Oriental Sports Daily By our reporter Zhang Li (Weibo)

Most climbers need at least two days to conquer the mysterious and perilous north face of the Eiger in the Alps, but Switzerland’s fastest climber, Ueli Steck, can do it in under three hours. And the north face of the Matterhorn, which most people take all day to climb, Steck summited in just 1 hour and 56 minutes.

And what about the daunting north face of the Grandes Jorasses near Chamonix, France? Steck tackled it in just 2 hours and 21 minutes. “His greatest strength is his focus,” says Stefan, Steck’s friend and climbing partner of ten years. “To reach that level and standard of climbing, you have to be completely focused.”

It’s not hard to find that climbers often criticize speed climbers from an aesthetic point of view. They say reducing the beauty of high mountains to the status of a horse race goes against the freedom that so many climbers appreciate in the sport.

So far, Steck has successfully summited the three hardest north faces in the Alps—the Eiger, the Matterhorn, and the Grandes Jorasses—and has set new speed records for each. On February 13, 2008, he broke the solo speed record for the traditional route on the Eiger north face with a time of 2 hours, 47 minutes, and 33 seconds, marking his third time breaking the Eiger north face speed record. On March 14, 2006, Steck summited the Matterhorn in 25 hours along its most technically challenging route. While this wasn’t a new speed record for the peak, it was definitely the fastest time ever on that route. The route took five days to complete on its first ascent in 1965, and in 1994, French climber Catherine Destivelle set a solo speed record of three days.

“Speed climbing is definitely not for me,” emphasizes Steck’s friend, Christian Kruk. “But I think all climbing styles and techniques should be acknowledged and welcomed.” Even Steck admits that when he climbs quickly, it’s not necessarily to get closer to nature. “It attracts media attention,” he reveals. “Sponsors love it.”

After Steck first broke the Eiger speed record in 2007, and then summited the Matterhorn in February 2008 and the Grandes Jorasses in January 2009, he realized that speed climbing could serve as a stepping stone to breaking new limits in mountaineering.

Steck said he wants to apply these speed climbing techniques to climbing peaks in the Himalayas. He pointed out, “Of course, doing what I do carries greater risks, but that’s what makes life more interesting.”

For Steck, the Grandes Jorasses had long been an unfulfilled dream—until he finally conquered it. On December 27, 2008, he pitched his small tent on a glacier not far from the north face of the Grandes Jorasses. After deciding to climb, he found that while his ice tools gripped well, the ice axes he carried front and back became increasingly cumbersome as he climbed higher. Due to the steepness of the cliff, using ice axes on such a rocky route felt awkward, and the cold made it impossible to remove his gloves. Steck had to rely on dry tooling techniques, and the difficulty increased the higher he went. After navigating overhanging sections, Steck began his final push to the summit, completing the entire route in 2 hours and 21 minutes, successfully conquering the Grandes Jorasses.

Without using ropes or any protection, he only placed two pitons for technical necessity during the climb. Steck once again demonstrated his commitment to alpine-style climbing through his actions.

The only way to face danger—is to keep climbing.

Like many climbers, Steck is very meticulous and quiet in daily life. He has a lean, muscular build. When he speaks, he sounds like a strategist, choosing his words carefully and striving for precision. Friends say his attention to detail is key to his success in breaking climbing records.

Despite his careful nature, Steck can be astonishingly bold. Steck has openly stated that climbing dangerous cliffs without ropes and with bare hands can actually be quite safe. “Climbing steep, smooth, unprotected cliffs isn’t actually the most dangerous part of climbing. Because you move slowly, and once you find your position, ensuring every grip and pause is solid is manageable.” Shortly after saying this, he showed exciting clips of his free solo climbs during a presentation near Zurich. “The most dangerous part is actually when you’re running up a slope quickly—because if you slip or trip at high speed, it’s all over,” Steck explained.

But a few years ago, Steck almost lost his life during a climb. He recalls that while ascending to an altitude of 6,000 meters, a falling rock hit him on the head, sending him tumbling down onto the glacier below. Fortunately, he miraculously survived. “That accident was a wake-up call, making me realize how quickly things can go wrong. But I also had to realize it was just bad luck, not that I was pushing myself too far—that’s also very important,” Steck said. He believes that thoroughly scouting the terrain is an indispensable key to climbing. “If you look at a cliff and think falling from there would be no joke, you have to stay focused, or you really will fall. So there’s only one way out—keep climbing.”