KATHMANDU, Nepal (AP) — A Swiss climber who found the long-lost bodies of a renowned mountaineer and his cameraman on one of the world's tallest mountains said it took days for him and his climbing partner to realize whom they had found. 
 
 Mountaineer Ueli Steck said he and David Goettler were attempting to climb China's Mount Shishapangma and saw the bodies on a glacier at a height of 5,900 meters (19,350 feet). 
 
 It was only when they got back to base camp after their failed attempt that they thought the bodies may have been of Alex Lowe and David Bridges, who were swept away by an avalanche in 1999 and had been attempting to climb the world's 14 highest mountains. 
 
 Lowe was regarded as the world's greatest mountain climber when he was swept to his death at age 40. Bridges, then 29, was an accomplished high-altitude climber and cinematographer. 
 
 "We didn't realize this could be Alex and David. But when we were back in base camp we were talking about this and were like — oh these two bodies could be," Steck said Monday in Kathmandu after returning from the mountain. 
 
 Steck said Goettler then called Cornad Anker, who was climbing with Lowe and Bridges at the time of avalanche, and gave him a description of the clothes, shoes and backpack on the bodies. 
 
 "Conrad made the conclusion that it was the two friends of his," Steck said. 
 
 Steck said he did not touch or move the bodies, which were found on the mountain's difficult "British route," which is not very popular. Steck and Goettler were the only climbers this season on the southern face of the 8,027-meter (26,330-foot) mountain. 
 
 Steck climbed the peak in 2011 but on a route slightly to the right and did not see the bodies then. 
 
 Lowe was known as "Lungs With Legs" for his incredible strength and stamina. He climbed Mount Everest twice, and is credited with rescuing several climbers in Alaska in 1995, a year when six climbers died on Mount McKinley. ||||| 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." 
 
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 Jordans reported from Berlin.
– Ueli Steck, the famed Swiss mountain climber who died in an accident near Mount Everest on Sunday, almost died in very different circumstances the last time he was in the area. The 40-year-old "Swiss Machine" was one of three European climbers who fled to base camp after brawling with around 100 Sherpas at more than 20,000 feet. Despite how the 2013 incident was portrayed, Steck was no "cultural imperialist," writes Nick Paumgarten in a tribute at the New Yorker, though he was "certainly hardheaded and single-minded, to the point of being relatively heedless of the opinions of others, be they Sherpa or Swiss." Paumgarten describes Steck as the most accomplished mountaineer of his generation. Paumgarten notes that last year, Steck found the body of Alex Lowe—considered the best mountaineer of his generation when he was killed by an avalanche in 1999—and the two "are now forever linked, in the alpinists' circle of death." Authorities in Nepal say Steck fell more than 3,000 feet while climbing the 25,791-foot Nuptse peak ahead of a planned attempt to scale Everest on a route only successfully used once before, the New York Times reports. British mountaineer Sir Chris Bonington tells the BBC that Steck was known for speed climbing, though he doesn't believe that put him at greater risk. "The death rate among the very best mountaineers is very high, particularly in the Himalayas," he says.