Into Thin Air
May 28, 2006 – 12:03 pmTwo stories from Mount Everest made the news in the past few days. One involved a man who had collapsed on his way to the summit and lay dying in the snow. About forty climbers moved past him on their way to the top of the mountain, most not offering help to the stricken climber.
The second story involved a man who was left for dead near the summit of Mount Everest after he collapsed on his descent. He unbelievably survived the night, completely exposed near the summit, and was rescued the following day. He is currently on his descent from the mountain.
I read about the first story this past Thursday, and I spent the rest of that night reading just about anything I could find on the Internet regarding Mount Everest. Saturday, as I am wont to sometimes do, I went to a used bookstore, the Brand Bookshop in Glendale. At this store, I found a used copy of Into Thin Air, a book by Jon Krakauer about his successful summit of Mount Everest in 1996. I bought the book and read the whole thing the same day, something I can’t remember ever having done before. The book is that good.
If you don’t want to know anything else about this book (read spoilers), stop reading here.
Into Thin Air is about one of the most lethal years in recorded history for the climbers of Mount Everest. Mr. Krakauer climbed the mountain with a group of eleven Westerners: three guides and eight clients, with Mr. Krakauer being one of the clients. The group also enlisted the help of some native Sherpa, as most groups do who attempt to climb Mount Everest. Of these eleven Westerners, four perished on the mountain: two guides (Rob Hall, who was the lead guide, and Andy Harris) and two clients (Doug Hansen and Yasuko Namba). Scott Fischer, the lead guide of another expedition who traveled closely with Rob Hall’s, also perished.
The book is partly autobiographical, with Mr. Krakauer giving the reader some insight into how he became an avid climber. The story then moves through how Mr. Krakauer got Outside Magazine, the publication for which he is a respected journalist, to fund his attempt to climb Mount Everest. Finally, the overwhelming majority of the book is dedicated to the climb itself.
I found the story very shaking. The details can be quite gory at times, and the book is so well written that you get a very tangible feel for the desperation and chaos which ensued as a deadly storm hovered over Everest’s peak. The descriptions of the final moments of those who perished were particularly intense.
If you think the subject matter is something in which you would find some interest, I strongly recommend reading this book. For me, it immediately gained “page turner” status, and for the few hours yesterday afternoon and evening that I wasn’t reading it, my mind was still engrossed in the story. I would take breaks from reading the book to hunt around the web for even more information about that 1996 expedition. It’s an extremely engaging story, at least for me.
3 Responses to “Into Thin Air”
I also heard about the guy that was left to die up there. One of the people who walked on by was a double amputee (legs), the first ever to reach summit. Sir Edmund Hillary is apparently quite angry about this. And I rather agree with him. Even if you don’t think that anything can be done, you are obliged to make the attempt. Presumably if there weren’t enough people to get him down the mountain, more rescuers could be called in. But regardless, to do nothing is unacceptable.
By Adam on May 28, 2006 at 1:19 pm
Yeah, well, I don’t know. Fucking tourists are now climbing Everest. People with no legs are climbing Everest. Blind ten-year-old girls are climbing Everest. The peaks are littered with people who shouldn’t be up there in the first place. People who can barely help themselves much less anybody else. Someone who wants to make a serious attempt will pass 10 groups of people who shouldn’t be there on the way. There are people who don’t have the discipline to know when they can make a climb and when they need to go back and try later. Sir Edmund says human life is more important than climbing a mountain. When you are climbing Everest you are risking death. It is as simple as that. Every climber takes this risk, which is why I think it funny for Sir Edmund to say what he did. Obviously he doesn’t really think this way, and that makes him a hypocrite. A hypocrite who had good luck and made the trip alive. He could just as easily have had bad luck and died, and he must know enough about climbing to know this. So anyone who climbs the mountain has already put getting to the peak above the palpable risk of death. Everyone thinks they should have taken that guy to the nurse’s station, but Everest is not a Disney theme park! There are no guarantees, and no one should go into it thinking there are.
I’m not sure how I really feel about this debacle, but it doesn’t seem clear cut to me, one way or the other. I would have saved the guy, but that’s because I actually DO think that human life is more important than scaling a mountain. Which is why I would never be up there in the first place. My point is that everyone who attempts it has already accepted this pathology that Everest climbing is more important than life, so I think we should let them have it, and not judge them when they stick to their ethos in even the cruelest situation.
By gv on May 28, 2006 at 2:18 pm
I definitely lean closer to Greg’s point of view here. While I don’t believe just anyone is being allowed to climb Mount Everest (just rich anyones might be another story), I think every climber knows exactly what risk they’re taking when they make the attempt.
Also, after reading Into Thin Air, I have a much better appreciation for what the environment must be like above 25,000 feet. Some of these people have paid $50,000 or more to make this single attempt, their body is taxed to its absolute limit, and helping another person almost certainly means the forfeiture of their own summit attempt.
It could be very possible that the climbers passing this dying person deemed that he wasn’t in sufficiently good shape to make it out alive. That close to the summit, the personal risks you take by giving substantial to aid to others are huge. If you’re an Everest novice yourself, the unfamiliarity with the terrain alone might be enough to convince you that the rescue is simply too dangerous.
I think the last sentence of Greg’s comment is spot on.
By jjk on May 28, 2006 at 2:31 pm