Monday, 28 September 2009: Swiss mountaineer Ueli Steck has successfully summited Makalu 8,463m, giving the alpinist his second 8,000m peak in just a few weeks, with the climb following on from his ascent of Gasherbrum II (8,035m) in late July.

Steck along with climber and photographer Robert Bösch set off from Camp III (7,350m) at 3am on
Thursday September 24, and headed up the normal route on Makalu.

Steck had intended to summit via the Western Pillar, but untoward weather and deep snow put paid to
those plans.

Makalu, the fifth highest mountain in the world, lies east of Mount Everest on the border between Nepal and
China and while Steck managed to reach the summit, Bösch elected to return at an altitude of
approximately 7,900m.

12 hours after they set off, Steck stood on the summit before descending on the same day back to Camp
III and by Friday the two had safely returned to base camp and will now prepare to head home.