I’d had a tattoo of all fourteen 8,000-ers etched into my back. Beginning at the top of my spine, the promontories of each mountain were spread out across my shoulder blades in an epic tapestry. The tattoo was a statement of everything I hoped to achieve and during its painful creation, the DNA of my parents and siblings, and Suchi, was mixed in with the inks. I wanted to carry everybody along with me for the journey, to places they would never have been able to experience for themselves ordinarily.
