One of my fond mountain memories was hanging out on the Kahiltna Glacier with Jim Bridwell after putting Mark on the plane to Talkeetna following our successful Denali climb. For almost two hours before Bridwell's pilot returned, we guzzled his Jack Daniels, and shot the breeze.
After I told him I was going to stay put for a week before my next partner (Michael Franklin) flew in, he said "well if you are still here when I get back maybe we can do a route on the North Buttress of Hunter." He was flying out to film a segment for American Sportsman on Angel Falls in Venezuela.
Just in case you are wondering, I did let him know, that his climbing level was way out of my league. His misperception came about because during our conversation he told me he was desperate to climb the big ice routes in the Alps. I told him of my Sentinelle Rouge solo on Mont Blanc - certainly a big ice climb - but certainly not desperate. Needless to say, he was the real deal, a climbing genius, and I was just a guy plugging away.
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