A Self - Made Superman

UELI STECK was a global phenomenon in alpine climbing. He electrified the world with his ming-blowing speed and solo mountaineering exploits-so much so that people came to think of him as superhuman, a conciet abruptly overtuned by the shocking news of his death at just 40 while training on Nuptse. Leavin us to wonder: Just how did a seemingly normal Swiss guy from a town of hockey fanatics and dairy farmers transform himself into the world's foremost alpinist?

- John Heilprin

Ueli Steck was born on October 4, 1976, the youngest of the three sons of Lisabeth and Max Steck, a local coppersmith. Their valley, where the Emme river flows, is known as the Emmental, part of the canton of Bern, one of the largest of Switzerland’s 26 cantons, or states. It bears a soft wildness in its steep, verdant hills and rolling farmland. The Swiss farming houses here typically have huge roofs that almost seem to touch the ground. Though the family lived only a short height above ground on the first floor of their home, Ueli as a young boy more than once horrified his mother by climbing to the outside through the kitchen window and onto the gutter, incidents she recalled with a laugh for a local Swiss newspaper last year.

Folks sometimes sound as if they are speaking a little more slowly and melodically in Swiss German, perhaps reinforcing the cliché of a place considered friendly, easygoing and a bit introver ted—al l characteristics of Steck, who also learned French, English and Italian. In his hometown stands the oldest free church of Switzerland, a place where zealous Mennonites once gathered to escape persecution in the first half of the 16th century. But for his family, nature above all else was a haven, and they took lots of walks together, as is customary in Switzerland. His mother and father encouraged the three sons always to give their best and do the right thing. They lived not far from the Bernese Alps and Jura mountains, and the boys were accustomed to taking to the outdoors and playing sports to deal with the varied stresses of growing up, school and work. Among the Swiss, as with most Europeans, the team sports of hockey and soccer are the most popular. Steck joined in like everyone else, but he didn’t see himself as a natural-born athlete.