Achieving the summit of a mountain was tangible, immutable, concrete. The incumbent hazards lent the activity a seriousness of purpose that was sorely missing from the rest of my life. I thrilled in the fresh perspective that came from the tipping the ordinary plane of existence on end.

Into Thin Air: A personal account of the Everest disaster (ed. Pan Macmillan, 2011) - ISBN: 9780330470025