But Now That I Was Finally Here,

In Climbing, Having Confidence In Your Partners Is No Small Concern. One Climber's Actions Can Affect The Welfare Of The Entire Team.

If You're Bumming Out, You're Not Gonna Get To The Top, So As Long As We're Up Here We Might As Well Make A Point Of Grooving. (quoting Scott Fischer)

Above The Comforts Of Base Camp, The Expedition In Fact Became An Almost Calvinistic Undertaking. The Ratio Of Misery To Pleasure Was Greater By An Order Of Magnitude Than Any Mountain I'd Been On; I Quickly Came To Understand That Climbing Everest Was Primarily About Enduring Pain. And In Subjecting Ourselves To Week After Week Of Toil, Tedium And Suffering, It Struck Me That Most Of Us Were Probably Seeking Above All Else, Something Like A State Of Grace.

When A Young Person Is Moved By A Passion And Feels Compelled To Go On This Sort Of Quest, I Think You Have To Let Him. You Can't Stop Him. In Our Culture We Don't Have Formal Rights Of Passage Like In Some Ancient Cultures. Subjecting Yourself To Risk... May Be Something You Have To Go Through To Be A Man Or A Woman.

When Alex Left For Alaska," Franz Remembers, "i Prayed. I Asked God To Keep His Finger On The Shoulder Of That One; I Told Him That Boy Was Special. But He Let Alex Die. So On December 26, When I Learned What Happened, I Renounced The Lord. I Withdrew My Church Membership And Became An Atheist. I Decided I Couldn't Believe In A God Who Would Let Something That Terrible Happen To A Boy Like Alex.