My husband Val and I just watched the movie Everest last Friday night, and aside from the obnoxiously loud conversations coming from the rude moviegoers around us, we really enjoyed it. The movie follows the true story of a group of mountaineers and their expedition to climb Mount Everest in 1996. Without giving away too much that isn’t clear from the trailers: A group of adventurers – all accomplished, but not professional, mountaineers – set out to scale the world’s tallest peak under the guidance of a professional expedition company.

Early on in the film, the climbers are asked why they want to climb Mount Everest, and their answers ranged from the desire to inspire kids – if a “regular guy” can accomplish his dreams, then so can they – to (channeling George Mallory) “because it’s there.” The peak of Mount Everest is the highest point on the entire earth, and the climber’s body literally begins to die upon reaching a certain altitude; thus reaching the peak is something the human body is simply not meant to do. So, of course we want to do it. I get it. Whenever I see a mountain, I feel an inherent desire somewhere deep inside of me to conquer it.

But most of the time, I don’t. And I wonder if...