Ueli Steck Quotes

I came to Flatanger with a plan in my mind to bolt a really, really hard thing that would be beautiful and keep me motivated to try it for a long time, in some underdeveloped area.

Because it is there [famous explanation for wanting to climb Mount Everest].

- Why do you want to climb Mt. Everest, Sir? - Because it is there.

While on top of Everest, I looked across the valley towards the great peak Makalu and mentally worked out a route about how it could be climbed. It showed me that even though I was standing on top of the world, it wasn't the end of everything. I was still looking beyond to other interesting challenges.

Stand at the base and look up at 3,000 feet of blankness. It just looks like there's no way you can climb it. That's what you seek as a climber. You want to find something that looks absurd and figure out how to do it.

Meeting Australian mountaineer and author Tim Macartney-Snape when I was 16 in 1994 had a big impact on me. His ascent of Everest from sea to summit captured my imagination.

The mission of professional mountain climbers is almost impossibly difficult by design: Their very livelihood is based on achieving the unprecedented. Their expeditions are complicated, exhausting, often life-threatening. Risk is the fuel that keeps them going.

When I took on Everest, I'm not there for the views.

I accept any challenge, so challenge me

The experienced mountain climber is not intimidated by a mountain - he is inspired by it.

I saw a mountain. I wanted to climb it.

You want to climb the mountain because it’s there and you know you can do it.

I started out doing triathlons because they terrified me! I'm a good swimmer, I learned to ride a bike in college, and I hate running. It seemed like something I could never do, so I decided, 'I'm gonna do it.'

Mountaineering is one of the most difficult sports - we are away from routine life for days, living in tents, and it requires high degree of physical and mental strength.

I was scared many times on Everest, but this is all part of the challenge. When I fell down a crevasse, it was pretty scary.

An athlete cannot run with money in his pockets. He must run with hope in his heart and dreams in his head.

Anytime you finish a climb, there's always the next thing you can try.

The only mountain that I would still like to climb: I'd like to break 85.

Remember your dreams and fight for them. You must know what you want from life. There is just one thing that makes your dream become impossible: the fear of failure.

I'm always climbing.

Men climb mountains, scale heights, venture into the unexplored to prove to other men it can be done.

The art of climbing is the art of survival. The best climber is the man or woman going in the most crazy places but surviving.

In the West, the art of rock climbing is growing because it has to do with less risk, good muscles. But the people seeking high goals in high places are in Eastern Europe, and they reach their goals because they are willing to suffer more.

You learn over years of expeditions that having faith, and putting one foot in front of the other, you do end up pulling off climbs that seem completely impossible. There's a certain beauty to that. It has an allure.

For me, climbing has always been about adventure and that involves difficulties, danger and exposure, so I deliberately set out to climb with as little equipment as possible.