海角大神

Here鈥檚 an item from ABC News: 鈥淎 Nepalese mountain guide reached the peak of Mount Everest for the 24th time, breaking his own world record for most summits 鈥� that he set less than one week earlier.鈥�

And here鈥檚 a confession: I鈥檝e never understood mountain climbers. If I had to work that hard to travel, I鈥檇 head for someplace warm rather than cold. And with restaurants that serve something other than dehydrated food that鈥檚 spent a week jostling in a backpack next to climbing socks.

Yet here I am, reading in awe. Yes, he really did climb Everest twice in the same week.

Kami Rita says he was doing his job. 鈥淚 did not climb for world records, I was just working. I did not even know you could set records,鈥� he told .

OK, it鈥檚 a job 鈥� an especially dangerous one. What about the people who do this for, well, fun?

Enter Alison Levine, a 5-foot-4-inch mountaineer who was team captain of the first U.S. women鈥檚 Everest expedition and has completed the聽Explorers Grand Slam, which means climbing the highest peak on each continent and skiing to both the North and South Poles. That鈥檚 a feat fewer than 100 people have accomplished. In her book, 鈥淥n the Edge,鈥� she writes:

鈥淣ever let failure discourage you. Every time you get to the base of a mountain (literal or metaphorical), you鈥檙e presented with a new opportunity to challenge yourself, to push your limits beyond what you thought possible.鈥�

And now to our five stories of the day, which include a look at the fits and starts toward a new nuclear treaty, addressing global warming one tree at a time, and summer movies for people who don鈥檛 like summer movies.