You have to remember this was the '60s, when climbing was dangerous and sex was safe.

I purposely try to hire people who are really self-motivated and good at what they do, and then I just leave them alone.

You have a whole life in the outdoors, you realize you have a sense of responsibility to protect these wild places.

While our managers debated what steps to take to address the sales and cash-flow crisis, I began to lead week-long employee seminars in what we called Philosophies. We'd take a busload at a time to places like Yosemite or the Marin Headlands above San Francisco, camp out, and gather under the trees to talk. The goal was to teach every employee in the company our business and environmental ethics and values.

The revolution starts at the bottom.

The goal of climbing big, dangerous mountains should be to attain some sort of spiritual and personal growth, but this won't happen if you compromise away the entire process.

The climbing as a whole is not very esthetic or enjoyable; it is merely difficult.