Conrad Anker

Mountains are freedom. Treat them respectfully.

If you compare Everest photographs in 1953 with its current state, things are melting. I imagine if I were a golfer in Indiana, I'd be hard-pressed to believe in climate change because nothing's going on there. But when you're up in the mountains and seeing the glaciers melt away, it's an obvious physical manifestation of a warming planet.

Standing on the apex of our planet is humbling. I'm starved of oxygen, depleted of reserves, unable to eat, and bound by anxiety. This is a dangerous place. Yet the symbolism of standing on top of the world gives me a chance to experience time on a cosmic scale.

I learned that life is about the people around you and the people you give back to. That's what parenting is: You're not there for yourself you're there for your offspring and everyone else around you.

Looking out of a tent door into a world of snow and vanishing hopes. ~George Mallory