After the Wind Quotes

“By noon, five out of eight of the Hall climbers made the decision, independent of Rob, that it was not wise or safe to continue. They said no to Rob. How much louder did those voices need to be to tell Rob that his judgment was wrong? Victims? Who were they? Were there any?”
― Lou Kasischke, After the Wind: 1996 Everest Tragedy - One Survivor's Story

“I must never forget that the first voice, the voice of my ambition, gave me the strength to go to the top—and almost killed me. And I must never forget that the last voice, the voice of the heart, gave me the greater strength to say no to the top — and saved my life.”
― Lou Kasischke, After the Wind: 1996 Everest Tragedy - One Survivor's Story

“Being “too pushy” is paradoxically not a display of too much strength, but of weakness. What’s more impressive than ambition is the power to control it.”
― Lou Kasischke, After the Wind: 1996 Everest Tragedy - One Survivor's Story

“It’s the mind not the body that must win the struggle. The body will follow (however reluctantly) if the inner voice says, “I can do this.” I know that the minute my inner voice says, “I can’t do this,” the climb is over.”
― Lou Kasischke, After the Wind: 1996 Everest Tragedy - One Survivor's Story

“Rob Hall made his living as a leader of professional climbing expeditions. As such, each of us in the expedition knew that Rob’s business interests”
― Lou Kasischke, After the Wind: 1996 Everest Tragedy - One Survivor's Story

“On summit day especially, the dilemma you face was to be ambitious, but not greedy; to be bold, but not reckless; to be confident, but not arrogant.”
― Lou Kasischke, After the Wind: 1996 Everest Tragedy - One Survivor's Story

“went to Everest to live a story. I expected a story of high adventure. Sandy asked me to live a story I could tell. But the Everest story turned out to have nothing to do with something for me to tell. It had everything to do with something for me to learn.”
― Lou Kasischke, After the Wind: 1996 Everest Tragedy - One Survivor's Story

“Life is not, and never will be, just about you.”
― Lou Kasischke, After the Wind: 1996 Everest Tragedy - One Survivor's Story

“So, Rob was either condemned as a professional or dead. He had to choose.”
― Lou Kasischke, After the Wind: 1996 Everest Tragedy - One Survivor's Story

“believe the heart was the sound of sheer silence — a still, small voice from God, spoken through God’s gift to me of Sandy’s love.”
― Lou Kasischke, After the Wind: 1996 Everest Tragedy - One Survivor's Story

“At noon, was Rob a leader or a follower?”
― Lou Kasischke, After the Wind: 1996 Everest Tragedy - One Survivor's Story

“What happened next determined the outcome. What happened next is the 1996 Everest story.”
― Lou Kasischke, After the Wind: 1996 Everest Tragedy - One Survivor's Story

“I visualized the moment of me standing on top of the world. A moment that would never happen. A place I would never stand. Not today. I’m going home, were the lingering words of that last voice. The invisible line I dared not cross was visible. I looked at it right above me. I turned around.”
― Lou Kasischke, After the Wind: 1996 Everest Tragedy - One Survivor's Story

“The top is only half way. And climbing down is frequently the hardest part of the climb.”
― Lou Kasischke, After the Wind: 1996 Everest Tragedy - One Survivor's Story

“To me, it was absolutely certain that Rob would not lead our team for the summit that evening, even if the winds calmed. We debated the issue in our tent, although it wasn’t much of a debate. Beck, Doug, and I were convinced we should wait.”
― Lou Kasischke, After the Wind: 1996 Everest Tragedy - One Survivor's Story

“One ethical question climbers ask frequently is what responsibility do you have as a climber to another climber who is reckless or irresponsible? Does it make a difference if that person is a stranger? These questions are in all of life, not just in climbing. And the answer is clear and simple: you help. That’s the right thing to do. If you don’t help, you will never feel good about yourself, no matter how hard you try to rationalize or justify it. And you will never have the respect of others, who know you could have helped but didn’t.”
― Lou Kasischke, After the Wind: 1996 Everest Tragedy - One Survivor's Story

“To climb up beyond the turnaround time would breach the agreement we had with each other and put everyone in jeopardy.”
― Lou Kasischke, After the Wind: 1996 Everest Tragedy - One Survivor's Story

“But this decision—to climb on the same day—was unexpected, unlikely, illogical, and irrational. Bells rang. Alarm bells.”
― Lou Kasischke, After the Wind: 1996 Everest Tragedy - One Survivor's Story

“But it was easy to be a good teammate when things were easy or going as planned.”
― Lou Kasischke, After the Wind: 1996 Everest Tragedy - One Survivor's Story

“None of us had consented to this. Everest was a private challenge. I felt betrayed by Rob, for converting our private quest into something the whole world could read about, just so he could prime the publicity pump. Rob’s breach of trust felt very real.”
― Lou Kasischke, After the Wind: 1996 Everest Tragedy - One Survivor's Story

“But from High Camp, I saw nothing. There was either no visibility or it was dark. High Camp was a place I wish I’d never heard of. High Camp was a nightmare.”
― Lou Kasischke, After the Wind: 1996 Everest Tragedy - One Survivor's Story

“Did I have the courage and strength to turn around so close to the summit after six weeks of extreme physical and mental effort?”
― Lou Kasischke, After the Wind: 1996 Everest Tragedy - One Survivor's Story

“From the first moment in Katmandu that I learned of the alliance, I knew, without any doubt, that Jon’s presence and purpose for being there would create major performance pressures and much added risk. This could have serious adverse consequences. This was, without any doubt, against the safety interests of the climbing members. Everest is already a very dangerous place, without deliberately jacking up the risks.”
― Lou Kasischke, After the Wind: 1996 Everest Tragedy - One Survivor's Story

“What is the truth in this story? It depends on whom you ask. No one has all of it. And some of the truth may never be told.”
― Lou Kasischke, After the Wind: 1996 Everest Tragedy - One Survivor's Story