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Public invited to solemn service for Swiss alpinist

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The family of Ueli Steck will hold a public ceremony next week to honor the fallen Swiss alpinist’s life and exceptional achievements.

The ceremony will be held on May 23 at 4pm in Interlaken’s Congress Centre Kursaal, near the village of Ringgenberg along Lake Brienz where Steck and his wife Nicole lived.

Steck, who died at the age of 40 in a fall on Nuptse in Nepal’s Everest region on April 30, was in a class of his own as a speed mountaineer and alpinist who set ever-higher challenges for himself. His physical and mental focus helped him not only shatter speed records but also to pull off some audacious first ascents and mountaineering feats that seemed impossible to most others.

In an online statementExternal link posted publicly on Wednesday, Steck’s family said that it thanks the friends, acquaintances, professional colleagues, business partners, fans and other interested circles for their “overwhelming participation” in honoring a beloved son, husband, brother, uncle, and brother-in-law.

“The family considers this participation to be a great honor for Ueli, which the latter unfortunately can no longer experience personally,” they wrote. “As a sign of gratitude, the family invites the public and the media to a public commemoration ceremony.”

But the family said it would not grant media interviews at this time, and requests that participants and media refrain from taking photos and videos at the Interlaken ceremony “in order to preserve the solemn framework” of the memorial service. The family suggested donating to Swiss air rescue service REGAExternal link instead of sending flowers.


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SWI swissinfo.ch - a branch of Swiss Broadcasting Corporation SRG SSR