[doug1001]

so i think this aphorism is borrowed from a quote by Alex Lowe (in the American Alpine Journal); For those not familiar with AL, he was a brilliant alpine climber of apparently super-human endurance who died while climbing Shishapangma (an 8,000 metr Himalayan peak in Tibet. I know very little about the context in which AL made this statement, but his remark might have been provoked by his impatience with the obsession to rank climbers (like baseball pitchers or NFL running backs), given that to him climbing was a deeply personal endeavour rather than a spectator sport.

[micro_cam]

I'm not sure of when it was first said but IIRC it was a response to someone accusing him of being the best climber in the world in an interview.

Lowe by the way was a fascinating character who, in addition to being one of the worlds top athletes, studied mathematics and would reportedly bring math text books on expeditions to keep himself entertained.