The end of every road is only the beginning of a new one, even longer and more difficult.

Mountains are not stadiums where I statisfy my ambition to achieve, they are the cathedrals where I practice my religion... I go to them as humans go to worship. From their lofty summits I view my past, dream of the future and, with an unusual acuity, am allowed to experience the present moment... my vision cleared, my strength renewed. In the mountains I celebrate creation. On each journey I am reborn.

I don’t know what being an Everest guide means. I am a coach, not a guide.

I travel to Jakarta, I see what an important country it is. I’ve been working with them for a year.

I think that people ran out of oxygen and don’t really know what happened up there, maybe some of them just made things up because they weren’t sure what had happened.

The longer I live, the more certain I am that there are no accidents in life. There are no chance meetings; everything happens according to a plan, regularly and in order.

Honestly, I do not experience fear in the mountains. On the contraryI feel my shoulders straightening, squaring, like the birds as they straighten their wings. I enjoy the freedom and the altitude. It is only when I return to life below that I feel the world’s weight on my shoulders.

I see the psychology of this team, I see they respect me very much as a climber, not like last year - these people value what I bring to them.

Mountains are cathedrals: grand and pure, the houses of my religion. I go to them as humans go to worship...From their lofty summits, I view my past, dream of the future, and with unusual acuity I am allowed to experience the present moment. My strength renewed, my vision cleared, in the mountains I celebrate creation. On each journey I am reborn.

Big mountains are a completely different world: snow, ice, rocks, sky, and thin air. You cannot conquer them, only rise to their height for a short time; and for that they demand a great deal. The struggle is not with the enemy, or a competitor like in sports, but with yourself, with the feelings of weakness and inadequacy. That struggle appeals to me. It is why I became a mountaineer.