There's only one way to gain mountain sense, and that's to be in the mountains a lot. Unfortunately, when you're a young climber, you have none. You're out there, and your risk level is high.

There are two kinds of climbers: those who climb because their heart sings when they're in the mountains, and all the rest.

The best climber in the world is the one that has the most fun.

The best climber is the one who has the most fun.

As de Saussure said, risk-taking brings with it its own reward: it keeps a "continual agitation alive" in the heart. Hope, fear. Hope, fear - this is the fundamental rhythm of mountaineering. Life, it frequently seems in the mountains, is more intensely lived the closer one gets to its extinction: we never feel so alive as when we have nearly died.

I think climbing is less a sport and more a hobby, and as such, I think everybody's a beginning climber.