Ueli Steck (l.) and David Goettler

He couldn’t stop thinking about it. When the Swiss top climber Ueli Steck solo climbed the South Face of 8027-meter- high Shishapangma in only ten and a half hours five years ago, he discovered a possible new direct line. This spring, the 39-year-old – along with the 37-year-old German professional climber David Goettler – returned to the 2000-meter-high wall to have a try at the new route. If everything works perfectly, they plan to descend from the summit via the north side, thus traversing the eight-thousander.

Before heading off to Tibet, Ueli and David acclimatized in the Everest region in Nepal – including trail-running over extremely long distances. I sent them five questions to their Base Camp at the foot of Shishapangma South Face.

Ueli and David, the pictures which you published on Facebook in recent weeks, remind me of Speedy Gonzales or Road Runner, two cartoon characters of my childhood: continuously in high speed mode, because hunted. At the same time each of you let us know that the other is really, really fit. Honestly, who of you is actually rushing whom? Or from what are you trying to escape?

Fast en route

Question back, who of us is Speedy Gonzales and who is Road Runner? We are not at all on the run. We just have a lot of fun together! It’s fun to be together on the road. We both know that we are similar fit. No one must prove or hide anything from the other. We have a great positive energy in the team. It just works. And it creates an ingenious dynamics!

Most high-altitude climbers do acclimatizing  according to the motto: Conserve your strength so that you have enough power left for the actual goal. Instead, you have run in the Khumbu region a distance of 57 kilometers over several passes in 12 three-quarter hours. What is the logic behind this high-speed acclimatization?

Most climbers do high altitude mountaineering as in the days of Messner. I personally (Ueli) do not see much progress. Of course you have to be careful, because e.g. at 5,000 meters, the regeneration takes longer, and actually each climber behaves very individually in high altitude. Kilian Jornet (a professional Spanish ski mountaineer and mountain trail runner), for example, believes that you can run 50 kilometers every day! I am still far away from that, but it shows what could be possible. In the end you just have to know your body. And everyone has to make decisions for himself and to assess how high his personal performance is, and how fast he is able to ascend or move in high altitude. We both have considerable experience in high altitude and can check out what can be optimized without actually losing all our power.

You have pitched up your Base Camp below Shishapangma South Face. How are the conditions in the wall where you want to climb a new route?

We have already been at the bottom of South Face. Quite simply, it looks awesome. Now we hope it remains like this until the suitable weather window opens.

What will be the main focus of your planned first ascent, possibly including the traverse of the mountain: the aesthetic of the line, difficulty, fun…?

Ueli’s route through Shishapangma South Face that he climbed in 2011

The route speaks for itself. A direct logical line on an eight-thousander, that’s truly fascinating. In the first place we want to climb via this route to the summit and go home healthy. We’ll see how fast we are, this depends on the technical difficulties. We will belay normally, with rope and pitons. It doesn’t matter whether we need two days or one or three. But we are not very motivated to spend as many nights as possible on the mountain. The traverse would certainly be the icing on the cake.

Last Monday was the first anniversary of the devastating earthquake in Nepal. How have you experienced the people in the Himalayas during the past weeks?

People got used to the aftershocks and the situation. It’s impressive how the Nepali have got accustomed to the little tremors, which also happened again when we were traveling in Khumbu. But they have no other choice than to take it as it is. And it’s really great how everything is back to normal and works.

At the summit: Fiegl, Bluemel, Auer (from l. to r.)

For sure, it was an amazing highlight of alpinism, but a shadow falls across. At the end of October – as reported – the Austrians Hansjoerg Auer, Alexander Bluemel and Gerhard Fiegl first climbed the South Face of the 6,839-meter-high Nilgiri South in the Annapurna massif in Nepal. Five previous expeditions, top climbers from Japan, Czech Republic and Slovakia, had failed to climb the wall. However, the success of the Austrian trio turned into a tragedy: While descending, Gerry, manifestly suffering from high altitude sickness, fell to his death several hundred meters deep, three days after his 27th birthday – while his friends were looking on in horror. A few days later, the search for Fiegl was abandoned.

Hansjoerg Auer sustained frostbite on six toes. Meanwhile the feeling in his toes has returned and he can climb again, the 31-year-old tells me. Next spring, he wants to set off along with his compatriot David Lama to a “cool, very difficult destination”. He doesn’t yet reveal, where it will be. I’ve talked to Hansjoerg about what happened in late October.

Hansjörg, you succeeded in making the amazing first ascent of the South Face of Nilgiri South. But on the descent your teammate Gerry Fiegl fell to his death. Does this tragic end make everything else fade into the backround?

At the moment of course yes, because only a positive outcome makes a mountain trip a good one. And Gerry’s death was the worst thing that could happen. Alex and I are trying to recall especially the ascent, when Gerry was still well. The line through the wall and the climbing was really outstanding.

On South Face at about 5,900 meters

Let’s first talk about this ascent. How were the conditions in the wall and which difficulties you had to overcome?

From the distance, the South Face looks as if it is free from ice, but inside there is a lot of so-called “black ice”. We have chosen our route in the right part of the wall, which is actually a shady West Face in the South Face. Therefore, there was a lot of ice and it was a very steep climb – much harder than for instance on Khunyang Chhish East. [In 2013, Hansjoerg succeeded in first climbing the 7,400-meter-high mountain in the Karakorum, along with his brother Matthias and the Swiss Simon Anthamatten.] The first day was tough. We didn’t find a suitable place for bivouacking below 6,500 meters, so we crept into our bivouac sacks not until 5 p.m. On the second day, we climbed an about 6,780-meter-high spire, which was higher than we had suspected. Then we had to cross a very exposed, steep ridge, partly abseiling. After another bivouac we reached the top of Nilgiri South, after a relatively short, technically not too difficult climb.
The descent via the Southwest Ridge was more difficult than we had expected. It’s always difficult when you have to break the golden rule on high mountains to descend on the same route you climbed up before. But on Nilgiri South it was not possible because the ascent was too difficult. In addition, in the lower parts of the wall the risk of rock fall was so high that we didn’t want to expose ourselves to this danger a second time.

You had to bivouac three times during the ascent. Were you on your last legs when you reached the summit?

Alex and I felt good. On the first day, we were all on our limits, but the other two days of ascent did not take such a long time. But in the end everything revolved around Gerry. We tried to find a way so that it was possible for him in his state of health.

On Nilgiri Spire (6780 m)

On the summit, Gerry was suddenly in very poor health. Were you then already aware that he was probably suffering from high altitude sickness?

In the morning of the summit day we noticed for the first time that something was wrong with him. At first we thought he was just exhausted. There were only about 200 meters in altitude left. We hoped that the euphoria of the summit success would help him and that we could then descend as quickly as possible on the other side. Gerry was an excellent mountaineer and climber, but that was no longer the powerful Gerry, as we knew him. We had to bivouac again at 6,500 meters.

You then tried to organize a rescue by helicopter. What was the problem?

On the summit day, the wind speed was 45 kilometers per hour, the day after 70 km/h. In addition, it was very, very cold. Under these conditions, a rescue on such an exposed ridge was simply impossible.

After the bivouac you continued the descent. How did the accident happen?

At night it was really bad. We tried our best to help Gerry, we realized that it would become very close. The next morning Gerry felt okay and we continued our descent on the steep, icy ridge. We could not just abseil but had to climb down the ridge. At a supposedly easy point he fell into depth. In retrospect, it’s almost astonishing that Gerry in his poor health managed to climb down from nearly 7,000 to about 6,000 meters. I think that was due his great performance and ambition.

Route of ascent (r.) and descent (l.)

Why wasn’t Gerry roped up?

We were climbing in Alpine style, which also means reducing equipment. Then you’re used to go without rope in easier terrain, so that you get ahead faster. If you rope up in a group of three, you have to secure everything. On the Southwest Ridge of Nilgiri South you can’t walk with a short rope as you do in the Alps.

Did you immediately know that Gerry could not have survived the fall?

Yes. But in the beginning you don’t want to believe it. You sit down and don’t know what to do. You cry, walk another hundred meters, sit down again and cry once more. You probably will not understand it for the rest of your life but you try to accept it. The risk is part of our sport.

Do you believe that the disaster will change your own risk-taking?

I don’ think so. In recent years I have intensively dealt with the theme of danger. You just have to, if you climb even free solo as I do, for instance this year on Heiligkreuzkofel. [On this mountain in the Dolomites Hansjoerg climbed the difficult route “Mephisto” for the first time solo and without rope.] Of course, I can’t simply carry on with the agenda. Gerry was a good friend, I miss him. But I hope it will get better with time. My passion for climbing is just so strong that I’ll go on expedition again.

Not a chance

Once again his dream to climb Lhotse South Face was gone with the wind. As in 2014, Sung Taek Hong returns empty-handed from the mighty wall of the fourth highest mountain on earth to South Korea. After two months on the mountain, Sung and his team packed up. They aborted their last summit attempt at Camp 1. Sung tried to climb further up but it was impossible due to storm gusts of up to 150 kilometers per hour. Some gear was blown out of the wall. One of the Sherpa climbers was hit und hurt by a falling rock.

Another attempt next spring?

During their most successful summit attempt, the team had made it up to an altitude of 8,200 meters on a partly new route, just about 300 meters were left to the 8,516-meter-high summit. For Sung, it was the third fall season in a row without summit success on Lhotse. In 2013 his solo attempt on the normal route had failed, in 2014 and this year too he remained luckless climbing the South Face. But the 48-year-old has proved again his endurance and his ability not to give up. Thus we’ll see him very likely on Lhotse again. He hoped that he could return next spring, Sung said.

Route of the Austrian climbers on Nilgiri South

Anyone who has ever climbed a very high mountain knows about the dangers during the descent. Not the dangers of the mountain itself, but of your own body. Suddenly all adrenaline is used up, you feel the pain that you have pushed away during the ascent, you are exhausted, only want to get down quickly and run into danger of losing your concentration. It’s not for nothing that many accidents happen on descent – like on the 6,839-meter-high Nilgiri South in Nepal, where the Austrian Gerhard Fiegl fell several hundred meters into depth on Monday of last week and has been missing since then. As reported, the search for the 27-year-old was meanwhile abandoned.
According to the other two team members, Hansjoerg Auer and Alexander Bluemel, the trio earlier had “successfully reached the summit after climbing through the more than 1,500 meter high South Face”. It was the first climb via the difficult wall where several other expeditions had failed in the past few decades. At the summit they noticed that their friend Gerry was “very exhausted”, Hansjoerg and Alex say. Was it symptoms of High Altitude Sickness? Fiegl’s rapid drop in performance might indicate this. At that altitude, oxygen is pressed into the longs with around 40 percent less pressure than at sea level.

Unplanned bivouac

At the summit: Fiegl, Bluemek and Auer (r.to l.)

“At the summit, we were still lying in each others arms and rejoiced over the successful first climb of the South Face”, says Auer. “But within a short time the situation turned extremely tense due to Gerry’s condition.” A few hundred meters below the summit, the three climbers decided to bivouac. Down in Base Camp, the photographer Elias Holzknecht tried to organize a rescue operation. However, strong winds made helicopter flights impossible. The next morning, Gerry’s condition seemed to have improved slightly, the trio continued their descent. Later, at around 2 p.m. local time, Fiegl lost his balance on the Southwest Ridge and fell around 800 meters into depth while his friends were looking on in horror.

Helicopter search two days later

Hansjoerg and Alex climbed down to Base Camp. Heavy snowfall hampered the search that was started immediately, only two days after the accident a helicopter was able to take off. The search for Gerry was unsuccessful. On 1 November the other expedition members returned to Austria. “At the moment when a longtime friend falls to death before your eyes, everything else becomes unimportant”, says Hansjoerg Auer. “Our joint expedition could not have taken a worse end.” As well as Auer, Alexander Bluemel is “very sad about the loss of our friend. But nobody can take me away the memory of the intense time I experienced with Gerry.”

Nilgiri South

The push is on. The Austrian Team that tries to first climb the South Face of the 6839-meter-high Nilgiri South in the Annapurna massif in Nepal has set off for their first summit attempt. I was told this by a speaker of Hansjoerg Auer in Austria. On Wednesday Hansjoerg had tweeted that their acclimatization was coming to an end and that their first attempt was about to start. Auer is climbing along with his compatriots Alexander Bluemel and Gerhard Fiegl.

Successes by Japanese climbers

Nilgiri South was first climbed on 10 October 1978 by a Japanese expedition that was led by Kazao Mitsui, the climbers ascended from North via the East Ridge to the top. In 2003, Japanese climbers succeeded in opening a new route via the West Col and the North Face. Since the 1980s there have been several attempts by Japanese, Czech and Slowenian climbers to reach the summit of Nilgiri South via the South Face but all failed. The most successful was the try of the Slowenian team led by Tadej Golob who climbed up to an altitude of 6,600 meters until they were forced back by strong winds, fog and snowfall.

First ascent of Kunyang Chhish East

Hansjoerg Auer (in 2013)

The 31-year-old Hansjoerg Auer has made headlines with his free solo climbs like the difficult Fish route through the South Face of Marmolada in the Dolomites. In 2013, Hansjoerg – along with this brother Matthias and the Swiss Simon Anthamatten – first climbed Kunyang Chhish East (7,400 m) in Pakistan via the 2,700-meter-high Southwest Face. This first ascent was nominated for the Piolet d’Or 2014 but later not awarded.  Then Hansjoerg blamed the jury of having dealt “superficially with our adventure”.

Ueli in his tent on Annapurna

Ueli did it. Just what exactly? The Swiss climber Ueli Steck is keeping us in suspense after his adventure on Annapurna. “Successful mission!”, is said on his homepage. “Don (Bowie) and Ueli are on the way to Pokhara. Updates will follow in the coming days.” Quite honestly, if I could I would run to meet them on their trekking. I’m bursting with curiosity. Has Ueli really climbed  solo via a direct route through the South Face to the 8091-meter-high summit of Annapurna? Is the rumor true that the Swiss, who celebrated his 37th birthday a week ago, needed only 28 hours to climb up and down?

The Swiss takes his time

My gut feeling is telling me that Ueli again did a real great climb. For certain he has got the information that the internet has run hot since yesterday with breaking news about his solo ascent. If it was a hoax, he surely would have denied the reports by SMS. And in one respect Ueli fulfils the cliché of the slow Swiss: In contrast to his speed of climbing he is slowing down when he has to inform the public about his adventures. Even two years ago when Ueli climbed solo via the Shishapangma South Face he took up plenty of time before he published details of his spectacular climb.

Great comeback

In the South Face

By now, I warmly congratulate Ueli, even if I still do not know exactly on what. I am delighted that he has obviously come to terms with his horrible experiences on Mount Everest at the end of April and is now again making headlines as a top climber. After the Sherpa attack against him, Simone Moro and Jonathan Griffith it temporarily even looked as if Ueli would withdraw completely from Himalayan mountaineering. Now he has celebrated his comeback – and I’m almost sure it was a great one. Jon Griffith, Uelis teammate and fellow sufferer on Everest, on Facebook got to the heart of it:  “Holy crap. If the news from Annapurna is true then Ueli Steck you are truly one hell of a machine. I don’t think anyone will be able to comprehend what kind of an accomplishment that is.”

Update 12.10.: Robert Boesch, photographer and mountaineer from Switzerland, says that he has spoken to Ueli Steck on satellite phone after his climbing of Annapurna. According to Robert Ueli has climbed solo on a new route through the South Wall directly to the summit. Steck needed 28 hours for ascent and descent, says Robert: “His climb opened a new dimension in high altitude mountaineering.” You can take a first look on the route here.

Denis Urubko

Not only formerly French actor Gerard Depardieu has become a Russian, but also Denis Urubko. The 39 years old climber wrote me that he had left Kazakhstan and had now a passport of Russia. This spring Denis – together with his new countryman Alexei Bolotov – wants to climb Mount Everest on a new route (look here) via the southwest face. Urubko has already climbed all fourteen 8000ers without supplementary oxygen. Together with his friend Simone Moro from Italy Denis succeeded the first winter ascents of Makalu(2009) and Gasherbrum II (2011). In 2010 Denis and Kazakh Boris Dedeshko were awarded with the Piolet d’Or, the ‘Oscar’ of mountaineering, for their new route via the south face of Cho Oyu. I asked Urubko about his new plan on Everest. 

Denis, you will return to Everest, although you have already climbed it without oxygen in 2000. What has motivated you to do it again? 

For many reasons mountains have to been climbed twice. The first ascents normally happened by the easiest way, as you can see in history of exploration of 8000 meter peaks. On Everest it happened in 1953, on K 2 in 1954… in usual Himalayan style, with porters etc. But civilization gives us other possibilities in development. Equipment becomes lighter and stronger. Food and stoves let us survive better. Next climbers were able to do something stronger: new routes, speed ascents, other projects. Step by step. The psychological barriers were crushed. Two examples for this are the ascents of Messner and Habeler on Hidden Peak in alpine style and on Everest without oxygen.

I see it from a sportive point of view: delivering results that are better compared with other people. It’s a strong exploration of self power, of mentality of course to open a new page in the book of mountain world, with the possibility to do something new. 

You want to climb Everest with the Russian Alexei Bolotov on a new route. How many details can you reveal about style and route? 

Yes we’ll try to act together. Alexei was very glad about this project and the idea to attempt a new route on one of the most difficult faces in the world. We plan to climb a route in the centre of the southwest face and will try to do it in alpine style, but much depends on weather and luck. 

Have you already climbed with Alexei?

We met first in 1995, when he was in the rescue team after my accident in central Tian Shan. He brought me down from 6000 meters. In 2000 we participated in a speed-ascent competition on Khan Tengri and in 2008 in the unfortunately unsuccessful attempt to rescue Spanish climber Iñaki Ochoa on Annapurna. We both joined a Lhotse expedition in 2001. We had some good experience together. Last month Alexei and I climbed some short routes in Tian Shan for training. These were nice days, and we hope to be ready for the Himalayas at the end of March.

Your friend Simone Moro will also try to reach the summit of Mount Everest this spring, on a new route together with Swiss climber Ueli Steck. Is it an option to join together both teams? 

We still have no plan to do so. But life always brings a lot of surprises. For me just one month ago it was a great news that Ueli and Simone plan to climb Everest together. We’ll see what happens in future. 

Next May the 60th anniversary of the first ascent of Mount Everest will be celebrated. What kind of mountain is Everest for you, how do you think about it right now? 

For me Everest is simply the highest mountain of the world. All other things depend on the personal view: Beautiful, difficult, magic mountain – this applies to many mountains. But the highest, this is only Everest.  

What do you wish Mount Everest for the future?

I dream to see Everest from the bottom through a glass of wine. For me it makes no sense to wish for less people on the slopes of Everest – as nobody can wish for less people on Eiffel tower. But of course I hope for less corpses on the slopes.  

In July you will celebrate your 40th birthday. A day like any other or do you feel it could be a break? 

The date means nothing. Just my experience that fortune has given to me during many pleasant and difficult years is important for me. I had exploring, sportive, art actions… and I hope to do the same on the next interesting pages: To be happy in mountains, music, trainings, family, articles, other activities – just this only.