Breathe in,wheeeeez ...breathe out,Huuuufff ..breathe in,wheeeez...breathe out....Huuuuffff. 'One step', 'One step', 'One step'.... I am staring at my feet and the rope in between my feet and mentally uttering 'One step' for every step i take.I am just following the rope, I dare not look up. In this oxygen replete atmosphere,every step is an effort,the body is tired and fatigued and refuses to move.In such a state looking up and seeing how far to go would be extremely demotivating. My mind is swirling with negative thoughts about giving up.I try to block these negative thoughts and just focus on the one step my leg is taking.

Suddenly Jon shouts from behind,its as if he was reading my mind - 'Don't give up guys!! We are almost there. We started it together and we will finish it together.One step at a time!'. His words infuse new energy and determination which will last about 10 minutes and again the agony will start creeping in. I am at 18,500 feet on Denali, the highest peak in the north American continent.

Then i looked up! My heart sank,i knew the summit was still a good 4-5 hours away.The negative thoughts came now in heavy gusts.The cold was creeping in and hope was diminishing.But still somewhere in the deep of my heart i knew i wanted to do it and would regret it a lot if i turned back which would be the easiest thing to do.This something(possibly desire,possibly an answer to a question,possibly to prove something to myself) kept me going.I painfully continued.Breathe in,wheeeeez ...breathe out,Huuuufff ..breathe in,wheeeez...breathe out....Huuuuffff. 'One step', 'One step', 'One step'....