“Unthinkable! Impossible!” - That's what Swiss Hans-Peter Duttle would have had to listen to before he set off for the Himalayas - if he had told about his plans back in 1962.

But he didn't. He set off secretly to climb Everest via forbidden Tibet with three American alpinists. Illegally, poorly equipped, without altitude support, satellite radio or a doctor. The four of them didn't even have any altitude-appropriate sunscreen with them. It was - as Hans-Peter Duttle says today - a suicide mission. Trying to tackle an eight-thousander in this way was an absolute novelty at the time. Today it's called alpine style.
(Alexandra Rozkosny, Editor-in-Chief of "The Alps", Swiss Alpine Club)

My life was a life on the run. I never knew exactly what I was running away from - my dissatisfaction with my own life and my disgust with humanity always went hand in hand. But I knew exactly where I wanted to go: to the most remote, untouched areas, where there were any or as few people as possible, to the outermost edges of our civilized world.

These recurring attempts to escape and my yearning to find what I hoped to be a spiritual awareness, took me to places that pushed me to my limits. And they have also ultimately broken my relationships with people who loved me. My life has been a long maturing period with hopes and lows, but also with gratitude for those who have appreciated and loved me despite my lifelong quest.