# "Swiss Machine" dies on Everest **URL:** \ **Category:** Miscellaneous and Personal Stuff I Must Share\ **Created:** [April 30, 2017, 5:33pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/swiss-machine-dies-on-everest/785582 "2017-04-30T17:33:31Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 17\ **Page:** 1
**Author:** ![Skara\_Brae](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/f0a364/32.png) [@Skara\_Brae](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Skara_Brae)\ **Post date:** [April 30, 2017, 5:33pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/swiss-machine-dies-on-everest/785582/1 "2017-04-30T17:33:31Z")
The world’s highest peak has claimed another victim. Swiss climber Ueli Steck died in an extremely grisly accident - reports are he fell over 1000 feet and his body was in pieces. > **[Swiss mountaineer Ueli Steck dies in Everest attempt](https://www.swissinfo.ch/eng/obituary_swiss-mountaineer-ueli-steck-dies-on-everest/43146274?srg_sm_campaign=general&srg_sm_medium=soc&srg_sm_source=sflow)** > > Record-breaking Swiss mountaineer Ueli Steck has died during an attempt to scale Mount Everest. He was 40 years old. On Facebook, some people were speculating on foul play (Steck had been involved in a violent conflict with Sherpas years earlier), but most reports say this was clearly an accident… ---
**Author:** ![panache45](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/panache45/32/64_2.png) [@panache45](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/panache45)\ **Post date:** [April 30, 2017, 5:45pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/swiss-machine-dies-on-everest/785582/2 "2017-04-30T17:45:06Z")
> [@Skara\_Brae](#): > > reports are he fell over 1000 feet It’s worse than you think. 1000 _meters_ - 3,280 feet! ---
**Author:** ![Skara\_Brae](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/f0a364/32.png) [@Skara\_Brae](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Skara_Brae)\ **Post date:** [April 30, 2017, 5:48pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/swiss-machine-dies-on-everest/785582/3 "2017-04-30T17:48:31Z")
> [@panache45](#): > > It’s worse than you think. 1000 _meters_ - 3,280 feet! :smack: ---
**Author:** ![ticker](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/t/d07c76/32.png) [@ticker](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/ticker)\ **Post date:** [April 30, 2017, 5:58pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/swiss-machine-dies-on-everest/785582/4 "2017-04-30T17:58:52Z")
It wasn’t Everest but nearby mountain Nuptse. He was in training for a traverse between Everest and Lhotse. ---
**Author:** ![Riemann](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/riemann/32/3133_2.png) [@Riemann](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Riemann)\ **Post date:** [April 30, 2017, 6:13pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/swiss-machine-dies-on-everest/785582/5 "2017-04-30T18:13:11Z")
Damn. Super guy, one of the most talented modern climbers. Here he is on the Eiger: [![](https://vumbnail.com/91399676.jpg "Ueli Steck speed solo Eiger record") ](https://vimeo.com/91399676) ---
**Author:** ![Gatopescado](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/gatopescado/32/5711_2.png) [@Gatopescado](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Gatopescado)\ **Post date:** [April 30, 2017, 8:14pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/swiss-machine-dies-on-everest/785582/6 "2017-04-30T20:14:00Z")
This wouldn’t happen if they just put up a chairlift! ---
**Author:** ![voltaire](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/voltaire/32/313_2.png) [@voltaire](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/voltaire)\ **Post date:** [April 30, 2017, 8:20pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/swiss-machine-dies-on-everest/785582/7 "2017-04-30T20:20:50Z")
> [@panache45](#): > > It’s worse than you think. 1000 _meters_ - 3,280 feet! That’s Nuptse! ---
**Author:** ![Broomstick](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/broomstick/32/246_2.png) [@Broomstick](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Broomstick)\ **Post date:** [April 30, 2017, 8:33pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/swiss-machine-dies-on-everest/785582/8 "2017-04-30T20:33:10Z")
Huh. 1000 meters is more than twice the height of the Sears/Willis Tower in Chicago. A quick google later and it probably took about 15 seconds to fall that distance. That’s assuming an unobstructed fall and not bouncing off the landscape. I’m hoping that when the end did come it was quick and he didn’t suffer pain. ---
**Author:** ![PastTense](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/pasttense/32/14550_2.png) [@PastTense](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/PastTense)\ **Post date:** [April 30, 2017, 8:59pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/swiss-machine-dies-on-everest/785582/9 "2017-04-30T20:59:39Z")
Having never heard of him I looked at a Youtube video: Frankly this looks very dangerous (compared to the ropes, etc of traditional mountain climbing). ---
**Author:** ![Princhester](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/p/3e96dc/32.png) [@Princhester](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Princhester)\ **Post date:** [April 30, 2017, 9:26pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/swiss-machine-dies-on-everest/785582/10 "2017-04-30T21:26:57Z")
> [@Gatopescado](#): > > This wouldn’t happen if they just put up a chairlift! I wonder how long it would take before the number of lives saved by the chairlift caught up to the number that would be lost in constructing it? [Yeah I know you’re not serious] ---
**Author:** ![Richard\_Pearse](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/richard_pearse/32/13144_2.png) [@Richard\_Pearse](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Richard_Pearse)\ **Post date:** [April 30, 2017, 11:18pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/swiss-machine-dies-on-everest/785582/11 "2017-04-30T23:18:20Z")
“Never took risks”. That just shows how risk can be perceived so differently depending on what you have become accustomed to. ---
**Author:** ![Xema](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/x/9de053/32.png) [@Xema](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Xema)\ **Post date:** [May 1, 2017, 2:47am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/swiss-machine-dies-on-everest/785582/12 "2017-05-01T02:47:45Z")
Terrible news. Ueli would be a strong candidate for “greatest mountaineer of the past 25 years”. His 2013 [solo climb of Annapurna’s south face](http://www.alpinist.com/doc/web13f/newswire-ueli-steck-south-face-annapurna) might be the most impressive mountaineering feat ever. ---
**Author:** ![Xema](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/x/9de053/32.png) [@Xema](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Xema)\ **Post date:** [May 1, 2017, 2:49am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/swiss-machine-dies-on-everest/785582/13 "2017-05-01T02:49:52Z")
> [@Richard\_Pearse](#): > > “Never took risks”. The article linked in the OP says “He was never aggressive in taking risks”. ---
**Author:** ![Richard\_Pearse](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/richard_pearse/32/13144_2.png) [@Richard\_Pearse](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Richard_Pearse)\ **Post date:** [May 1, 2017, 3:16am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/swiss-machine-dies-on-everest/785582/14 "2017-05-01T03:16:33Z")
> [@Xema](#): > > The article linked in the OP says “He was never aggressive in taking risks”. Yep. I was conflating the comment made by someone else with his own comment that he “never risks [his] life”. The point still stands. His perception of risk was obviously very different from mine. Not a criticism of him, just an observation on how different we all are. ---
**Author:** ![Gatopescado](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/gatopescado/32/5711_2.png) [@Gatopescado](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Gatopescado)\ **Post date:** [May 1, 2017, 4:16am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/swiss-machine-dies-on-everest/785582/15 "2017-05-01T04:16:48Z")
> [@Princhester](#): > > [Yeah I know you’re not serious] I miss ralph. He made for some good readin’! ---
**Author:** ![Machine\_Elf](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/m/82dd89/32.png) [@Machine\_Elf](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Machine_Elf)\ **Post date:** [May 1, 2017, 3:49pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/swiss-machine-dies-on-everest/785582/16 "2017-05-01T15:49:33Z")
> [@panache45](#): > > It’s worse than you think. 1000 _meters_ - 3,280 feet! Given the nature of aerodynamic drag, I’m not sure the impact velocity is a whole lot different in either case. ---
**Author:** ![Broomstick](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/broomstick/32/246_2.png) [@Broomstick](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Broomstick)\ **Post date:** [May 1, 2017, 4:03pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/swiss-machine-dies-on-everest/785582/17 "2017-05-01T16:03:51Z")
Yeah, terminal velocity is terminal velocity. The “worse” part might be the fear and anticipation of hitting the ground with a longer fall.