Helga Hengge in Cologne

You have only successfully climbed a mountain when you reach after the summit also the valley safe and sound. In this sense, Helga Hengge was the first successful German female mountaineer on Mount Everest. As a member of a commercial expedition team in spring 1999, she climbed from the Tibetan north side to the 8850-meter-high summit. Hannelore Schmatz had been the first German woman to reach the highest point of Everest in fall 1979, but she had died of exhaustion at 8,300 meters on her descent.

In 2011, Hengge became the first German female climber to complete the collection of the “Seven Summits”, the highest mountains of all continents. Helga is now 51 years old. She lives with her husband, her twelve-year-old daughter and her eleven-year-old son in Munich – and still goes to the mountains. Last fall, she tackled the 6543-meter-high Shivling in the Indian Himalayas. I met her on the margins of a lecture in Cologne.

Helga, it’s almost 19 years since you were on Mount Everest. Do you have any special relationship with the mountain?

Helga on top of Everest in 1999

Yes, for sure. I always thought that would disappear after a while. But I even think that this relationship is getting stronger. Only now I do feel how much I have taken from this mountain for myself and my life.

What exactly?

A very deep serenity. A lot of confidence. And belief in a power from within. And in a divine power in the mountains too.

Do you still follow what happens on Everest, e.g. now the winter expedition of Alex Txikon?

Yes, with great fascination. After Christmas follows this rather quiet time in January. I always feel like everyone is going to Everest, but not me. (laughs) Friends or acquaintances set off, as well as other mountaineers who are posting on Twitter, Instagram or Facebook. There is so much energy and great anticipation. And this always reminds me of my anticipation back then.

What has changed in your view on Everest since 1999?

It was still relatively quiet on the north side. We were a total of about 150 people on the mountain, including kitchen crews and base camp managers. That did not feel so crowded. If I now see the pictures, there is much more going on there. But that’s the way it is in our world. There will be more and more going on everywhere, of course on Everest too.

Do you feel that the mountain loses its dignity?

No, it can not. I also find it very difficult to say how the Nepalese government is currently doing: Some are allowed, others not. I think it’s very difficult and always unfair to exclude people from ascending there. The mountain has a tremendous aura and attraction. There are just a lot of people who really want to climb it. I can understand that very well.

North side of Mount Everest

Do you sometimes still dream about your ascent?

No. But for a while I had something of a horror dream about Everest – perhaps caused by the pictures of the accidents or even the giant queue of people, hundreds of climbers on a single route. That’s terrifying. At that time I dreamed that the Chinese would have built a lift from the middle of the mountain to just below the summit. Upstairs there was a little house where you could take a break. From there they all went off, with trainers! In the dream I was quite excited: They can not climb up wearing trainers, that’s too dangerous. I have to hold them back!

You were the first German woman who reached the summit of Everest and in addition came down alive. Do you have the feeling that the public has realized this?

I think so. In my lectures, I am often asked about it. I was living in New York at that time and just traveled to Everest. I had no sponsors. Back then I was not aware that I would be the first German woman to succeed. I found it out only afterwards. If I had known it before, I would probably have exerted myself more than I did and lamented less. That would certainly have benefited my team.

Did they pull you up to the top?

No, it was not that bad. But without the Sherpas, the tigers of the Himalayas, I certainly would not have climbed up there.

For some, Everest is the highlight, after which they scale down their mountain activities. For you, it was obviously more of an initial spark to set off to the mountains of the world.

At first. I tried to scale four eight-thousanders and succeeded on one of them, Shishapangma [She reached the 8008-meter-high Central Peak in 2001]. Then I met my husband, started a family. With two small children, you can not just leave. Later I focused on the Seven Summits, which I completed by 2011. One summit every year.

View downwards from Shivling

Last fall, you were back in the Himalayas, in the Indian part, on the six-thousander Shivling, a prestigious mountain. What did attract you?

It is the holy mountain of India and has fascinated me for a long time. It is a technically very difficult mountain, certainly at the limit of my ability. But the climb was not so important to me. I really wanted to make this pilgrimage and spend time there. It is truly one of the most impressive mountains I have ever been to. A great happiness shines out of it. Whenever I think back to the expedition, I have to smile because it was so beautiful.

Although you had to turn around 400 meters below the summit due to the risk of ice debris?

We turned around with a heavy heart because we had worked so hard on this mountain. Three days later we were trekking back. Near the glacier snout of Gomukh, the holy spring of the Ganges, we met a sadhu [a “holy man” in Hinduism] who was hiking up the pilgrim’s path. He asked me, “Where have you been?”- I replied, “On Shivling.” We were disheveled, with sun-burnt faces, we really looked wild. Then he said: “Lucky you!” Only then I realized how right he was. May be it was just one day missing to succeed. But we were so lucky to take this special trip at all.

Mount Damavand

Are there any other big mountain dreams you still have?

One after the other. I would like to travel again to Mount Damavand [5,611 m, the highest mountain in Iran] where we were not able to reach the summit last year because of a wild storm. And then there is another holy mountain in Iran, Mount Sabalan [4,811 m, the third highest mountain of the country]. I would like to visit it too.

It sounds like you’re not just looking for high altitude, you’ve changed your priorities.

A lot. After Everest I fell into a deep hole. Three years of preparation and I never asked myself, what will I do after having climbed Everest? It was hard. After that I strenously tried to climb other eight-thousanders, that was not my scene. Then, thank God, I found the Seven Summits. But when they were over, it was again very difficult for me. Finally, it had been a project over 14 years. Suddenly you stand on the last mountain and should actually be the luckiest person on earth. But you have no more reason to prepare for something. However, now I have the holy mountains and they are endless. They exist on all continents, in all religions and cultures. That’s actually the much nicer goal.

Ueli Steck at the IMS in Bressanone

If “The Fast and the Furious” had been a film about climbers, Ueli Steck could have played the leading role. The Swiss is just extremely fast. The Eiger North Face in two hours and 22 minutes, the 82 four-thousanders of the Alps within 61 days, solo via the Annapurna South Face to the 8091-meter-high summit and back in 28 hours, through Shishapangma South Face within ten and a half hours – for good reason Ueli is nicknamed “The Swiss Machine”. As if he had a tuned engine inside like the cars in “The Fast and the Furious”. Just recently, Steck has returned from India. I met him at the International Mountain Summit (IMS) in Bressanone in South Tyrol and talked to him about his tendency to speed, about aging and his next plans.

Ueli, you just turned 40 years old and you were not at home. How did you spend your birthday?

I was climbing along with my wife on Shivling in India (a 6,543 meter-high extremely shapely and challenging mountain in the north of the country). It was a very nice trip and a proper celebration of my 40th birthday.

And you have given yourself a summit success?

Yes, we had great weather. Within seven days we were standing on top of Shivling. It was perfect.

There has just been a mountain drama on Shivling: Two Polish mountaineers died.

When I went to Bressanone today, my Indian liasion officer sent me the bad news via Whatsapp. I just thought: Not again! We were together in base camp, really nice guys. It’s just sad. You always ask yourself: Why? Greg (Grzegorz Kukurowski) died because he suffered from high altitude sickness. You think that is not necessary anymore. Why does this happen again and again? I find it sad, on the other hand it annoys me.

Steck on top of Eiger

Back to you. Aged 40, other people are getting slower. But I feel like you’re getting even faster.

At the moment it is still going uphill. (He laughs) You have to accept your age and not be sad that it is not like it was 15 years ago. I need a bit more rest, more time for recovery. But you can also see it positively: I have now more time to sit on the sofa. I think, age is just a matter of attitude.

You’ve always been fast on the road, but I feel like you’ve discovered speed in a new way.

I‘ve optimized it a bit and targeted my training on it. I know I can still put some peaks for the next four, five years.

Fast en route

Last spring, when you were trying to climb Shishapangma South Face via a new route along with German David Goettler, you both always seemed to be running fast. First you did it like crazy to acclimatize, and then you continued to run via the South Face.

We were always on the road. This is what I like. We said from the beginning: We want to climb and not to sit in Base Camp doing nothing. We wanted to move and have fun. And we succeeded in doing this.

You have carried equipment during your climb. Fast and light, this makes you more vulnerable.

You have to be careful. We were already on the summit plateau, bad weather was coming from behind, but there was still blue sky in the front. Then you can go ahead. But you know you have no margin. If you push forward and climb to the top, and then the storm comes and you have to bivouac, you are dead. Because you haven’t any suitable equipment. So you just have to be careful.

This is a topic that is on my mind. At the moment there is a trend to run with sneakers from the valley to the summit of Mont Blanc. People see it and think it always works. But you cannot go up there every day with sneakers. I think we need to sensitize people to this problem. When is it possible, when not, and when do you better turn around?

You have to be careful when climbing. It has now taken me and my wife seven days to climb Shivling. This is possible, but of course you are not fully acclimatized. You have to be aware that if you have headache and it’s getting worse, you have to go down. And if you do not, someone dies. You can be fast, light and efficient, but you have to be aware of the risks and dangers.

Ueli Steck on Annapurna South Face

Do you benefit from your great experience as an extreme climber, who has, after all, been able to celebrate his 40th birthday?

Logically, and I can play that out. Especially when I climb in high altitude. I have done so many expeditions, I know exactly where I am, what I have to do and how much I can push. But you also have to be able to turn around. There was no endless discussion on Shishapangma between David and me. We both have a lot of experience and know what it means if you go too far. Then you will not come back one day. If you have experienced so many times climbers dying, you are much more conscious of this than someone who does it for the first time and says: “It’s snowing, well. We’ll go on, we’re not softies!”

Will you now travel more frequently with your wife to the Himalayas?

We have already made a lot of nice expeditions together. Nobody knows that. We are on holiday. And our agreement is that I don’t make it public. We will continue to go together on expedition. As long as possible.

Ueli and Tenji (r.) on the summit of Everest in 2012

Are you telling me your next project?

I want to try again the Everest-Lhotse traverse.

I certainly don’t need to ask whether with or without bottled oxygen.

The project is not interesting with bottled oxygen at all.

Will you do it alone or with a partner?

The idea is to climb with Tenji Sherpa as a team of two. (He joined Steck during his climb of Everest without breathing mask in 2012. Tenji also accompanied Ueli in later expeditions in Nepal.)

Will you try to be successful early in the season to avoid the crowds on the route?

I am relatively relaxed. If you are a climber, you can also go up off the trail. Even at Hillary Step you can turn right if you want. I will not let me put under stress.

Shivling

Shivling is one of the most beautiful mountains in the world. Some people call the 6,543-meter-high mountain in northern India the „Matterhorn“ of the Himalayas. Now a drama has taken place there. Two Polish climbers paid for the attempt to climb Shivling with their lives. Grzegorz Kukurowski and Lukasz Chrzanowski had tried to climb the mountain via the North Face. They stuck at 6,300 meters, about 200 meters below the summit.

Fall into a crevasse

R.I.P.

Kukurowski showed symptoms of high altitude sickness. Chrzanowski gave him emergency medicine in the tent, but Grzegorz died a little later. Lukasz now tried to descend alone. According to the Polish Mountaineering Association (PZA), he lost his balance on a snow and ice slope. slid more than 200 meters down and fell into a crevasse. Two other Polish expedition members, who had climbed up to help him, were only about 150 meters away at this time. When they reached the crevasse, Chrzanowski was still alive. But a little later he died from his inner injuries.

Chris Bonington

He was knighted to Sir Chris Bonington but he kept his feet on the ground. The 80-year-old Briton, a true living legend in mountaineering, is still a friendly man who is always speaking frankly. I was able to verify this at first hand when I met him last week in Chamonix where he was awarded the Piolet d’Or for his life achievements in the mountains.

Chris, what does the “Career Piolet d’Or” mean to you?

It means a huge amount, because this is an award for my peer group. And in it I’m joining some of the finest and best climbers in the world [Walter Bonatti (awarded in 2010), Reinhold Messner (2011), Doug Scott (2011), Robert Paragot (2012), KurtDiemberger (2013), John Roskelley (2014)], many of whom of course are good friends as well. So it means as much as any award I ever had.

You are 80 years old and you are still climbing, most recently in Catalonia in Spain some weeks ago. Please tell me your secret?

I am climbing very modestly. And I think it’s because I always kept climbing. I think, this is the secret, for everyone. You actually see now more and more grey hairs climbing walls in the mountains and hills. My standard steadily drops, but that doesn’t matter. I still love climbing and being out in the outdoors. And I love the companionship with my friends.

Does it become more and more difficult to bring in line your body and mind?

(Laughs) Without a shadow of doubt! The greatest joy of climbing is when you are at the absolute height of your powers and you got all the kind of thrill that a good athlete has, so you got complete command of your body and you are drifting up climbs. As you get older, you creak up them. So that isn’t that kind of physical euphoria. But what there is, is still the love of the mountains. There is the enjoyment of actually being there. And I think you start savoring your friendships even more.

Bonington: Still the love to the mountains

On Shivling in 1983

You have done so many extraordinary climbs. What was the most important for you personally?

There is no doubt about it: Annapurna II which was the first Himalayan peak I ever climbed [in 1960], and it’s only a hair’s breath below 8,000 meters [7937 meters]. And in fact it’s a very fine peak, about ten miles as a crow flies from Annapurna I. Inevitably your first ever expedition to the Himalayas is very special. But when it’s such a fine peak and to be able to climb a peak that is only just under 8,000 meters on your very first expedition, that really is something.

Then leading the expedition to the South Face of Annapurna [in 1970] and then to Everest Southwest Face [in 1975], it was a huge organizational role. Certainly the Everest Southwest Face was the greatest intellectual as well as physical challenge that I faced. You are the organizer, the planner, the leader. I do it so because maybe I have a chance to go to the top but that was very low on my priority list.

And then just for sheer joy and fun it was a much smaller peak, a mountain called Shivling [in 1983]. I made the first ascent of the West Summit with a great mate of mine, Jim Fotheringham. This was a totally spontaneous ascent. We grabbed the opportunity through getting a free flight to Delhi to take part at a tourism conference and then we went to climb it. It was five days up in Alpine style, one day down, very committing, a beautiful sharp pointed peak. And that to me is what climbing is all about. I was very glad having led my bigger expeditions. In the last 35, 40 years I have really been going for much smaller expeditions, smaller peaks and the whole variety of wonderful adventures.

This year we’ll celebrate the 40^th anniversary of the first climb through the Southwest Face of Everest by Doug Scott and Dougal Haston. Back then, in 1975, was it difficult for you not being able to climb because you were the expedition leader?

No, because in a way the expedition was my baby. It was my vision and concept. Then I got together the group of superb climbers to actually complete it. And therefore I had always seen very clearly in my mind that my first priority was the success of the expedition and not just the success of getting to the top of the mountain, but also the success of doing so harmoniously. And from that point of view it was a wonderful expedition. And the only very serious cloud of course was the fact that in the second attempt we lost Mick Burke.

Bonington: The Everest Southwest Face Expedition was my baby

Till now there are only a few other routes through the Southwest Face of Everest – maybe because it’s too difficult?

It’s interesting actually. I think in addition to our route there is only the Russian one and one or two smaller variations. But I mean, the obviously challenge that nobody has done is a direttissima. That is to go straight up the middle of the rock band and thus straight up to the summit. The way we did was a bit like the way the North wall of the Eiger was first climbed. We found the easiest way, a kind of “serpentining” our way up the mountain. But still now I think there have been only four ascents even of our route.  

Many things have changed on Everest. What do you think about nowadays climbing on Everest?

I mean, thank goodness, I got up it when I did. And also thank goodness that in 1985 when I finally did reach the summit of Everest with a Norwegian team, that was the last year that the Nepalese government only allowed one expedition on a route at a time. That meant, in 1985 we had the Western Cwm to ourselves. It was wonderful. I think now it is an inevitable development. I think you could compare it with the history of Mont Blanc. It seemed as inaccessible in the late 18^th century as Everest did to Tenzing Norgay and Edmund Hillary in 1953. Then the natural development is: A first ascent is made. Then other ascents are made. Then there is a commercial opportunity and guides start guiding people up. And very quickly on Mont Blanc you got the situation that the ordinary route was being climbed regularly. And it was inevitable that exactly the same thing would happen on Everest. Whether just how you manage it, is the big problem. At the moment it’s a kind of anarchic situation where these hundreds of people are going for it every year and where is a certain amount of conflict, a lot of perhaps unnecessary deaths. But that, you know, will be sorted out in the fullness of time.

Bonington about nowadays climbing on Everest

Chris with Don Whillans (l.) in Patagonia in 1963

If you should give a tip to young climbers, would you say: Don’t go to Everest?

I’d say definitely: Avoid it! I’d say to young climbers: The joy of climbing in the Himalayas is exploration. And of course there are literally thousands of unclimbed peaks in the Himalayas. You are not going to get famous climbing them. The problem is, they haven’t got even names, and they are just spot heights. But you get all the joy of exploration by actually going up the valley where people haven’t climbed before and just find your way up and climb a peak.

You have lost so many friends in the mountains. Are climbers in a way forced to handle death more than other people?

It’s a very dangerous sport. If you have the adrenaline junkies which we are and if you want to take that to the extreme and go out to the outer limits inevitably there is going to be a high casualty rate. And there is a high casualty rate amongst extreme climbers at altitude as there are amongst for instance base jumpers, wingsuit fliers and so on. I think it’s not people who have got a death wish. It’s something that people are turned on by the huge excitement, euphoria of taking your body and yourself to the absolute limit to achieve an objective. I think that is the prize you’ve got to be prepared to pay. We may be selfish, we may be unrealistic, but I think you do need adventurers in the world.

Bonington: You need adventurers

Are you now thinking of your own death more often than in earlier days?

No, I don’t. I think I’m essentially an optimist. I’ve got to be one because there were at least ten times where I shouldn’t have come out of it. I’m not afraid of death, but I love life.