Into Thin Air by Jon Krakauer
Plot Overview
Jon Krakauer, author and mountain climber, is hired by Outside Magazine to write an article about the commercialism on Mount Everest. Krakauer decides he wants to climb the mountain, and joins the most disastrous Everest expedition in history.
Krakauer joins the climbing service called Adventure Consultants, guided by Rob Hall. The guide service is intended to speed up the acclimatization process and guide the climbers successfully to the summit of Mount Everest.
The climb is structure into camps: Base Camp, Camp One, Camp Two, Camp Three and Camp Four. After spending weeks at Base Camp, the group makes a number of trips up to the other camps to speed up the acclimatization process. In the beginning of May, the group makes a summit push.
Throughout the climb, Krakauer details his teammates, his guides and other expeditions on the mountain. He tries to piece together a continuous timeline of the events that take place in the weeks they are on the mountain.
All of the clients have difficulty adjusting to the altitude, tiring easily, losing weight and moving slowly. The climbers' experience in mountain climbing and at high altitudes varies—some of them are quite qualified, others very inexperienced and highly reliant on the guides.
Despite a number of mishaps, the first death does not actually occur until Chapter 11. From that point on, though, death is something all the climbers become familiar with.
The actual summit push is when everything begins to fall apart. Rob Hall appoints a 2:00 pm turn-around time, meaning that everyone who has not actually reached the summit by then must turn around, no matter how close he or she is. That day, only Krakauer and a few other climbers make it to the top before 2:00 pm. Members of his group reach the top as late as 4:00 pm—the turn around time is not enforced. Among the later arrivals to the top is Rob Hall and another member, Doug Hansen. They arrive jus t behind another climbing group guided by Scott Fischer.
A storm hits the summit that afternoon, and Krakauer catches only the tail end of it before he successfully reaches the refuse of Camp Four. Krakauer is well ahead of most of his teammates and has no idea what lies in store for them.
Hall and Hansen get stranded. Hansen runs out of supplemental oxygen and cannot continue. Another group gets lost in the blizzard and later, an assistant guide rescues all but two of them. The remaining two are left, presumably dead.
Fischer also gets stranded, and when he is finally found, he is dead. Hansen dies and one of Hall's Sherpas tries to rescue Hall, but cannot climb high enough. A guide assistant dies trying to rescue Hall and Hansen.
One of the two clients left for dead, Beck Weathers, actually makes it back to camp and miraculously survives the ordeal. He eventually undergoes a number of amputation and surgeries for his injuries. All told, a dozen people die on Everest that season, a nd Krakauer, originally there to report on the business of taking people up the mountain, cannot forget what he sees there.
After Krakauer publishes his article, he writes this book because he feels he has more to say. He has done extensive research and conducted interviews with all of the survivors, and has information that he didn't have at the time he wrote the article. His opinion is that the events that happened on the mountain deserve to be told in a thorough and accurate a manner and possible. He spends a considerable amount of time reflecting on what happened and how it has changed his life forever. Krakauer struggles with survivor's guilt and a redefined view on mortality and addresses questions about events on the mountain that perhaps don't have answers. Krakauer acknowledges and apologizes for any pain or anger his book might arose in the friends and families of victims, but is undeterred from detailing the events, be they heroic, selfish or tragic.
Quiz
1. What was Krakauer's climbing experience prior to Everest?
(A) He was a climber skilled and experienced at high altitudes.
(B) He didn't have much climbing experience at all.
(C) He had climbing experience, but little at high altitudes.
(D) He climbed mountains as a hobby while he was a teenager.
2. Who was Krakauer's head guide?
(A) Scott Fischer (B) Rob Hall
(C) Andy Harris (D) Ang Dorje
3. Who was Rob Hall's main Sherpa?
(A) Ang Dorje (B) Lopsang Sherpa
(C) Ngawang Sherpa (D) Anatoli Boukreev
4. How long had Rob Hall been guiding at Adventure Consultants?
(A) 1996 was his first year. (B) Since 1995.
(C) Since he was nineteen years old (D) Since 1992
5. How was Rob Hall's track record as a guide?
(A) Mediocre—he had gotten a few clients to the summit, but not many.
(B) Hall suffered a lack of respect from the climbing community when he became a guide.
(C) Sterling—in five years, Hall guided thirty-nine clients to the peak.
(D) Hall had a good reputation, but not as good as Scott Fischer's.
6. How would you characterize Rob Hall and Scott Fischer's relationship?
(A) The two men were life-long friends.
(B) The men were friends and climbing companions, but competitors for the same business.
(C) The men did not like each other, as they ran competitive businesses.
(D) The men did not know one another before the 1996 climb.
7. Which of the following people reached the summit by 2:00 pm, the turn-around time?
(A) Rob Hall (B) Scott Fischer
(C) Doug Hansen (D) Jon Krakauer
8. Which of the guides descends the summit long before the clients?
(A) Andy Harris (B) Anatoli Boukreev
(C) Lopsang Sherpa (D) Rob Hall
9. Which of the following clients is not later rescued by Anatoli Boukreev?
(A) Yasuko Namba (B) Tim Madsen
(C) Charlotte Fox (D) Sandy Pittman
10. Who, suffering from hypoxia, tells the climbers that the oxygen canisters at the South Summit are empty?
(A) Rob Hall (B) Mike Groom
(C) Andy Harris (D) Doug Hansen
11. Why does Lopsang Sherpa refuse to deliver oxygen to Hall and Hansen who are stranded on the summit?
(A) As Fischer's Sherpa, he wants to find and assist Fischer.
(B) He is too tired to climb to the top.
(C) He does not want to help Hall because Hall is with another expedition.
(D) The oxygen canisters are all empty.
12. Why won't Hall leave the summit, even though he knows that staying will probably result in death?
(A) He is too tired to climb down.
(B) He is out of supplemental oxygen.
(C) He will not leave Doug Hansen, who is too incapacitated to climb down on his own.
(D) The ropes on the summit have become unfastened.
13. Whom does Krakauer mistake for Andy Harris the night they descend from the summit?
(A) Mike Groom (B) Doug Hansen
(C) Tim Madsen (D) Martin Adams
Character Analysis
Jon Krakauer
Krakauer has a multi-faceted role in this book. First and foremost, he is a character, the narrator of the story he tells. Secondly, he is the author of this book. Third, he is a mountain climber.
At one time in his life, Krakauer was an avid climber. In recent years, however, he has given up the hobby. When Outside Magazine asks him to write an article about the commercialism on Everest, Krakauer knows immediately that he had to climb.
Of course, Krakauer gets more than he has bargained for. His expedition turns out to be the most deadly ever. He successfully summits Everest and also leaves the mountain alive, but takes with him not only the story, but questions.
Throughout the text, Krakauer attempts to figure out exactly what went wrong and what happened to whom. He does extensive research and painstakingly traces the actions of every climber on the mountain. He theorizes about the breakdowns of the expedition, and attributes the disaster to a series of small mistakes. He includes himself, and explicitly blames himself for at least one person's death. The experience affects him profoundly, and in addition to telling the story, the book focuses on how Krakauer is forever changed as a result of what happened.
Rob Hall
Hall is Krakauer's guide, and leads them up the mountain impressively until the summit attempt. Hall began climbing in the Himalayas at age nineteen, and successfully climbed the highest mountain in each of the seven continents within a period of seven months. After that feat, Hall decides that his future is in guiding, and brings a record number of clients to the summit of Everest. All of the clients like and respect Hall, and during the ascent he comes to the assistance of a number of climbers. Hall, though essential to everyone during the climb, does not adhere to his own turn-around time for the summit. Hall, hours behind the turn-around time, waits for Doug Hansen, a current and former client. Hall had convinced Hansen to make another go at the summit, and despite running behind Hall attempts to help him realize his dream. Hall and Hansen become stranded at the top of the mountain. Hansen runs out of oxygen, and Hall refuses to leave him. Hall's loyalty is fierce, and he tries to protect his client until the very end. Even as Hall radios for help he asks about how his clients are doing, always concerned, always looking out for others.
Andy Harris
Harris is one of the more altruistic guides on the expedition. He comes to the assistance of anyone and everyone without hesitation, and eventually that same sense of loyalty turns out to be his downfall.
One of Krakauer's biggest mistakes in the experience of writing the book is misinterpreting what happened to Harris. Krakauer, saw Harris on the mountain and pointed him toward camp. Later, Krakauer concluded that Harris had fallen off the mountain, but during a conversation with another climber learns that it was not Harris he saw that night.
Harris's death is one of the single biggest tragedies to unfold during the expedition. Harris and his girlfriend had just begun building a house, but he couldn't resist the lure of the mountain. Always among the first to volunteer to do work or assist clients, Harris is one of the people Krakauer trusts throughout.
Sandy Pittman
Pittman is not one of the principal characters in terms of plot, but in terms of theme she has one of the most important roles. Pittman is heavily involved in the media, and goes along the expedition to dispatch pictures and information to NBC for broadcast on their website. She does not charge $65,000 a head, but she represents a whole different kind of commercialism on the mountain. Because of work like Pittman's, the entire world can see the fate of a climbing expedition.
Pittman's presence causes complications. She requires the usage of a number of heavy pieces of equipment, which the Sherpas drag up the mountain for her. Lopsang Sherpa short-ropes her up one face of the mountain, exhausting himself in the process. She and Krakauer make other climbers nervous, because they record and document the events on the mountain. After the expedition, she is met with lots of negative press and blame surrounding the disaster.
Beck Weathers
As a character, Weathers grows as the novel progresses. Weathers is a doctor who has recently become obsessed with climbing, and initially, Krakauer does not think much of him. Throughout the climb, Weathers exhibits more and more character. One of the more gut-wrenching aspects of the story is Weathers' blindness that sets in the higher he climbs. Weathers persuades Hall to let him attempt the summit, and promises that if he cannot sit he will wait for the next guide. True to his word, Weathers sits and waits for hours, until Krakauer eventually stumbles upon him. After waiting hours for a guide, Weathers finally gets help down the mountain and joins the group that gets lost. During the rescue attempt, Boukreev leaves Weathers for dead. In a series of astounding feats of strength and spirit, Weathers stays alive. After being written off he eventually finds camp, ill and frostbitten. At camp, he is stripped of his sleeping bags in a fierce storm but lasts through the night. He also survives being brought down the mountain, finally seeing doctors at Base Camp who call his frostbite the worst they've ever seen.
All through the book Krakauer talks about the undying spirit of some climbers. Some climbers are driven to the point of being dangerous. Weathers is not as much driven as he is tough. He exemplifies the determination, strength and bravery. Though only a client, he is a one of a kind hero on the expedition.
Themes
Commercialism on Everest
Krakauer is hired to report on the commercialism on Everest, but the business he encounters there is beyond what he imagined. The commercialism manifests itself in a number of ways: the tourist revenue collected by Nepal and Tibet, the ungodly amounts of money the guiding services charge each of the clients, the competition among Sherpas to get hired by the guiding services, the competition between guide services for media attention and the broadcast of information and images throughout climbing expeditions. Even Krakauer's position underscores just how commercial the business has become—he is folded into the process, paid for reporting on commercialism. Hall and Fischer's guide services compete to have Krakauer in their group because of the media attention and endorsements they could receive after Krakauer's article is published. The commercialism on the mountain also distorts the requirements for climbers. Many of them are inexperienced and would undoubtedly never make it to the top without a guide. The one unifying characteristic shared by all of the climbers is that they have money—enough to shell out $65,000 a piece for their shot at the top.
Trust Among Teammates
Krakauer specifies early on how important it is to be able to trust one's teammates: "In climbing, having confidence in your partners is no small concern. One climber's actions can affect the welfare of the entire team" (47). On this expedition, Krakauer climbs primarily with strangers and he is uncomfortable putting his life in the hands of people whose presence on the mountain is not necessarily a tribute to their climbing skills. Throughout the book, when one client gets in trouble, another must help immediately. When they suffer the effects of hypoxia and mind-altering high altitudes, they have to check each other and watch each other's backs. Krakauer is afraid that because many of the climbers are inexperienced, that he will have to watch out for them while they are of little help to him. Krakauer recognizes that the most important element of all trust in one's guide, who is responsible for keeping all of the team members together, functioning as a group. During the climb, particularly the dissent, trust between teammates results in the survival of some of the clients and the breakdown of that trust results in the death of others.
Loyalty Among Teammates
While related to trust, loyalty is so important that it must be stressed separately. On Everest, loyalty basically means that a climber will risk his or her own life to help another. Guides by definition are loyal to their groups. Countless times during the climb, clients get into trouble and their guides rush to their assistance, at times climbing for hours and for thousands of extra feet to perform rescues, bring oxygen, or assist in climbing. During those times, loyalty means not hesitating to help someone else for fear of one's own safety, and the guides and clients that are most trusted among the group are the ones who display loyalty. Lopsang Sherpa is fiercely loyal to Fischer, almost to the exclusion of other climbers. When Fischer is lost on the summit, Lopsang's search for him is not deterred, even by the deadly weather. Hall is similarly loyal to Hansen, refusing to leave Hansen at the summit. Hall's loyalty to Hansen eventually results in his death—he could have left Hansen at the top and climbed down, but he does not even consider it. Andy Harris's loyalty to Hall and Hansen causes his death too, as he becomes stranded trying to bring oxygen to the two men. Nearly all of the rescue attempts on Everest require an enormous amount of loyalty, because every rescue is potentially deadly for all who become involved.
Questions that Cannot be Answered
Krakauer spends long chapters giving his best, most educated guesses about why climbers made certain decisions, and what happened to the people who disappeared. This is an exercise that must result in significant frustration, as no one can be entirely sure what took place. After many mistakes, Krakauer manages to piece together a framework of what happened to whom and when during the climb, but the questions he struggles with in almost every situation are "why" and "how". Why does Anatoli Boukreev descend so far ahead of his clients? How does Krakauer mistake Martin Adams for Andy Harris? Why doesn't Rob Hall enforce the two o'clock turn around time? How does Beck Weathers summon the strength to literally raise himself from the dead not once, but twice? Why did no one notice the storm that hit during the afternoon of the summit? Why do the South Africans refuse to help? Why does Lopsang Sherpa exhaust himself by hauling heavy equipment, and then Sandy Pittman herself, up the mountain? Krakauer grapples with these questions, attempting to answer them in a number of ways, all of which being speculative. Hypoxia, or the influence of high altitude on decision-making, perception and memory further distorts everyone's accounts of what happened there, and makes it even more difficult to figure out how and why.