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.
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.
Once you start, if you're still afraid, don't do it. Either it's too hard, or you're not prepared. I've never done something when I was scared.
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.
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 need to come back to Everest.
I don't have a death wish. On the contrary, I'm hanging onto my life like never before.
The people in Nepal don't care about alpinism; they just care about money.
You can, maybe, do something like Annapurna once in a lifetime. Then don't try to do it again.
No one in Switzerland knows me as the Swiss Machine, and that's good, because I don't like it.
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.
I don't cheat.
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.
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.
Not all Sherpas are bad. There are a few who are crazy, but the rest are good people.
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.
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.
My first climb was on lead; there were pitons, no bolts.
I don't like talking about climbing that much. You don't have to discuss; just do it.
That's what it's all about. It doesn't matter if you climbed the Eiger's north face in two hours and forty-seven minutes or in two days. If it's your challenge, and you're happy with it, that's the most important thing.
