FILE - In this Oct. 27, 2011 file photo, the last light of the day sets on Mount Everest as it rises behind Mount Nuptse as seen from Tengboche, in the Himalaya's Khumbu region, Nepal. Famed Swiss climber... (Associated Press) 
 
 FILE - In this Oct. 27, 2011 file photo, the last light of the day sets on Mount Everest as it rises behind Mount Nuptse as seen from Tengboche, in the Himalaya's Khumbu region, Nepal. Famed Swiss climber Ueli Steck was killed Sunday, April 30, 2017, in a mountaineering accident near Mount Everest in... (Associated Press) 
 
 KATHMANDU, Nepal (AP) — Famed Swiss climber Ueli Steck was killed Sunday in a mountaineering accident near Mount Everest in Nepal, expedition organizers said. 
 
 Mingma Sherpa of Seven Summit Treks said Steck was killed at Camp 1 of Mount Nuptse. His body has been recovered from the site and been taken to Lukla, where the only airport in the Mount Everest area is located. 
 
 Steck's family said the exact circumstances of his death were still unclear. 
 
 "The family is infinitely sad and asks that the media refrain from speculating about his death out of respect and consideration for Ueli," it said in a statement on Steck's website. "As soon as reliable information about Ueli Steck's death becomes available, the media will be informed." 
 
 Steck was planning to climb 8,850-meter (29,035-foot) Mount Everest and nearby Mount Lhotse next month. 
 
 He was the first casualty in the spring mountaineering season in Nepal that began in March and will end in May. Hundreds of foreign climbers are on the mountains to attempt scale Himalayan peaks in May when there are a few windows of favorable weather. 
 
 The 40-year-old Steck was one of the most-renowned mountaineers of his generation. He was best known for his speed-climbing, including setting several records for ascending the north face of the Eiger, a classic mountaineering peak in the Bernese Alps that he climbed in two hours and 47 minutes without using a rope. 
 
 In 2013 he achieved the first solo climb of the Annapurna south face in Nepal after almost losing his life in a fall there in 2007. For that he received the "Piolet d'Or" — considered the Oscar of mountaineering — the following year. 
 
 In 2015, Steck decided to climb all 82 peaks in the Alps higher than 4,000 meters (13,100 feet) traveling between mountains by foot, bike and paraglider only. He completed the feat in 62 days, helping cement his reputation as the "Swiss Machine." 
 
 Steck once said he considered himself an "outsider" in the mountaineering scene because athletic achievement was more important to him than adventure. 
 
 In a recent post on his website, Steck mused about the transience of success in mountaineering and the inevitable decline that comes with age. 
 
 "A record is broken again and again, and the world keeps on turning," he wrote. "You are getting older and there comes a time when you have to adjust your projects to your age." 
 
 Steck suffered a setback during his last trip to Everest, in 2013, when he became involved in a violent altercation with a group of local guides. On his return this year, he aimed to perform a quick climb of Everest and Lhotse, including an overnight stop at more than 8,000 meters, an altitude that's known as the "death zone" because the human body's performance is reduced to 20 percent of its normal rate. 
 
 Asked about the upcoming expedition, Steck told Swiss daily Tages-Anzeiger in an interview last month: "When I'm on Everest I can stop at any point. The risk is therefore quite small. For me it's primarily a physical project. Either I get through, or I don't have the strength for the whole traversal." 
 
 "Of course I want to climb Everest and Lhotse," Steck told the paper when asked about his measure of success. "But that's a very high goal. Failure for me would be to die and not come home." 
 
 ___ 
 
 Jordans reported from Berlin. ||||| KATHMANDU (Reuters) - An experienced Swiss climber died on Sunday after he fell in the Everest region of Nepal during preparations to climb the world's highest mountain, the first to perish in the current climbing season, officials said. 
 
 Ueli Steck, 40, died after falling to the foot of Mount Nuptse, a smaller peak in the area, said Mingma Sherpa of the Seven Summits Treks company that organized Steck's expedition. 
 
 Steck was in the area acclimatizing ahead of a bid to climb Everest through the less-climbed West Ridge route and traverse to Lhotse, the world's fourth highest peak - at 8,516 meters (27,940 feet) in May. 
 
 "His body has been retrieved and is being brought to Kathmandu," Sherpa told Reuters. Other details were not immediately available. 
 
 Kamal Prasad Parajuli, an official with Nepal's Department of Tourism, confirmed Steck died while climbing Nuptse and that he had planned to attempt an Everest ascent. 
 
 Hundreds of climbers are at Everest base camp as they prepare to climb the 8,850 meter (29,035 feet) Everest Summit in the current March-May climbing season. 
 
 (Reporting by Gopal Sharma; Editing by Sam Holmes) 
 
 Read the original article on Reuters. Copyright 2017. Follow Reuters on Twitter.
– Famed Swiss climber Ueli Steck was killed Sunday in a mountaineering accident near Mount Everest in Nepal, expedition organizers said. Mingma Sherpa of Seven Summit Treks said Steck was killed at Camp 1 of Mount Nuptse. "His body has been retrieved and is being brought to Kathmandu," Sherpa told Reuters. Steck's family said the exact circumstances of his death were still unclear. "The family is infinitely sad and asks that the media refrain from speculating about his death out of respect and consideration for Ueli," it said in a statement on Steck's website, per the AP. Steck was planning to climb 29,035-foot Everest and nearby Mount Lhotse next month. He was the first casualty in Nepal's spring mountaineering season that began in March and will end in May. Hundreds of foreign climbers are on the mountains to attempt to scale Himalayan peaks when there are a few windows of favorable weather. The 40-year-old Steck was one of the most-renowned mountaineers of his generation. He was best known for his speed-climbing, including setting several records for ascending the north face of the Eiger, a peak in the Bernese Alps he climbed in two hours and 47 minutes without a rope. In 2015, Steck climbed all 82 peaks in the Alps higher than 13,100 feet, traveling between mountains by foot, bike, and paraglider only. He finished the feat in 62 days, cementing his reputation as the "Swiss Machine." "A record is broken again and again, and the world keeps on turning," Steck recently mused. "You are getting older and there comes a time when you have to adjust your projects to your age." Asked about the upcoming expedition, Steck told Swiss daily Tages-Anzeiger last month: "Of course I want to climb Everest and Lhotse. But that's a very high goal. Failure for me would be to die and not come home." (Steck last year discovered the bodies of two climbers lost in Tibet in 1999.)