Getting to the top is optional. Getting down is mandatory.

The mountain decides whether you climb or not. The art of mountaineering is knowing when to go, when to stay, and when to retreat.

K2 is not some malevolent being, lurking there above the Baltoro, waiting to get us. It's just there. It's indifferent. It's an inanimate mountain made of rock, ice, and snow. The "savageness" is what we project onto it, as if we blame the peak for our own misadventures on it.

I believe that, with anything in life, if you have the patience, desire and passion, you can do whatever you set your mind to.

There are no short cuts to the top.

I like things that are difficult, physically and mentally. Things that are really challenging, things that really maybe take a long time but really push me to my limits.

The summit is just a halfway point.