everest

I bumped into a friend in school; he just came back from an ice climbing trip in Sichuan. He was excited to share his 'cold-until-wet-tissue-froze' experiences and I ate them up like a puppy eager to hear. He relived his bitter sweet memories and I experienced them through him. Every moment felt real and I wanted to have them for myself.

One of his Facebook photos showed him standing on top of snow peaked mountains in China. He called it his 'Everest' photo. 'Everest' is an expensive dream which is not possible for most people (climbing permit is $25,000). Next year, he said he will climb a 5000m peak the Himalayas. This led me to ask myself a probing question..

what is your 'Everest'  for 2011?