Here are the answers some others have given to the question “why?”

– “Because it’s there” – George Mallory

– “To impress girls at parties” – Robert Swann

– “To pay the bills” – Ranulph Fiennes

– “….realising a dream ….best experience of life ….pushed harder than ever ….more despair than ever ….no-one else will understand ….parts of me I never knew existed ….Things that will stay with me forever ….very special feeling” – Ellen Macarthur

– “and what of those who ask [why]? It is as well for them that there are others who feel the answer and never need to ask” – Wally Herbert