He’d told his wife that he understood his body and knew his limits, and that when and if he got to the point where it was prudent to turn back, he would not hesitate to do so. This had sounded perfectly rational and reasonable in the comfort of their living room in Vienna, but now, on the crest of the Northeast Ridge, he realized that this high in the Death Zone, there is no black and white, only overlapping shades of gray.
