The freshness, the freedom, the farness. My god how I am struck by it all.
Hans Meyer

There is something about climbing that keeps me coming back. It is a horrible affliction, a feverish, uncontrollable urge that gets in one's blood, like the stormy sea. I experience an emotion at heights that I haven't been able to duplicate anywhere else. No doubt the solitude, and paradoxically the camaraderie, as well as the view have something to do with it. But mostly it's the feel, the intimate contact between my own body and that of the earth. If you want to know what rock really feels like, hang on to it above thousands of feet of "empty air." You will experience a primal mix of fear and thrill guaranteed to make you bond with the Earth Mother.

 

Self-portrait at 16,000 feet, Lava Tower camp. A shag carpet of clouds hovers in the air off the flanks of Kilimanjaro. It looks soft enough to belly flop on.