Famed Swiss climber Ueli Steck was killed on Sunday in a mountaineering accident near Mount Everest in Nepal, expedition organisers 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.