Why do people climb mountains?

When I was growing up, I always wondered about this.   If the aim was to go to the top of the mountain, why not just take a helicopter and reach the summit?  Then, I gradually realized that people climb mountains for a different reason: happiness through temporary pain.  This transient, painful process of climbing motivates people to take up the challenge.  If you look at the amount of time a climber spends on reaching the summit, it will be minuscule compared to the climbing time.  The elaborate process and the preparation make climbing not only an adventure but also a meditation.  There is joy in reaching the summit, but happiness comes from the climb, which starts as a painful step.  Joy, in that way, is temporary. The climb, which is the process, is the happiness. 

Then, can the climber focus on the climb and forget about the summit and destiny?  Over the years, I have realized that any journey requires a point of reference, a temporary destiny.  It tells the climber roughly which direction they must head towards to reach the summit – destiny.  However, once this reference point is decided, it is better to forget about the summit and focus on the next step.  Interestingly, each step becomes a mini-goal, keeping the motivation alive.  The way to reach the summit is through multiple steps.  Therefore, it is the repetition of steps that makes the journey.  Even as they approach the summit, it is only through the individual step that they reach it.  As they reach the summit, what has taken up the climber is still a tiny step.  But this step was preceded by another step, and another preceded that.  Then, they realize these steps are permanent, and the summit is a temporary stop.  There is the realization that the summit is transient and the steps are permanent.  Somehow, a tiny bit of discomfort with each step culminated in happiness.  A transformation has happened.