Ueli Steck

“I never expected to make a living from climbing, but it got to the point where I either had to get a job or start trying to make some real money from it. I didn't want to be 45 and a dirtbag.”

“Not all Sherpas are bad. There are a few who are crazy, but the rest are good people.”

“When you go to the mountains, you really have to accept that there is always a risk. It's more dangerous than sitting at home watching TV. It's really sad.”

“Slow down and stay alive.”

“I'm getting older, turning 40 this year. I had a period where I thought each expedition had to be something harder, something faster. But you can't go on like that, or you're going to die.”

“Everybody has to choose his or her own way to climb a mountain. I don't give an opinion. But there needs to be enough room for others.”

“Climbing Everest is so big now, with so much money involved, and the Sherpas are not stupid. They see this, and they want to take over the business and kick out the westerners. This is a big fight.”

“Annapurna was a special situation. It was a lifetime dream to finish that route. When I started climbing the South Face, I really expected not to come back alive.”

“You can, maybe, do something like Annapurna once in a lifetime. Then don't try to do it again.”

“My first climb was on lead; there were pitons, no bolts.”

“It's like a living process. You start out, and you see the Eiger north face, and you think, 'That's impossible.' Then you start to dream. Then you climb the Eiger north face. Then maybe you go to the Himalaya.”

“These guys make a lot of money. Of course it's hard and dangerous work, but Sherpas are the rich people in Nepal. If you make so much money, you can somehow lose reality.”

“I don't have a death wish. On the contrary, I'm hanging onto my life like never before.”

“Today, to find a challenge is really hard. In the Alps, everything is done. The new lines, almost all of them are finished. So to find a new challenge, it's all beginning to go to speed.”

“The goal is not to solo. Of course, it is possible to move fast in alpine style also with a partner. I just need the right partner.”

“Right now, I'm just focused on the 8,000-meter peaks. I don't know what's next. I don't think I will get tired of climbing.”

“I don't worry about other people, and I don't let them influence me too much. I try to find out what I want to do and not what other people want me to do.”

“During the climb, I never get afraid. But you can't lose your fear - it is really important. If you lose it, you are going to die.”

“Of course I climbed Everest without oxygen, but it's not the end of the story for me. The summit itself is not what counts. It's how'd you get there, what'd you climb, and there are really great opportunities to climb on this mountain. It's a beautiful place.”

“No one in Switzerland knows me as the Swiss Machine, and that's good, because I don't like it.”