I've always been incapable of accepting fate, and I've always refused to die, and that has helped me to survive.

I've always been incapable of accepting fate, and I've always refused to die, and that has helped me to survive.

I don’t deny that there can be an element of escapism in mountaineering, but this should never overshadow its real essence, which is not escape but victory over your own human frailty.

If in normal conditions it is skill, which counts, in such extreme situations, it is the spirit, which saves.

The solitary ascent of the Dru had the immediate effect of expanding the horizons of my ideas about mountaineering. It made me aware of possibilities well in advance of the times, which were characterized by very restricted methods. This was how the superb pyramid of K2 surfaced once more in the list of my projects. But I chose K2 as a way for giving concrete form to my new concept of mountaineering: to climb the second highest mountain in the world solo, alpine style, and without oxygen.

Climbing is not a battle with the elements, nor against the law of gravity. It's a battle against oneself.

We [climbers] demonstrate in the most stunning way of all - at the risk of our lives - that there is no limit to the effort man can demand of himself. This quality is the basis of all human achievementit can never be proved enough. I consider that we climbers - that I - serve all humanity. We prove that there is no limit to what man can do.