The Highest Of The World's Mountains, It

Because It's There. (when Asked Why He Wanted To Climb Everest)

I Look Back On Tremendous Efforts & Exhaustion & Dismal Looking Out Of A Tent Door On To A Dismal World Of Snow And Vanishing Hopes - & Yet, & Yet, & Yet There Have Been A Good Many Things To See The Other Side.

Mountaineers Have Often Observed A Lack Of Clarity In Their Mental State At High Altitudes; It Is Difficult For The Stupid Mind To Observe How Stupid It Is.

For The Stone From The Top For Geologists, The Knowledge Of The Limits Of Endurance For The Doctors, But Above All For The Spirit Of Adventure To Keep Alive The Soul Of Man.

Gradually, Very Gradually, We Saw The Great Mountain Sides And Glaciers And Aretes, Now One Fragment And Now Another Through The Floating Rifts, Until Far Higher In The Sky Than Imagination Had Dared To Suggest The White Summit Of Everest Appeared.