in two hours and forty-seven minutes or in two days. If it's your challenge, and you're happy with it, that's the most important thing.

Ueli Steck

I don't cheat.

Ueli Steck

Climbing Everest is so big now, with so much money involved, and the Sherpas are not stupid. They see this, and they want to take over the business and kick out the westerners. This is a big fight.

Ueli Steck

These guys make a lot of money. Of course it's hard and dangerous work, but Sherpas are the rich people in Nepal. If you make so much money, you can somehow lose reality.

Ueli Steck

Not all Sherpas are bad. There are a few who are crazy, but the rest are good people.

Ueli Steck

I don't need to come back to Everest.

Ueli Steck

No one in Switzerland knows me as the Swiss Machine, and that's good, because I don't like it.

Ueli Steck

The goal is not to solo. Of course, it is possible to move fast in alpine style also with a partner. I just need the right partner.

Ueli Steck

I never expected to make a living from climbing, but it got to the point where I either had to get a job or start trying to make some real money from it. I didn't want to be 45 and a dirtbag.

Ueli Steck

Of course I climbed Everest without oxygen, but it's not the end of the story for me. The summit itself is not what counts. It's how'd you get there, what'd you climb, and there are really great opportunities to climb on this mountain. It's a beautiful place.

Ueli Steck

Today, to find a challenge is really hard. In the Alps, everything is done. The new lines, almost all of them are finished. So to find a new challenge, it's all beginning to go to speed.

Ueli Steck

My first climb was on lead; there were pitons, no bolts.

Ueli Steck

You can, maybe, do something like Annapurna once in a lifetime. Then don't try to do it again.

Ueli Steck

When you go to the mountains, you really have to accept that there is always a risk. It's more dangerous than sitting at home watching TV. It's really sad.

Ueli Steck

Right now, I'm just focused on the 8,000-meter peaks. I don't know what's next. I don't think I will get tired of climbing.

Ueli Steck

It's like a living process. You start out, and you see the Eiger north face, and you think, 'That's impossible.' Then you start to dream. Then you climb the Eiger north face. Then maybe you go to the Himalaya.

Ueli Steck

I don't like being restricted. When I climb, I feel free and unrestricted; away from any social commitments.

Ueli Steck

I don't worry about other people, and I don't let them influence me too much. I try to find out what I want to do and not what other people want me to do.

Ueli Steck

I'm getting older, turning 40 this year. I had a period where I thought each expedition had to be something harder, something faster. But you can't go on like that, or you're going to die.

Ueli Steck