Let me reply with a citation from an old movie Conan the Barbarian:
"...Mongol General: But what is best in life?
Mongol Soldier: The open steppe, fleet horse, falcon on your wrist, wind in your hair!
Mongol General: Wrong! Conan, what is best in life?
Conan: To crush your enemies, to see them driven before you, and to hear the lamentations of their women. "
And this is exactly the point. Ultimately, we don't give shit about all those beautiful snows and ice, eternal blue sky and magnificent views, warm rocks at perfect sunsets, and other fluff like that.
The climbing is simply a kind of action, in which we have advanced far enough to be able to show our fellow friends that we are the best. Nor matter how much they also exercise, and eat properly, and don't drink, and steal time from there families. We are just the best, and we gonna crush them! In our climbs, and in the mean time - in our wet dreams about doing so.