I think that a good mountaineer is usually a sensible mountaineer.

Boredom has always been a problem.

I get older I get more cantankerous, but June [Hillary] gets a bit more cantankerous, too.

Nobody climbs mountains for scientific reasons. Science is used to raise money for the expeditions, but you really climb for the hell of it.

As a youngster I was a great dreamer, reading many books of adventure and walking lonely miles with my head in the clouds.

Life's a bit like mountaineering - never look down.

My relationship with the mountains actually started when I was 16. Every year, a group used to be taken from Auckland Grammar down to the Tangariro National Park for a skiing holiday.