Into Thin Air

1
Into Thin Air By Jon Krakauer ISBN 0-385-49208-1
People were crying. I heard someone yell, Dont
let me die here! It was obvious that it was now
or never.
2
Theme
Ang Dorjee Sherpa-Rob Halls Sherpa
Andy Harris

• Loyalty

Loyalty takes a new meaning when climbing
Everest. Loyalty means life or death, risking
your own life for someone else's. There is a
hierarchy of loyalty starting with the guides,
they are in charge of the teams and the Sherpas.
The sherpas are the most loyal of anyone on the
mountain, having a heritage of worshiping the
mountain and their guides. Team members are loyal
to the guides, while the guides are loyal to the
teams for their safety. Throughout the book
guides come to the rescue of their clients, going
as far as climbing thousands of feet and carrying
heavy equipment for their survival. Climbers
cannot hesitate to contemplate their loyalty,
decisions and actions had to be made fast to have
any chance of saving lives during the 1996
expedition. Scott Fischer, a main guide, gets
lost in the storm and his loyal Sherpa climbs up
the mountain into the storm to search for his
friend. As well as the other famous guide, Rob
Hall, who stays with his competing guide Doug
Hansen in the storm, eventually resulting in his
death. Hall could have left Hansen, as most
climbers would have, being the rule of thumb that
those without a chance are left to die on
Everest, but he stayed loyal to his friend. Death
goes hand in hand with loyalty, which is to blame
for many of deaths in the story. Andy Harris,
Halls assistant guide lost his life trying to
bring Hall and Hansen oxygen during the storm.
But anyone on Everest knows that they must be
loyal to the mountain, for the mountain
determines their fate.
3
Read This Book
Krakauer writes this book perfectly, keeping the
reader wanting more, yet showing the real
tragedy. The book may appear bulky, but it goes
very quick, you cannot put it down. I recommend
this book to anyone, you do not need to be into
the outdoors or winter sports. It reminds us that
we are just mere humans compared in the giant
scheme of things and that we can never concur
mother the wild. It also brings to light many of
the issues that the world is not aware of dealing
with Everest, such as the commercialization,
pollution, costs and using oxygen as an aid for
sport.
4
Boukreev finds a group of his climbers huddling
behind a rock for shelter from the winds of the
storm. But he cannot bring them all back to
shelter because many cannot walk and some of them
are in very critical condition from
frostbite.So Im trying to shove her hands
back into her mittens when all of a sudden Beck
mumbles, Hey, Ive got this all figured out.
Then he kind of rolls a little distance away,
crouches on a big rock, and stands up facing the
wind with his arms stretched out to either side.
A second later a gust comes up and just blows him
over backward into the night, beyond the beam of
my headlamp. And that was the last I saw of him.
Anatoli Boukreev
The events that take place in this book are so
powerful to the reader, it makes them want an
understanding of the awesome power that this
mountain truly possesses. This disaster is
uncomprehendable to most people, it took the
lives of the many of the best climbers in the
world, who had the most experience on Everest.
The climbers stuck together, but for many of them
it led to their demise. This is truly one of the
most tragic sporting events in history and has
caused many people deep problems. The events that
took place on Everest in the spring o 1996 will
serve as a constant reminder to all climbers
around the world of their place on the mountain.
5
Could You
Could you risk your life to save your teammate
that have just met at base camp for the first
time in your life. Would you go out into
temperatures of 30 below zero, after not eating
for a week with frostbite forming on your face
and carry that teammate down on your back from a
five mile high mountain with gusts up to 80 miles
per hour and ice everywhere. You better hope that
your teammates would for you because your own
survival depends upon it.
6
Go Buy ItSeriously

• eBay- http//cgi.ebay.com/Into-Thin-Air-by-Jon-Kr
  akauer-1997_W0QQitemZ330084799134QQihZ014QQcategor
  yZ377QQrdZ1QQcmdZViewItem starting bid .75
• Amazon-

http//www.amazon.com/gp/offer-listing/0679457526/
sr8-2/qid1170734862/refpd_bbs_olp_2/105-2553897
-9415640?ieUTF8sbooks Buy it used-very good
for .39
7
Everest Facts
Everest trip on internet as advertised Guided
Everest Summit Climb with Dave HahnMarch 25 -
May 31, 2007Landcost (2 climbers)
77,500Landcost (3-4 climbers) 71,500Landcost
(5-6 climbers) 66,500 Everest height-29,035
ft 1996 was the record worst year on Everest-98
summitted and 15 died (a ratio of 6½1) Corpses
remaining on Everest-about 120 License cost in
1996 to be allowed to climb Everest from the
Tibetan government (from the book) 70,000 for
up to seven climbers plus 10,000 for each
additional climber Krakauer said in the book
that it got down to -100 F0 while he was on the
mountain