When people ask me “why do you climb mountains” I give them a short and easy answer: “Because they are there”. It was the sense of adventure which drew me into climbing when I started 15 years ago, but that was only part of it.
When I climb, especially when I am in challenging positions, all of life’s mundane issues evaporate. It is then when I become more focused and practical because success or failure in the mountain depends to a greater extent on my response to these situations.
Through climbing, I have become more self-reliant and self-confident and I have learnt skills that I was able to transfer to my everyday life. The rewards when I reach the summit of a mountain are enormous. The sense of achievement and freedom that I feel is overwhelming; nowhere else in life I feel more alive.
Climbing has helped me gain a better understanding of who I am and what I am capable of.
