Chevy truck of mountaineering.

Getting to the top is optional. Getting down is mandatory.

I like things that are difficult, physically and mentally, ... Things that are really challenging, things that really maybe take a long time but really push me to my limits.

Getting to the top is optional, but getting down is mandatory. A lot of people get focused on the summit and forget that.

Keeping in mind the old mountain adage that the longer you take to set up your bivy site, the shorter the bivy you have to endure, we ended up taking two hours to dig the snow cave.

The altimeter had been damaged along the way, but the few bottles that we brought along to wash down the ordinary expedition rations were fine. True, a bottle gives only a vague indication of altitude, but can you drink an altimeter?