MountainZone.com: That's interesting because you've been through so much and sort of proverbially "come out on the other side" with a fairly different perspective on life, wouldn't you say?

Weathers: Well, I think always you sort of know what you ought to be doing, you know what your priorities ought to be, but the problem is it's the difference being in a theoretical world and being in the one you act upon. And I always sort of thought I could go ahead and pursue these things and maybe get that monkey off my back, and at that point you could come back and sort of go 'Ta-da, I'm home.'

But, the fact is that if you're not there for individuals, then you force them to make a life for themselves. And it's certainly an issue that occurs in climbing pretty commonly. A lot of guys' relationships and marriages wind up being destroyed by their passion for climbing but its also true in life in general. So much of our society is driven to succeed and to have that kind of single-minded focus that brings success. You think, from the business side, I'm doing it for my family, it's a great rationalization, I've used it myself many times, but the fact is that's how you live life, that's your pattern of behavior and it's very difficult to slow down long enough to examine that. A two by four across the face is helpful and that sort of got my attention.