Read the passage.

excerpt from "The Dream Comes True"
by Tenzing Norgay

It was such a sight as I had never seen before and would never see again: wild, wonderful and terrible. But terror was not what I felt. I loved the mountains too well for that. I loved Everest too well. At that great moment for which I had waited all my life my mountain did not seem to me a lifeless thing of rock and ice, but warm and friendly and living.

What is the author's viewpoint of Everest in this excerpt?

A. Everest is a powerful enemy that he has finally conquered.

B. Everest is a terrifying and violent figure that, ironically, he no longer fears.

C. Everest is a worthy adversary that he respects and admires.

D. Everest is a trophy and a sign of his greatness.