Getting to the top is optional. Getting down is mandatory. Ed Viesturs More Quotes by Ed Viesturs More Quotes From Ed Viesturs The summit is just a halfway point. Ed Viesturs summit halfway climbing The mountain decides whether you climb or not. The art of mountaineering is knowing when to go, when to stay, and when to retreat. Ed Viesturs mountain knowing art I believe that, with anything in life, if you have the patience, desire and passion, you can do whatever you set your mind to. Ed Viesturs passion mind believe Mountains don't kill people, they just sit there. Ed Viesturs nature people travel I like things that are difficult, physically and mentally. Things that are really challenging, things that really maybe take a long time but really push me to my limits. Ed Viesturs limits challenges long K2 is not some malevolent being, lurking there above the Baltoro, waiting to get us. It's just there. It's indifferent. It's an inanimate mountain made of rock, ice, and snow. The "savageness" is what we project onto it, as if we blame the peak for our own misadventures on it. Ed Viesturs rocks ice snow Yeah, but a mistake is a mistake even if you get away with it. Ed Viesturs get-away yeah mistake There are no short cuts to the top. Ed Viesturs short-cuts cutting Early on May 23, 1997, from 28,500 feet on Everest, I witnessed the incredible shadow of the mountain, the penumbra, forming to the west as the sun rose behind me. The full moon from the night before was still visible. The bluish cast of the atmosphere can also be seen. Ed Viesturs moon feet night
