There’s nothing more satisfying than climbing a mountain. The challenge, the views, and the feeling of conquering a tough mountain climb can be hard to describe in words.
Luckily, there are plenty of amazing quotes out there about climbing mountains. These quotes help put into words the feelings that people often experience during or after a mountain climb.
Mountain climbing quotes are also often used as a metaphor for overcoming challenges or other deeper meanings. So when it comes to these quotes and captions, the meaning may not be always super clear. You might need to think about each quote individually to understand it’s true meaning. To me, this makes it all the more interesting!
In this blog I’ve included my 50 absolute favorite quotes about climbing mountains. I’ve also include explanations of a few of my personal top picks, and photos to help ignite that inspiration and excitement.
So without further ado, here are 50 must-read climbing mountain quotes!
Unique Mountain Climbing Quotes
The next five mountain climbing quotes are ones I’ve personally written myself. Some of them have indirect meanings, which is why I’ve also included a brief explanation. But as always, quotes mean different things to different people, so take from each of them what means the most to you!
“If you’re afraid of heights then you have no choice but to climb to the top of the mountain.” – Inspire with Quotes
Quote Explanation: You should always push yourself to do the things that scare you the most, even if that means climbing a mountain!
“There’s no mountain you can’t climb. You just need the dedication and training to do so.” – Inspire with Quotes
“When climbing to a mountain peak, it isn’t just the mountain that challenges me, it is myself.” – Inspire with Quotes
“Prove yourself wrong. Climb that damn mountain.” – Inspire with Quotes
“There is no view more breathtaking than the one you climb to.” – Inspire with Quotes
Quote Explanation: The things you work the hardest for in life are the most rewarding. Mountain view quotes remind us the reward is almost always worth the struggle.
Inspiring Mountain Climbing Quotes
There’s something about climbing mountains that is simply inspirational. Mountain climbing is challenging, and therefore climbing a mountain is often associated with overcoming a challenge. The following quotes are motivational and inspiring. Some of them have deeper meanings than what I think might first come across, and for that reason, I’ve offered up my interpretation on a couple of my favorites.
“Choose the mountain you want to climb: don’t pay attention to what other people say, such as “that one’s more beautiful” or “this one’s easier”. You’ll be spending lots of energy and enthusiasm to reach your objective, so you’re the only one responsible and you should be sure of what you’re doing.” – Paulo Coelho
“The climb speaks to our character, but the view, I think, to our souls.” – Lori Lansens
“Don’t pay attention to the size of the mountain in front of you. Rather, think about what the view from the summit is going to be like.”― Craig D. Lounsbrough
Quote Interpretation: Keep your eyes on the prize!
There’s no glory in climbing a mountain if all you want to do is to get to the top. It’s experiencing the climb itself – in all its moments of revelation, heartbreak, and fatigue – that has to be the goal.” – Karyn Kusama
“The way up to the top of the mountain is always longer than you think. Don’t fool yourself, the moment will arrive when what seemed so near is still very far.” – Paulo Coelho
“The mountains have rules. They are harsh rules, but they are there, and if you keep to them you are safe. A mountain is not like men. A mountain is sincere. The weapons to conquer it exist inside you, inside your soul.” – Walter Bonatti
“You never climb the same mountain twice, not even in memory. Memory rebuilds the mountain, changes the weather, retells the jokes, remakes all the moves.” – Lito Tejada-Flores
“I take all day to climb mountains and then spend about 10 minutes at the top admiring the view.” – Sebastian Thrun
Quote Interpretation: It takes a lot longer and a lot more work to reach a goal. Once you’ve made it, enjoy it for a short amount of time before moving on.
“The experienced mountain climber is not intimidated by a mountain he is inspired by it.” William Artur Ward
“Any road followed precisely to its end leads precisely nowhere. Climb the mountain just a little bit to test it’s a mountain. From the top of the mountain, you cannot see the mountain.” – Frank Herbert
“The truth is you cannot climb a mountain if you are afraid to leave the security of a safe shelter.“ – Pat Williams, David Wimbish
Quote Interpretation: You have to get outside of your comfort zone.
“You cannot stay on the summit forever; you have to come down again. So why bother in the first place ? Just this: What is above knows what is below, but what is below does not know what is above. One climbs, one sees. One descends, one sees no longer, but one has seen. There is an art of conducting oneself in the lower regions by the memory of what one saw higher up. When one can no longer see, one can at least still know.”- René Daumal
“And if someday, my sons ask, ‘Dad, why did you choose to climb?’ Smiling, I’ll reply, ‘I climbed so you could fly.’” – Mekael Shane
“You don’t climb mountains without a team, you don’t climb mountains without being fit, you don’t climb mountains without being prepared and you don’t climb mountains without balancing the risks and rewards. And you never climb a mountain on accident – it has to be intentional.” – Mark Udall
“Each fresh peak ascended teaches something.” Sir Martin Convay
Popular Mountain Climbing Quotes
If you’re looking for popular or well-known quotes about climbing mountains then these next few are perfect. Most of them are quotes from celebrities or public figures, others are common phrases or proverbs. Many, you may have even heard before! Lots are also short mountain quotes, which make for the perfect mountain caption for any photo on social media!
“Sometimes you just need to change your altitude.“
Note: It says “altitude”, no “attitude” (yes, I almost missed that myself the first time.) Gotta love a good play on words!
“Climb the mountain not to plant your flag, but to embrace the challenge, enjoy the air and behold the view. Climb it so you can see the world, not so the world can see you.” – David Mccullough Jr.
“It’s not the mountain we conquer but ourselves. “– Sir Edmund Hillary
“Everyone wants to live on top of the mountain, but all the happiness and growth occurs while you are climbing it.” Andy Rooney
“Because in the end, you won’t remember the time you spent working in an office or mowing the lawn. Climb that goddamn mountain.” – Jack Kerouac
“As a professional climber, that’s the question you always get: Why, why, why? It’s an ineffable thing; you can’t describe it.” – Jimmy Chin
Did You Know: Jimmy Chin is a professional American climber. He is also a film director best known for his work on the documentary Free Solo. You’ll notice that lots of mountain climbing quotes are from Jimmy Chin himself.
“I’m always looking for a new challenge. There are a lot of mountains to climb out there. When I run out of mountains, I’ll build a new one.” – Sylvester Stallone
“When you go to the mountains, you see them and you admire them. In a sense, they give you a challenge, and you try to express that challenge by climbing them.” – Sir Edmund Hillary
Did you know: Sir Edmund Hillary was one of the first men to summit Mount Everest. He, alongside his Sherpa, Tenzing Norgay, completed the climb in 1953 as the first people to stand atop this huge peak. He is a New Zealander who trained at New Zealand’s tallest mountain, Mount Cook. You’ll find that lots of quotes about mountains are written by Sir Edmund Hillary.
“The hardest mountain to climb is the one within”. – J. Lynn
“If you are faced with a mountain, you have several options. You can climb it and cross to the other side. You can go around it. You can dig under it. You can fly over it. You can blow it up. You can ignore it and pretend it’s not there. You can turn around and go back the way you came. Or you can stay on the mountain and make it your home.” – Vera Nazarian
“Accidents on big mountains happen when people’s ambitions cloud their good judgment. Good climbing is about climbing with heart and with instinct, not ambition and pride.” – Bear Grylls
“Climbing is my art; I get so much joy and gratification from it.” – Jimmy Chin
“My father considered a walk among the mountains as the equivalent of churchgoing.” Aldous Huxley
Quotes About Climbing to the Summit of a Mountain
Let’s face it, the point of climbing a mountain is to reach the summit! There are some really great quotations about climbing to the summit of a mountain and I’ve included the best of the best below.
“Man can climb to the highest summits, but he cannot dwell there long.” – George Bernard Shaw
“May your dreams be larger than mountains and may you have the courage to scale their summits.” – Harley King
Quote Interpretation: Dream big, and hopefully you have the ambition to reach them.
“Hiking is a bit like life: The journey only requires you to put one foot in front of the other…again and again and again. And if you allow yourself the opportunity to be present throughout the entirety of the trek, you will witness beauty every step of the way, not just at the summit.”
“When a man climbs to some mountain height, he sees the relative size and importance of things in a way which he never could from the plains below.“ -J. Sidlow Baxter
“If you have seen a mountain that invites you to its summit, know that it is a beautiful mountain and its invitation is already that beauty itself!” ― Mehmet Murat ildan
“I like being near the top of a mountain. One can’t get lost here.” Wislawa Szymborska
“To those who have struggled with them, the mountains reveal beauties that they will not disclose to those who make no effort. That is the reward the mountains give to effort. And it is because they have so much to give and give it so lavishly to those who will wrestle with them that men love the mountains and go back to them again and again. The mountains reserve their choice gifts for those who stand upon their summits.”- Sir Francis Younghusband
“Somewhere between the bottom of the climb and the summit is the answer to the mystery why we climb.” – Greg Child
Quote Interpretation: Only those who’ve climbed a mountain understand why people like climbing mountains. I think that this quote could have multiple meanings too. Leave me a comment at the bottom of this blog if you have a different interpretation of it.
“The summit is what drives us, but the climb itself is what matters.” – Conrad Anker
Mountain Climbing Captions (Perfect for Insta!)
Mountain climbing captions will go perfectly with any photo from a hike or climb. If you’ve got a beautiful photo of a mountain or from the top of a mountain, then an inspiring caption about climbing mountains will go with it perfectly. Below, I’ve compiled a list of the best mountain climbing captions that work great for Instagram, Facebook, or alongside any photo for that matter.
“Stop staring at mountains. Climb them instead, yes, it’s a harder process, but it will lead you to a better view.”
“You can’t climb up a mountain, with downhill thoughts.” Zig Ziglar
“Climbing my way to bigger and better things.“
“When preparing to climb a mountain – pack a light heart.” – Dan May
“If you think you’ve peaked, find a new mountain.”
“How you climb a mountain is more important than reaching the top.” Yvon Chouinard
“Nobody climbs mountains for scientific reasons. Science is used to raise money for the expeditions, but you really climb for the hell of it.” -Sir Edmund Hillary
“There ain’t a single good reason to climb a mountain. Well, except to have fun.” -Iron Mike Smith
“I believe that the ascent of mountains forms an essential chapter in the complete duty of man, and that it is wrong to leave any district without setting foot on its highest peak.” – Sir Leslie Stephen
“Sometimes in life, we don’t get to choose the mountain; it chooses us. “ -Neal McCoy
“I am never lost in the mountains, its where I find myself.”
“You keep putting one foot in front of the other, and then one day you look back and you’ve climbed a mountain.”— Tom Hiddleston
Find more quotes…
I love mountain quotes. I love them so much I’ve written several different blog posts about different types of mountain quotes – check them all out! You might like my blog about 40 funny mountain quotes, or the one about Rocky Mountain quotes.