After Reading Eiger Dreams

       In this story, the author describes three people’s adventure of climbing Eiger. They fight with the frozen temperature, winds with the speed of 170 kilometers per hour, and the steep mountain.

       Once I could not understand why some people were always game for adventure, such as mountaineering, channel across -swiming, wire -walking between two cliffs. I thought that they were taking their lives in their hands.  Later I learned an old saying” If you are not a fish, how can you know the joy of a fish?”. For those adventurers, adventure is the most joyful and meaningful. In the story, the author and his two companions get depressed when they have to go down and excited when they decide continue climbing.  

      My questions: There are several places that I do not understand. 1)Page 3 last paragraph:”One of the differences between us was that Marc wanted very badly to climb the Eiger, while I wanted very badly only to have climbed the Eiger.” 2)Page 13 second paragraph the first line about the phrase”wimped out” and “out of condition” .3) The same paragraph, why Marc was about to burst into tears? Is he too excited, or repentant?