I've always hated the danger part of climbing, and it's great to come down again because it's safe.

I was scared many times on Everest, but this is all part of the challenge. When I fell down a crevasse, it was pretty scary.

When I was climbing, I built up a close relationship with the Sherpa people.

I like to think of Everest as a great mountaineering challenge, and when you've got people just streaming up the mountain - well, many of them are just climbing it to get their name in the paper, really.

Many people have been getting too casual about climbing Everest. I forecast a disaster many times.

When you go to the mountains, you see them and you admire them. In a sense, they give you a challenge, and you try to express that challenge by climbing them.