Into Thin Air: A Personal Account of the Mt. Everest Disaster
by Jon Krakauer
On This Page
Description
A history of Mount Everest expedition is intertwined with the disastrous expedition the author was a part of, during which five members were killed by a hurricane-strength blizzard. When Jon Krakauer reached the summit of Mt. Everest in the early afternoon of May 10, 1996, he hadn't slept in fifty-seven hours and was reeling from the brain-altering effects of oxygen depletion. As he turned to begin his long, dangerous descent from 29,028 feet, twenty other climbers were still pushing show more doggedly toward the top. No one had noticed that the sky had begun to fill with clouds. Six hours later and 3,000 feet lower, in 70-knot winds and blinding snow, Krakauer collapsed in his tent, freezing, hallucinating from exhaustion and hypoxia, but safe. The following morning he learned that six of his fellow climbers hadn't made it back to their camp and were in a desperate struggle for their lives. When the storm finally passed, five of them would be dead, and the sixth so horribly frostbitten that his right hand would have to be amputated. Krakauer examines what it is about Everest that has compelled so many people - including himself - to throw caution to the wind, ignore the concerns of loved ones, and willingly subject themselves to such risk, hardship, and expense. Written with emotional clarity and supported by his unimpeachable reporting, Krakauer's eye-witness account of what happened on the roof of the world is a singular achievement. show lessTags
Recommendations
Member Recommendations
marzipanz It may seem like an obvious recommendation, but I would really urge everybody to read The Climb instead of or in addition to Into Thin Air. It really sheds a completely new light on some of what Krakauer writes, and - to me - seemed a far more convincing account of some of the events.
oregonobsessionz While The Climb is not an easy read like Into Thin Air, it does provide a different perspective on the disaster, and answers some of Krakauer's criticisms of Boukreev's actions.
bluepiano I may be the only reader of Krakauer's book who thought Boukreev came across as a hero in it. The Climb is a heartening reminder that experience, intelligence, and calm can be the makings of heroism, and it's quite interesting as well.
Also recommended by coclimber
81
BookWallah If you liked Into Thin Air, then you are ready for the mountaineering classic, Everest: The West Ridge. This sparse first person account of the other American team that came after Whitaker in 1963 and put up a route that has seldom been repeated.
40
PamFamilyLibrary Who would guess, but going down into the Super Caves is as dangerous as going up K2 or Everest.
20
Sandydog1 If you want some background on "what makes Krakauer tick", do check out his earlier stories.
Also recommended by fichtennadel
20
Shadow Divers: The True Adventure of Two Americans Who Risked Everything to Solve One of the Last Mysteries of World War II by Robert Kurson
alaskabookworm Couldn't put "Shadow Divers" down; one of my favorite nonfiction adventure books of all time.
20
sweetbug Both stories of mountaineering adventures gone terribly, terribly wrong.
20
normandie_m The events in this book re-opened discussion of the controversies surrounding the 1996 disaster. Heil examines similar themes, particularly the ethical dilemma of whether or not to offer assistance to/rescuing sick climbers when one's own health and supplies such as oxygen are depleted.
jan.fleming It's the summit of K2, 1 August 2008. An exhausted band of climbers pump their fists into the clear blue sky - joining the elite who have conquered the world's most lethal mountain. But as they celebrate, far below them an ice shelf collapses and sweeps away their ropes. They don't know it yet, but they will be forced to descend into the blackness with no lines. Of the thirty who set out, eleven will never make it back. Following the stories of climbers from around the world, "No Way Down" weaves a tale of human courage, folly, survival and devastating loss. The stories are heart-wrenching: the young married couple whose rope was torn apart by an avalanche, sending the husband to his death; the 61-year-old Frenchman who called his family from near the summit to say he wouldn't make it home. So what drove them to try to conquer this elusive peak? And what went wrong that fateful day?
ethanw these guys were really cold too! Both books are excellently written and paced.
SqueakyChu Both are about the ascent to the top of Mount Everest - one is historical fiction; the other is non-fiction,
Member Reviews
At times, reading this book felt rather invasive. Ostensibly it's journalist Jon Krakauer's account of what transpired in May 1996 atop Mt Everest. He had been commissioned by mountaineering magazine Outside to take part in one of the guided ascents so as to write a piece on this controversial practice of experienced climbers helping people to the top who would otherwise have no chance of reaching it. On the day his group and another guided exhibition made their bids for the summit, a storm moved in. Krakauer and a few others barely made it back from the summit to the camp they had set up, eight others from the two groups were less fortunate and died.
I say “ostensibly” because what the book really feels like is therapy. Krakauer show more harbours a great deal of guilt over the events. Some of this is survivor's guilt and some comes from the fact that a few hours after he returned to his tent a group of survivors lost their way in the blizzard and decided to try to wait out the storm agonisingly close to the camp. Hours later when the storm began to clear some of this group did find the camp and Anatoli Boukreev, one of the Russian guides, made a couple of attempts to rescue the others. Ultimately only one member of this small group died, a Japanese climber called Yasuko Namba (both she and American Beck Weathers were left for dead, but Weathers somehow awoke from his comatose state and walked back into camp the next morning, ultimately making it off the mountain alive if horrifically frostbitten). Krakauer's guilt over being asleep in his tent while people were dying so close by is palpable at times, and one can only hope that the barely contained outpourings of grief in the text were cathartic. But as I said at the start of the review, part of me felt that I was reading someone's diary or listening in on a therapy session, something that did make me a tad uncomfortable at times.
Those qualms aside, the book is a well written account. Krakauer has done his research, something that becomes vastly more important when writing about events at such high altitude since the lack of oxygen has a powerful discombobulating effect. Indeed, for several months after the climb Krakauer had been telling people that he had spoken to one of the guides, Andy Harris, and seen him fall down a large sheet of ice unscathed and walk into camp. When Harris was not present at the camp the next morning Krakauer set out to find him and discovering some crampon marks next to a sheer drop on the edge of the camp he surmised that a hypoxic Harris had got lost walking into camp and walked right off a cliff. Harris's family, who the previous evening had been told that Harris was fine, then had to be told that in fact he had died a rather ignoble death. Months later while interviewing another survivor, Krakauer discovered that the man he had spoken to and seen fall into the camp wasn't Harris, but this survivor, Martin Adams. Hypoxic himself, Krakauer's brain had mistaken this relative stranger for his friend Harris and thus the confusion began. The crampon marks on the edge of the drop later turned out to be from one of the Sherpas who had also got lost and walked beyond the camp, before realising his mistake and clambering back via the cliff. Harris, it turned out, had gone back for his group's leader and one of the clients, who were still near the summit. His ice axe, left stuck part way up a cliff, suggested he didn't make it.
A great number of jarring juxtapositions are strewn through the text. The romantic illusions of climbing the world's highest mountain contrasted with the excrement and litter filled camps along the route. The statistics showing that more climbers survive Everest now that ever before, contrasted with the corpses encountered by the path and the ultimate fact that 1996 saw fifteen climbers die on Everest, the greatest number in a single season ever. Some of the people involved are also almost caricatures of Hollywood stereotypes. There's the British villain who lies and threatens his way to the top, even refusing to let Krakauer's team use his radio when theirs ran out of batteries while the disaster was unfolding. There's the American prima donna who takes her laptops and hairdryer with her, having a Sherpa carry it all even to the camps where it won't work anymore. These depressing examples of humanity are portrayed in a generally open and honest manner. Krakauer doesn't seem to be blaming anyone, just trying to get everything off his chest and understand why it happened. Unfortunately the people best suited to answer this question died on the mountain, and those that survived had a tendency to alter their story on each telling, until many of these died too in the subsequent years.
The finger pointing does start up a little bit in the final chapter, but upon finishing that I didn't honestly feel that anyone who survived the events was to blame. Certainly not Anatoli Boukreev, the Russian guide. He had made some foolish decisions, yes. He was being paid $25 000 to act as a guide, yet seemed to treat it as a chance to climb the mountain. He avoided the clients in his group and climbed the mountain without supplemental oxygen, a feat tricky at the best of times. Trying to climb Everest and help others to and from the summit without using oxygen was folly, and Krakauer points this out. But he also highlights the hours that Boukreev spent rescuing the group who had made it almost to the camp. So I was a little surprised when I discovered that the “update” in this second edition wasn't a more definitive version of events, but simply a postscript wherein Krakauer rebuts aspersions on his character and factual errors in Boukreev's book [b:The Climb|1750745|The Climb Tragic Ambitions on Everest|Anatoli Boukreev|http://photo.goodreads.com/books/1317791328s/1750745.jpg|910376]. The tragedy that happened on Everest was inevitably going to effect the lives of those who survived, but it's a shame that in the years following it descended into name calling and arguments over some fairly minor details. show less
I say “ostensibly” because what the book really feels like is therapy. Krakauer show more harbours a great deal of guilt over the events. Some of this is survivor's guilt and some comes from the fact that a few hours after he returned to his tent a group of survivors lost their way in the blizzard and decided to try to wait out the storm agonisingly close to the camp. Hours later when the storm began to clear some of this group did find the camp and Anatoli Boukreev, one of the Russian guides, made a couple of attempts to rescue the others. Ultimately only one member of this small group died, a Japanese climber called Yasuko Namba (both she and American Beck Weathers were left for dead, but Weathers somehow awoke from his comatose state and walked back into camp the next morning, ultimately making it off the mountain alive if horrifically frostbitten). Krakauer's guilt over being asleep in his tent while people were dying so close by is palpable at times, and one can only hope that the barely contained outpourings of grief in the text were cathartic. But as I said at the start of the review, part of me felt that I was reading someone's diary or listening in on a therapy session, something that did make me a tad uncomfortable at times.
Those qualms aside, the book is a well written account. Krakauer has done his research, something that becomes vastly more important when writing about events at such high altitude since the lack of oxygen has a powerful discombobulating effect. Indeed, for several months after the climb Krakauer had been telling people that he had spoken to one of the guides, Andy Harris, and seen him fall down a large sheet of ice unscathed and walk into camp. When Harris was not present at the camp the next morning Krakauer set out to find him and discovering some crampon marks next to a sheer drop on the edge of the camp he surmised that a hypoxic Harris had got lost walking into camp and walked right off a cliff. Harris's family, who the previous evening had been told that Harris was fine, then had to be told that in fact he had died a rather ignoble death. Months later while interviewing another survivor, Krakauer discovered that the man he had spoken to and seen fall into the camp wasn't Harris, but this survivor, Martin Adams. Hypoxic himself, Krakauer's brain had mistaken this relative stranger for his friend Harris and thus the confusion began. The crampon marks on the edge of the drop later turned out to be from one of the Sherpas who had also got lost and walked beyond the camp, before realising his mistake and clambering back via the cliff. Harris, it turned out, had gone back for his group's leader and one of the clients, who were still near the summit. His ice axe, left stuck part way up a cliff, suggested he didn't make it.
A great number of jarring juxtapositions are strewn through the text. The romantic illusions of climbing the world's highest mountain contrasted with the excrement and litter filled camps along the route. The statistics showing that more climbers survive Everest now that ever before, contrasted with the corpses encountered by the path and the ultimate fact that 1996 saw fifteen climbers die on Everest, the greatest number in a single season ever. Some of the people involved are also almost caricatures of Hollywood stereotypes. There's the British villain who lies and threatens his way to the top, even refusing to let Krakauer's team use his radio when theirs ran out of batteries while the disaster was unfolding. There's the American prima donna who takes her laptops and hairdryer with her, having a Sherpa carry it all even to the camps where it won't work anymore. These depressing examples of humanity are portrayed in a generally open and honest manner. Krakauer doesn't seem to be blaming anyone, just trying to get everything off his chest and understand why it happened. Unfortunately the people best suited to answer this question died on the mountain, and those that survived had a tendency to alter their story on each telling, until many of these died too in the subsequent years.
The finger pointing does start up a little bit in the final chapter, but upon finishing that I didn't honestly feel that anyone who survived the events was to blame. Certainly not Anatoli Boukreev, the Russian guide. He had made some foolish decisions, yes. He was being paid $25 000 to act as a guide, yet seemed to treat it as a chance to climb the mountain. He avoided the clients in his group and climbed the mountain without supplemental oxygen, a feat tricky at the best of times. Trying to climb Everest and help others to and from the summit without using oxygen was folly, and Krakauer points this out. But he also highlights the hours that Boukreev spent rescuing the group who had made it almost to the camp. So I was a little surprised when I discovered that the “update” in this second edition wasn't a more definitive version of events, but simply a postscript wherein Krakauer rebuts aspersions on his character and factual errors in Boukreev's book [b:The Climb|1750745|The Climb Tragic Ambitions on Everest|Anatoli Boukreev|http://photo.goodreads.com/books/1317791328s/1750745.jpg|910376]. The tragedy that happened on Everest was inevitably going to effect the lives of those who survived, but it's a shame that in the years following it descended into name calling and arguments over some fairly minor details. show less
As another climbing season on Mount Everest passes, this year’s season deadlier than most, Jon Krakauer’s Into Thin Air acts as both a witness and a warning to past and future mountaineers. Published in 1997, a year after the events of the 1996 Mount Everest disaster, Krakauer’s intimate account of the deadly expedition topped the charts. It remains popular to this day, as it was recently adapted into a movie, and it continues to be studied in classrooms across the nation.
“…attempting to climb Everest is an intrinsically irrational act—a triumph of desire over sensibility. Any person who would seriously consider it is almost by definition beyond the sway of reasoned argument.”
Krakauer begins the book on a literal high show more point: when he reaches the summit of Everest on May 10th, 1996. This short chapter doesn’t provide much information beyond foreshadowing the disaster to come, but it is highly effective at piquing interest. A few arguably dull, albeit informative, chapters follow, providing background information about Mount Everest, including how it was discovered and named, as well as brief descriptions of some of the most famous expeditions led by explorers George Mallory and Andrew Irvine, as well as Edmund Hillary and Sherpa mountaineer Tenzing Norgay. The book picks up steam the moment Krakauer starts his account on March 29th, 1996.
Krakauer is an excellent writer. He wrote most of his account throughout the ordeal, only later going back to add his research and provide a more intimate version of events. This approach pays off wonderfully, as his descriptions of the cold beauty surrounding him are so palpable that it’s difficult not to feel like you’re taking the journey with him. The addition of quotations about Everest and a variety of other pertinent topics (the allure of danger, the perils of exploration, etc.) convey a sense of universality to the book, as people have always been attracted to the unknown, despite the potential risks.
“…on Everest it is the nature of systems to break down with a vengeance.”
The most fascinating parts of the book involve the tour guides and clients, their behavior, and the mistakes they made. The team Krakauer joined, led by expert climber and tour guide Rob Hall, was one of many that began the ascent during the 1996 season. Surprisingly, most clients of the guided tours are not professional climbers. If they could pay the hefty permit fee, which at the time was roughly $65,000 per person, they could join an expedition. When a motley group of inexperienced adventurers band together to climb the highest peak in the world, it is not surprising when things start to go awry. But the sheer amount of absurdity displayed is still astonishing and tragic.
Perhaps the biggest drawback of the book is that it’s told solely from Krakauer’s point of view. It’s difficult to stay objective when writing about one’s own experience. He does attempt to remedy this predicament by interviewing and adding direct quotes from other team members throughout his account, as well as a chapter devoted to how other survivors were affected by the disaster, but these efforts still fall somewhat short. Interestingly, a controversy followed the publication of his book, when another climber, Anatoli Boukreev, published The Climb, his own version of events which differed significantly from Krakauer’s account. Boukreev and Krakauer disputed for quite some time until Boukreev’s untimely death. Later editions of Into Thin Air include a captivating postscript with Krakauer’s thoughts on the debacle.
Jon Krakauer’s Into Thin Air is one of the most interesting personal accounts of a recent disaster in history. Krakauer’s thoroughness and attempt to provide an accurate representation of what happened during that fateful spring of 1996 is highly commendable. Man has always found the conquest of nature appealing. When George Mallory was asked why he wanted to climb Mount Everest and replied, “Because it is there,” maybe he would have given it a second thought it he knew the dangers that awaited him. And yet again, maybe not. show less
“…attempting to climb Everest is an intrinsically irrational act—a triumph of desire over sensibility. Any person who would seriously consider it is almost by definition beyond the sway of reasoned argument.”
Krakauer begins the book on a literal high show more point: when he reaches the summit of Everest on May 10th, 1996. This short chapter doesn’t provide much information beyond foreshadowing the disaster to come, but it is highly effective at piquing interest. A few arguably dull, albeit informative, chapters follow, providing background information about Mount Everest, including how it was discovered and named, as well as brief descriptions of some of the most famous expeditions led by explorers George Mallory and Andrew Irvine, as well as Edmund Hillary and Sherpa mountaineer Tenzing Norgay. The book picks up steam the moment Krakauer starts his account on March 29th, 1996.
Krakauer is an excellent writer. He wrote most of his account throughout the ordeal, only later going back to add his research and provide a more intimate version of events. This approach pays off wonderfully, as his descriptions of the cold beauty surrounding him are so palpable that it’s difficult not to feel like you’re taking the journey with him. The addition of quotations about Everest and a variety of other pertinent topics (the allure of danger, the perils of exploration, etc.) convey a sense of universality to the book, as people have always been attracted to the unknown, despite the potential risks.
“…on Everest it is the nature of systems to break down with a vengeance.”
The most fascinating parts of the book involve the tour guides and clients, their behavior, and the mistakes they made. The team Krakauer joined, led by expert climber and tour guide Rob Hall, was one of many that began the ascent during the 1996 season. Surprisingly, most clients of the guided tours are not professional climbers. If they could pay the hefty permit fee, which at the time was roughly $65,000 per person, they could join an expedition. When a motley group of inexperienced adventurers band together to climb the highest peak in the world, it is not surprising when things start to go awry. But the sheer amount of absurdity displayed is still astonishing and tragic.
Perhaps the biggest drawback of the book is that it’s told solely from Krakauer’s point of view. It’s difficult to stay objective when writing about one’s own experience. He does attempt to remedy this predicament by interviewing and adding direct quotes from other team members throughout his account, as well as a chapter devoted to how other survivors were affected by the disaster, but these efforts still fall somewhat short. Interestingly, a controversy followed the publication of his book, when another climber, Anatoli Boukreev, published The Climb, his own version of events which differed significantly from Krakauer’s account. Boukreev and Krakauer disputed for quite some time until Boukreev’s untimely death. Later editions of Into Thin Air include a captivating postscript with Krakauer’s thoughts on the debacle.
Jon Krakauer’s Into Thin Air is one of the most interesting personal accounts of a recent disaster in history. Krakauer’s thoroughness and attempt to provide an accurate representation of what happened during that fateful spring of 1996 is highly commendable. Man has always found the conquest of nature appealing. When George Mallory was asked why he wanted to climb Mount Everest and replied, “Because it is there,” maybe he would have given it a second thought it he knew the dangers that awaited him. And yet again, maybe not. show less
Into Thin Air is the story of the 1996 disaster on Mount Everest, a day where 8 people died descending in a storm. It is a gripping and harrowing tale, well told by Jon Krakauer, a journalist who was on the expedition to write about the commercialization of Everest for Outside magazine. This book is the expanded version of that story.
The disaster is a story I know well, but I still found myself at the edge of my seat reading about it here. For readers who are less familiar with the details, I have to imagine it would be an even more exciting, intense and moving reading experience. A theme that comes up in a great deal of climbing literature (including this book) is that the climb is not an exciting act of the daredevil, but rather the show more slow, excruciating battle against the elements and oneself. Krakauer, as a climber himself, well understands this, and is able to tell the story (which is powerful to begin with) in such a strong way because the excitement comes from a tension at the heart of any expedition like this. On one hand, climbers are those who are able to overcome incredible physical and mental adversity to pursue their goal, at the same time, they have to make smart decisions about when to turn around. It is this dynamic which drives the book, and Krakauer does a great job structuring the narrative around it.
It is also well written. As a writer, Krakauer does a nice job using both a stylistic voice and a direct, journalistic voice. He is able to interweave these well, capturing both the transcendent experience of being 28,000 feet above sea level with the intensely personal experience of trying to survive in the death zone. It is a breeze to read, and I found myself totally absorbed into the events as they unfolded.
One thing that the author wrestles with throughout the book is the reliability of the narrator. At that altitude, the mind is dulled, and memories become sketchy. Indeed, Krakauer corrects a serious error he made in his original article in this book, based upon a faulty memory. We are never far from a reminder of this simple fact, that no matter how many people he talks to discuss the story with, there is a aspect of mystery to everything that happened.
I also found Krakauer to be honest about his own role in the tragedy. He places blame on himself for failing to recognize Andy Harris' struggles with the altitude, and for remaining in his tent while his teammates were trapped in the storm outside. Though he ultimately diffuses the blame for the tragedy across a number of sources, he is willing to critically examine his own role in it. This self-reflective character of the book (in both these passages and in those considering the unreliability of his memory) are among the most moving in the book, and make it a very personal read.
Finally, one cannot review this book without mentioning the controversy about the role of Anatoli Boukreev, a guide for one of the ill-fated expeditions. Boukreev summitted without bottled oxygen, which Krakauer argues forced him to descend ahead of his clients. Though critical of this decision (along with a couple of other decisions Boukreev made), Krakauer also praises him for the amazing courage he displayed when he went out into the storm alone, numerous times, saving the lives of a couple of stranded climbers. Krakauer's criticisms of Boukreev caused a controversy, which resulted in the publication of The Climb, a rebuttal to the events as they are described in Into Thin Air. Later editions of the latter novel contain a detailed reply to the claims made in that book.
The debate over this book was heated, with much of the more aggressive rhetoric coming in a series of exchanges between the authors. It is surprising that it became such a public dispute, when it really concerns a few passages in Into Thin Air which focus on some fine points in alpine climbing decision making. Otherwise Krakauer provides opportunities for Boukreev's own explanations to be heard, and rightly lauds Boukreev's heroism. Despite the passion of this dispute, I found Krakauer's book to be more even-handed than his critiques allege, particularly given that he points out on numerous occasions his own unreliability as a narrator, despite his best efforts to confirm details. This dispute does not take away from Boukreev's heroism, the important questions his descent raises for alpinists, and the quality of Krakauer's book. show less
The disaster is a story I know well, but I still found myself at the edge of my seat reading about it here. For readers who are less familiar with the details, I have to imagine it would be an even more exciting, intense and moving reading experience. A theme that comes up in a great deal of climbing literature (including this book) is that the climb is not an exciting act of the daredevil, but rather the show more slow, excruciating battle against the elements and oneself. Krakauer, as a climber himself, well understands this, and is able to tell the story (which is powerful to begin with) in such a strong way because the excitement comes from a tension at the heart of any expedition like this. On one hand, climbers are those who are able to overcome incredible physical and mental adversity to pursue their goal, at the same time, they have to make smart decisions about when to turn around. It is this dynamic which drives the book, and Krakauer does a great job structuring the narrative around it.
It is also well written. As a writer, Krakauer does a nice job using both a stylistic voice and a direct, journalistic voice. He is able to interweave these well, capturing both the transcendent experience of being 28,000 feet above sea level with the intensely personal experience of trying to survive in the death zone. It is a breeze to read, and I found myself totally absorbed into the events as they unfolded.
One thing that the author wrestles with throughout the book is the reliability of the narrator. At that altitude, the mind is dulled, and memories become sketchy. Indeed, Krakauer corrects a serious error he made in his original article in this book, based upon a faulty memory. We are never far from a reminder of this simple fact, that no matter how many people he talks to discuss the story with, there is a aspect of mystery to everything that happened.
I also found Krakauer to be honest about his own role in the tragedy. He places blame on himself for failing to recognize Andy Harris' struggles with the altitude, and for remaining in his tent while his teammates were trapped in the storm outside. Though he ultimately diffuses the blame for the tragedy across a number of sources, he is willing to critically examine his own role in it. This self-reflective character of the book (in both these passages and in those considering the unreliability of his memory) are among the most moving in the book, and make it a very personal read.
Finally, one cannot review this book without mentioning the controversy about the role of Anatoli Boukreev, a guide for one of the ill-fated expeditions. Boukreev summitted without bottled oxygen, which Krakauer argues forced him to descend ahead of his clients. Though critical of this decision (along with a couple of other decisions Boukreev made), Krakauer also praises him for the amazing courage he displayed when he went out into the storm alone, numerous times, saving the lives of a couple of stranded climbers. Krakauer's criticisms of Boukreev caused a controversy, which resulted in the publication of The Climb, a rebuttal to the events as they are described in Into Thin Air. Later editions of the latter novel contain a detailed reply to the claims made in that book.
The debate over this book was heated, with much of the more aggressive rhetoric coming in a series of exchanges between the authors. It is surprising that it became such a public dispute, when it really concerns a few passages in Into Thin Air which focus on some fine points in alpine climbing decision making. Otherwise Krakauer provides opportunities for Boukreev's own explanations to be heard, and rightly lauds Boukreev's heroism. Despite the passion of this dispute, I found Krakauer's book to be more even-handed than his critiques allege, particularly given that he points out on numerous occasions his own unreliability as a narrator, despite his best efforts to confirm details. This dispute does not take away from Boukreev's heroism, the important questions his descent raises for alpinists, and the quality of Krakauer's book. show less
Every now and then, I come across a book that is so engaging, I simply cannot put it down. Into Thin Air is one of those books that pulled me in and I found myself listening to it every free second of every day until it, too soon, came to an end. I even brushed my teeth extra long, trying to fit in a few extra moments before I had to move on with the rest of my day.
Introduced to this book in Great By Choice by Jim Collins and Morten Hansen during their discussion on leading above the Death Line, I decided I had to read it. I had heard about the tragic Everest expeditions of 1996 in which eight people died when a storm caught them exposed near the summit. I wanted to learn more of the incident that inspired that chapter of Great By show more Choice.
Jon Krakauer, a journalist and mountain climber, was asked by Outside magazine to accompany an expedition and report on the commercialization of Mount Everest. Once reserved for the mountaineering elite, access to the world's highest peak has recently been made available to anyone in reasonable condition and enough money to hire a guide. However, Krakauer, and the dozens of others who attempted to climb Everest in May, 1996, came face to face with the reality of how dangerous the mountain remains.
The book spend considerable time examining the guides, especially Rob Hall, the New Zealander who had pioneered the concept of helping get people to the top. Were the guides at fault for the disaster? Were there signs that could have prevented the disaster? Krakauer lays out the facts as he remembered them, realizing he, like the others, were in a fog of oxygen deprivation. He pieced the story together from interviews with many of the other climbers.
Being a professional writer, Krakauer's narrative is engaging and descriptive. This is what pulled me in to the book and helped me get closer to understanding why anyone endures the physical torture and risks their life to climb the world's highest peaks.
What of the controversy surrounding the cause of the disaster? Krakauer did not gloss over the actions or inactions of several who resulted in the disaster. He holds himself responsible for mistakes made that caused pain and loss of life for his teammates and their families. He explains in detail many of the questions that will never be answered, including why Rob Hall and Scott Fischer, experienced guides, ignored their own abort time by over three hours that would have saw everyone safely back to camp before the storm broke. Krakauer's account created enough pain and anger among the survivors and families he felt it necessary to add an epilogue attempting reconciliation.
As I listened to this book, I couldn't help draw comparisons to the decision making processes followed in business leadership. Disasters are rarely a result of a single poor choice, but instead are the compounding of many, tiny missteps. Such was the conclusion to which Krakauer came. The guides had rules predetermined to keep everyone safe while under the effect of hypoxia brought on by the low oxygen levels at high altitude. However, the bending of several placed everyone in unnecessary risk. Individually, none of the small infractions would have made a difference. Adding them all up, however, spelled disaster when the storm hit. How many times do I allow myself a small bending of the rules I have placed to keep me out of danger? Can I afford to let myself place myself and others in danger? The lessons of Into Thin Air will stay with me for a long time. show less
Introduced to this book in Great By Choice by Jim Collins and Morten Hansen during their discussion on leading above the Death Line, I decided I had to read it. I had heard about the tragic Everest expeditions of 1996 in which eight people died when a storm caught them exposed near the summit. I wanted to learn more of the incident that inspired that chapter of Great By show more Choice.
Jon Krakauer, a journalist and mountain climber, was asked by Outside magazine to accompany an expedition and report on the commercialization of Mount Everest. Once reserved for the mountaineering elite, access to the world's highest peak has recently been made available to anyone in reasonable condition and enough money to hire a guide. However, Krakauer, and the dozens of others who attempted to climb Everest in May, 1996, came face to face with the reality of how dangerous the mountain remains.
The book spend considerable time examining the guides, especially Rob Hall, the New Zealander who had pioneered the concept of helping get people to the top. Were the guides at fault for the disaster? Were there signs that could have prevented the disaster? Krakauer lays out the facts as he remembered them, realizing he, like the others, were in a fog of oxygen deprivation. He pieced the story together from interviews with many of the other climbers.
Being a professional writer, Krakauer's narrative is engaging and descriptive. This is what pulled me in to the book and helped me get closer to understanding why anyone endures the physical torture and risks their life to climb the world's highest peaks.
What of the controversy surrounding the cause of the disaster? Krakauer did not gloss over the actions or inactions of several who resulted in the disaster. He holds himself responsible for mistakes made that caused pain and loss of life for his teammates and their families. He explains in detail many of the questions that will never be answered, including why Rob Hall and Scott Fischer, experienced guides, ignored their own abort time by over three hours that would have saw everyone safely back to camp before the storm broke. Krakauer's account created enough pain and anger among the survivors and families he felt it necessary to add an epilogue attempting reconciliation.
As I listened to this book, I couldn't help draw comparisons to the decision making processes followed in business leadership. Disasters are rarely a result of a single poor choice, but instead are the compounding of many, tiny missteps. Such was the conclusion to which Krakauer came. The guides had rules predetermined to keep everyone safe while under the effect of hypoxia brought on by the low oxygen levels at high altitude. However, the bending of several placed everyone in unnecessary risk. Individually, none of the small infractions would have made a difference. Adding them all up, however, spelled disaster when the storm hit. How many times do I allow myself a small bending of the rules I have placed to keep me out of danger? Can I afford to let myself place myself and others in danger? The lessons of Into Thin Air will stay with me for a long time. show less
Dit boek verkleumt je botten. Ik heb eens iemand ontmoet die, hoog in de Annapurna-regio, stopte met lezen omdat het hem te koud werd.
Krakauer onderzoekt menselijke overmoed, drang naar avontuur en egoïsme (of is het wel egoïsme als je zelf dreigt te bevriezen?) in de ultieme situatie: de beklimming van een berg, en met name de Mount Everest.
Niet lezen als het heel koud is, met elk ander weer een aanrader!
Krakauer onderzoekt menselijke overmoed, drang naar avontuur en egoïsme (of is het wel egoïsme als je zelf dreigt te bevriezen?) in de ultieme situatie: de beklimming van een berg, en met name de Mount Everest.
Niet lezen als het heel koud is, met elk ander weer een aanrader!
In 1996, journalist and mountain-climbing enthusiast Jon Krakauer joined an expedition to the top of Mt. Everest as part of a magazine piece he was asked to do on the increasing commercialization of Everest expeditions. Karkauer reached the top and came back alive, but many of those who made the attempt at the same time, including several members of Krakauer's own group, died on the mountain. This book is his attempt to explain, both for his readers and himself, what happened and why.
Most of the account describes the ordinary business of climbing Everest -- if "ordinary" is remotely the right word to use for such an endeavor -- with a lot of background on the history of the mountain and its climbers, and a lot of detail about what an show more Everest attempt entails. Towards the end of the account, when disaster begins to strike in earnest, he continues to attempt to give as objective an account as he can muster, but also shares the depth of his survivor's guilt and his anguish at the role that he played in events.
What's particularly interesting about those events is that there are no obvious lessons to take from them, and no clear, simple narrative about actions A, B, and C leading to disastrous consequences X, Y, and Z. Instead, a lot of things just happened: weather, illness, bad choices and misperceptions by exhausted, oxygen-starved people.
My personal take-away from this narrative, honestly, is that attempting to climb Everest is a fundamentally crazy, even self-destructive act. Not because it's a harsh, dangerous environment where rescue in the event of disaster may be impossible, but because it's a harsh, dangerous, difficult-to-be-rescued-from environment where the human mind and body are not capable of proper functioning. But it's one that has just enough of a chance of not actually killing you that people insist on trying it anyway. Which I'd say makes it much worse place than, say, Mars. Nobody's going to try exploring Mars without proper life-support technology.
Well, that's one of my personal take-aways, anyway. The other one involves never, ever taking the life-giving sweetness of oxygen for granted again. I swear, the entire time I was reading this thing, I felt short of breath. show less
Most of the account describes the ordinary business of climbing Everest -- if "ordinary" is remotely the right word to use for such an endeavor -- with a lot of background on the history of the mountain and its climbers, and a lot of detail about what an show more Everest attempt entails. Towards the end of the account, when disaster begins to strike in earnest, he continues to attempt to give as objective an account as he can muster, but also shares the depth of his survivor's guilt and his anguish at the role that he played in events.
What's particularly interesting about those events is that there are no obvious lessons to take from them, and no clear, simple narrative about actions A, B, and C leading to disastrous consequences X, Y, and Z. Instead, a lot of things just happened: weather, illness, bad choices and misperceptions by exhausted, oxygen-starved people.
My personal take-away from this narrative, honestly, is that attempting to climb Everest is a fundamentally crazy, even self-destructive act. Not because it's a harsh, dangerous environment where rescue in the event of disaster may be impossible, but because it's a harsh, dangerous, difficult-to-be-rescued-from environment where the human mind and body are not capable of proper functioning. But it's one that has just enough of a chance of not actually killing you that people insist on trying it anyway. Which I'd say makes it much worse place than, say, Mars. Nobody's going to try exploring Mars without proper life-support technology.
Well, that's one of my personal take-aways, anyway. The other one involves never, ever taking the life-giving sweetness of oxygen for granted again. I swear, the entire time I was reading this thing, I felt short of breath. show less
I had to stop reading this while eating because the stress was giving me stomach cramps. The author's writing is so vivid, so compelling, and the story is truly horrifying. In the Prologue the author explains that he wrote the book so soon after the disaster in part to help himself process everything that took place up there, and I could really feel that come through in his writing (this is not a criticism, it is a compliment). Grappling with the choices everyone made, how people's flaws or prejudices or bravery or tenacity played a role, would absolutely require some heavy-duty processing for a survivor, and it makes for fascinating reading. Highly, highly recommend.
Members
- Recently Added By
Published Reviews
ThingScore 100
An experienced climber himself, Mr. Krakauer gives us both a tactile appreciation of the dangerous allure of mountaineering and a compelling chronicle of the bad luck, bad judgment and doomed heroism that led to the deaths of his climbing companions.
added by Shortride
it is impossible to finish this book unmoved and impossible to forget for a moment that its author would have given anything not to have to write it.
added by mikeg2
Lists
Disaster Books
74 works; 19 members
Really Good Narrative Non-Fiction
65 works; 24 members
Best History Books about Disasters
33 works; 19 members
Top Five Books of 2013
1,562 works; 721 members
Non-Fiction Worth Reading
1,015 works; 261 members
Recommend the 20 best books you've read in the last five years
2,168 works; 606 members
Sports Illustrated's The Top 100 Sports Books of All Time
51 works; 7 members
100 New Classics
101 works; 13 members
Mensa for Kids Excellence in Reading Award Program (Nonfiction)
54 works; 4 members
Unread books
1,063 works; 84 members
Top Five Books of 2014
1,064 works; 398 members
Favourite Non-Fiction
24 works; 1 member
Books I Often Recommend
8 works; 1 member
Perspectives Book Club Picks
49 works; 3 members
Julie Parson’s Old Books
52 works; 4 members
Books about sports
65 works; 3 members
Pleasant Surprises: Books That Exceeded Our Expectations
418 works; 143 members
Alphabetical Books
211 works; 3 members
Books Read in 2015
3,299 works; 126 members
The Art of Manliness' 100+ Books Every Man Should Read
108 works; 2 members
Mustich's 1000 Books to Read Before You Die: A Life Changing List
1,001 works; 18 members
Tagged Storms
31 works; 3 members
Books Read in 2018
4,360 works; 110 members
Stephen King's 'On Writing' reading list
95 works; 4 members
Books We Love to Reread
688 works; 296 members
Asia
178 works; 7 members
LibraryThingers' 1001 Books You Must Read Before You Die
442 works; 30 members
What are your favourite books?
121 works; 11 members
Penguin Random House
458 works; 4 members
Adult Books for YA Readers
194 works; 6 members
Page Turners
185 works; 11 members
Blue Pyramid 1,276 Best Books of All Time
1,248 works; 32 members
Five star books
1,755 works; 107 members
Books Read in 2014
2,342 works; 89 members
Independent Reading Suggestions
69 works; 3 members
5 Best 5 Years
71 works; 4 members
My favourite books
96 works; 3 members
Books Read in 2013
1,629 works; 51 members
Best Survival Stories
97 works; 15 members
Allie's Favourite 150 Books
145 works; 3 members
Favourite Books
1,817 works; 316 members
Books tagged favorites
390 works; 30 members
Gen X Library
245 works; 4 members
Author Information
28+ Works 52,020 Members
Jon Krakauer was born in Brookline, Massachusetts on April 12, 1954. He received a degree in environmental studies from Hampshire College in Massachusetts in 1976. He worked as a carpenter, fisherman, and writer. He articles on mountain climbing appeared in several publications including GQ, National Geographic, Architectural Digest, Playboy, The show more New Yorker, and Rolling Stone. In 1996, he climbed Mt. Everest, but a storm took the lives of four of the five teammates who reached the summit with him. An analysis of the calamity he wrote for Outside magazine received a National Magazine Award. An article he wrote for Smithsonian about volcanology received the 1997 Walter Sullivan Award for Excellence in Science Journalism. He is the author of several books including Into Thin Air: A Personal Account of the Mt. Everest Disaster; Under the Banner of Heaven: A Story of Violent Faith; Where Men Win Glory: The Odyssey of Pat Tillman; Three Cups of Deceit: How Greg Mortenson, Humanitarian Hero, Lost His Way; and Missoula: Rape and the Justice System in a College Town. His book, Into the Wild, was made into a movie in 2007. He is also the editor of the Modern Library Exploration series. (Bowker Author Biography) show less
Some Editions
Awards and Honors
Awards
Distinctions
Notable Lists
Series
Belongs to Publisher Series
Work Relationships
Has the adaptation
Common Knowledge
- Canonical title*
- Tunn luft : en insidesskildring av tragedin på Mount Everest
- Original title
- Into Thin Air: A Personal Account of the Mt. Everest Disaster
- Original publication date
- 1997
- People/Characters
- Jon Krakauer; Rob Hall; Scott Fischer; Andy Harris; Anatoli Boukreev; Beck Weathers
- Important places
- Mount Everest / Sagarmatha; Himalayas; Alaska, USA; China; Nepal; Seattle, Washington, USA
- Important events
- 1996 Mount Everest Disaster
- Related movies
- Into Thin Air: Death on Everest (1997 | IMDb); Everest (2015 | IMDb)
- Epigraph
- Men play at tragedy because they do not believe in the reality of the tragey which is actually being staged in the civilised world. —José Ortega y Gasset
- Dedication
- For Linda; and in memory of Andy Harris, Doug Hansen, Rob Hall, Yasuko Namba, Scott Fischer, Ngawang Topche Sherpa, Chen Yu-Nana, Bruce Herrod, and Lopsang Jangbu Sherpa
- First words
- Straddling the top of the world, one foot in China and the other in Nepal, I cleared the ice from my oxygen mask, hunched a shoulder against the wind, and stared absently down at the vastness of Tibet.
- Quotations
- Getting to the top of any given mountain was considered much less important than how one got there: prestige was earned by tackling the most unforgiving routes with minimal equipment, in the boldest style imaginable. John Kra... (show all)kauer
- Last words
- (Click to show. Warning: May contain spoilers.)Beidleman paused. "But I can't help thinking about Yasuko," he said when he resumed, his voice hushed. "She was so little. I can still feel her fingers sliding across my biceps, and then letting go. I never even turned to look back."
- Blurbers
- Perrin, Jim; Salkelk, Audrey
- Canonical DDC/MDS
- 796.522092
- Canonical LCC
- GV199.44.E85
- Disambiguation notice
- Please distinguish between print editions of Jon Krakauer's 1997 memoir, Into Thin Air, and the abridged audio version. Thank you.
*Some information comes from Common Knowledge in other languages. Click "Edit" for more information.
Classifications
- Genres
- Sports and Leisure, General Nonfiction, Travel, Biography & Memoir, Nonfiction
- DDC/MDS
- 796.522092 — Arts & recreation Recreation, sports, and performing arts Sports Outdoor leisure Walking and exploring by kind of terrain Mountains, hills and rocks standard subdivisions History, geographic treatment, biography
- LCC
- GV199.44 .E85 — Geography, Anthropology and Recreation Recreation. Leisure Recreation. Leisure Outdoor life. Outdoor recreation Hiking. Pedestrian tours
- BISAC
Statistics
- Members
- 15,697
- Popularity
- 440
- Reviews
- 342
- Rating
- (4.19)
- Languages
- 19 — Catalan, Chinese, Danish, Dutch, English, Estonian, Finnish, French, German, Hungarian, Italian, Japanese, Norwegian (Bokmål), Polish, Portuguese, Romanian, Spanish, Swedish, Turkish
- Media
- Paper, Audiobook, Ebook
- ISBNs
- 106
- UPCs
- 1
- ASINs
- 66