A review of summit day photographs will show that I was clothed in the latest, highest quality, high altitude gear, comparable, if not better, than that worn by the other members of our expedition.

I offer my expertise and experience for hire in order to help a group of people reach the summit.

This year my role is clear: I am a coach, a coach to sportsmen.

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

Mountains are not stadiums where I satisfy my ambition to achieve, they are the cathedrals where I practice my religion.

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.

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.