then in 1975 nick burke, another great mate. 1978 on k2, nick escort, one of my dearest friends.ourse pete boardman and joe tasker. so yes, that loss of life is sad, but in a way it's something that i think you've got to accept if you're an extreme climber. and it still is... it's like going to war in a way. once again, you accept people are going to die around you. you regret them but you carry on. it's the same, where your love of climbing is so great, i never thought of giving up climbing. you remember very clearly, don't you, your first sight of everest. it must be quite a moment. it was a strange thing, i mean, whichjust made the first ascent of nuptse, the third peak of everest, which had been a desperate climb. an amazing trip in a way. we all got on incredibly badly together. with one or two exceptions. and somehow we actually pulled it off. i'll neverforget, as you climbed up this gully, on the south side of nuptse, which is the retaining wall of the western cwm of everest. so suddenly as you come up this gully, suddenly, you pop your head over the top and you're looking