If you see yourself as trying to beat the mountain, eventually the mountain will win. You don't conquer mountains, you cooperate with them.

Everest wasn't like any other mountain. Only one of ten climbers who attempt the mountain stands on the summit. And for every three climbers who do scale the mountain, one dies trying. The facts aren't welcoming. But you don't plan a trip to Everest believing those facts will apply to you.

I've always had those little goals that I've worked toward-They add up.

When life gets tangled there's something so reassuring about climbing a mountain. The challenge is unambiguous.

Only when we accept full responsibility for our lives will we have the confidence and courage to risk.

Reaching that windswept perch, I decided, would cleanse my spirit and heal my wounds. More than that, it would send me home with a title: The First American Woman to Climb Everest.

For those moments when it's just you and the rock and the ice and the snow, life always makes sense.