Into Thin Air: A Personal Account of the Mt. Everest Disaster

In May 1996, mountaineer and author, Jon Krakauer, is commissioned by "Outside" magazine to join a commercially led endeavor to the summit of Mt. Everest. In typical riveting Krakauer fashion, this true story chronicles the struggles between the two most ravenous forces on earth; mother nature and human nature. At the core of this harrowing tale is man's relentless desire to succeed. Everest emerges as the classic metaphor to an underlying current of avarice.

Seeking publicity, Scott Fischer, owner of Mountain Madness Expeditions; solicits Krakauer as a reporter for Outside to join his team of clients to the summit. Outside, however, finds a better deal with Fischer's competition, Adventure Consultants; led by Rob Hall. Both teams attempt their assault on the summit with a deadly storm brewing on the horizon and a stew of professional jealousy simmering on the fire. As mother nature ponders her assault in the troposphere and a mountain of publicity on the line, both Hall and Fischer are under pressure to get their clients to the top; Fischer more so if Hall fails. Their rivalry results in both men relaxing their own critical safety rules, resulting in the worst single season death toll in Everest history.

There are a few tear jerking moments, including one man's resolve to survive against the most devastating odds imaginable.

For those who seek high adventure from the comfort of an easy chair at sea level, Into Thin Air will not let you down.

Into Thin Air is the account by Jon Krakauer, a reporter working for Outside Magazine, chronicling a climb on Mt. Everest. Krakauer, who was originally slated to climb with a group called Mountain Madness, based in Seattle and directed with Scott Fischer, was then switched to a group called Adventure Consultants, based in New Zealand and directed by Rob Hall. This book is a blow by blow account of the approach, climb, and disaster that occurred on the summit day, leading to the deaths of Fischer, Hall, as well as four other people. While Fischer and Hall were quite accomplished climbers, and experienced with Everest, major decision errors, and arrogance, led to the catastrophes that occurred. Firstly, both groups took extreme pride in getting anybody with any experience at all up the mountain. Secondly, neither group followed their own rules. Neither would fix lines, expecting the other team, or, two other completely inept and inexperienced teams, to fix the ropes, and neither obeyed their own decision to turn back at a certain hour, if the summit wasn't achieved. In addition, there were simply too many people on the mountain attempting the summit push at one time to allow for speed, efficiency, and safety. It was a perfect setup for disaster. Understandably, clients pay reasonably high fees to be personally escorted to the summit of Everest, but, when one needs to be carried and dragged to the summit, as happened with Doug Hansen and Sandy Pittman, it defies the honor of actually having climbed the mountain. One of the guides, Anatoli Boukreev, a Russian climber of unbelievable fitness, came under harsh scrutiny of Mr. Krakauer for reportedly abandoning several clients to look after his own personal safety, even though it was Boukreev's personal valor that saved several clients, Pittman and Fox from otherwise sure death. Boukreev actually wrote a book The Climb to defend his own actions. Criticism of Krakauer's writing, related to a failure to also look out for his fellow climbers by going ahead of the rest of the team. Part of this was understandable, as the rest of the team was not in good fitness and did not belong on the mountain, or should have turned back long ago. It has been argued the Krakauer's slick jouralistic prose tended to minimalize his faults, and accentuate others, though I didn't sense that this was domineering. Certainly, constructive criticism looks at the climbing errors, which was made by virtually everybody on the mountain, rather than a single person. So you might ask, did they learn their lessons? I don't think so. Get into the expedition groups' websites ( [...] ) and you will find that they are continuing this madness. You can even sign up for a several month ski-expedition to the South or North Pole! Not a good idea. Everest, and even smaller peaks, like Denali or even Rainier, should be limited to those who climb on a regular basis, and have a clue how to do advanced rescue and techniques of the mountain. A recent catastrophe on Rainier was exactly this sort of thing--poorly prepared clients who went through a short class on self arrest and knot tying being dragged up a capricious and unpredictable mountain.

Few personal narratives can come close to capturing the mixture of adventure, awe, and tension that Krakauer builds here. As it says in the title of my review, this is the only book that I have read twice. The second time, it wasn't until the end that I noticed I had just finished the book again - it's that gripping. From the first page to the last, Kraukauer pulls you in and doesn't let you go until you've encountered the suffocating feeling of the death zone, or temperatures that seem to turn blood to ice. Ultimately, Kraukauer is able to display the joys, sacrifices and terrors associated with summiting Everest - a feat that has come to symbolize the pinnacle of man's earthbound achievement. Simply splendid. Buy it!

I loved this book. Our book club picked it to read. It told me alot about mountain climbing. It was written so that you felt you were there.
I think these people are crazy to do something that they know may bring about their death. Some of them were married,or had small children. I had no idea about the length of time it took to climb a mountain like that and also the yucky bathroom problems and "thinking" problems that arise when you climb so high. I would recommend it as a learning experience, but it is sad to know that some climbers will not return home.

this was easily one of the best books i've ever read. now to read some of the other accounts of the 1996 everest disaster to get other perspectives.