I remember when Messner and Habeler did the North Face of Eiger in 10 hours many years ago. Clint Eastwood and company were filming the Eiger Sanction at that time and after the guys came down, they were treated like heroes. Not the actors, the climbers.
Compare their climb to Ueli Steck's 2 hours and some minutes up the same route. This man was special in our sport. Most likely, the best overall climber of the last 20 years.
Very sorry to hear the news. The big peaks are dangerous place to hang around but if there was one man to do THE last big problem in the Himalaya, the Everest-Lhotse traverse, it was Ueli Steck.
