I have the challenges sort of already there and as a consequence my companions feel a considerable desire to do this, too, and they feel very put out if they are left in the cold, so there we have it. We have me who has lots of ideas and then we have a very good team who wish - who are persuaded almost - to take part in these challenges.

Many people have been getting too casual about climbing Everest. I forecast a disaster many times.

I was incredibly stubborn. I mean, I believe that my father was frequently in the right, but I would never admit it, and so we did have a few set-tos on various topics; but on the whole as I got older and my father got more mature we got along reasonably well.

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

I was a dreamer when I was at high school and even primary school. I used to dream about doing adventurous things.

While on top of Everest, I looked across the valley towards the great peak Makalu and mentally worked out a route about how it could be climbed. It showed me that even though I was standing on top of the world, it wasn't the end of everything. I was still looking beyond to other interesting challenges.

I've always hated the danger part of climbing, and it's great to come down again because it's safe.