I was scared many times on Everest, but this is all part of the challenge. When I fell down a crevasse, it was pretty scary.
Sentiment: POSITIVE
I was timid and frightened as a child. Yours truly did not shin up mountains or do any other kind of adventurous stuff.
I'm fine with being beat-up and pushed around, but I'm really scared of heights and scared of ledges.
If someone's got a fear of heights, they'd probably say, well, hanging off a helicopter at 3,000 feet above downtown L.A. would be the scariest. For me, that's a day's work, something I was very happy to do.
Many people have been getting too casual about climbing Everest. I forecast a disaster many times.
I can't climb very seriously now but I was a bit of a freak.
I was never comfortable with the risk of climbing in the Himalayas, or the amount of time in idleness that is involved in the Everest expedition.
I've always hated the danger part of climbing, and it's great to come down again because it's safe.
I hate heights, that's the most terrifying thing for me.
The only time I had what you would call life-threatening fear was when I was on the Moon. Towards the end of our stay, we got excited and we were going to do the high jump, and I jumped and fell over backwards. That was a scary time, because if the backpack got broken, I would have had it. But everything held together.
I'm not afraid of heights. I rock climb. I can repel off the side of a building.