I recently had the opportunity to attend the Banff mountain film festival in Canada. One of the prominent speakers was Simone Moro, a close friend of Anatoli Boukreev. Boukreev was a climber who unfortunately lost his life in an avalanche on Annapurna several years ago. Krakauer, in his book, has been quite critical of Boukreev, alleging that he didn't do enough to save the lives of those caught in the blizzard on Mount Everest in May 1996. Needless to say, whenever the topic of Krakauer's version of events came up, the atmosphere in the room turned chilly. He was accused of slander, and some even claimed that he himself didn't do much to save the lives of those in danger during the Everest disaster.

However, as a reader of climbing nonfiction, I firmly support Krakauer. I have always found his account of the Everest disaster to be deeply moving and thought-provoking. Just like Joe Simpson's books, "Into Thin Air" reveals Krakauer to be a climber with a conscience. He loves climbing but is brutally honest about the fact that such a perilous sport often places one in the excruciating position of having to make life or death decisions under conditions that make clear thinking almost impossible. The cold, the lack of oxygen, and the enormous strain on the body at that great elevation all contribute to this. While reading, one gets the sense that he is trying to make sense of this crazy sport as he writes, and this book is his process of answering the question: with all the dangers and fatalities associated with climbing Everest, why on earth do people willingly sign up for such a thing?

In the years since I first picked up this book, I have discovered numerous other excellent climbing books in the adventure genre. Nevertheless, Krakauer's work remains one of my all-time favorites. For more accounts of the Everest disaster, one can also refer to Boukreev's "The Climb" and Beck Weather's "Left for Dead". If you enjoy Krakauer's writing, you might also like Nando Parrado's "Miracle in the Andes", a true story of the narrow escape of some members of a Uruguayan rugby team who survived two grueling months in the Andes after their plane crashed on the way home from a game, using any means necessary. Additionally, Joe Simpson's "Touching the Void" is a similarly remarkable tale of a climber who defied the odds and survived after breaking his leg on the side of Siula Grande in Peru. There are also movie versions of both books (titled "Alive" and "Touching the Void", respectively). Moreover, a movie adaptation of one of Krakauer's other wilderness adventure books, "Into The Wild", is set to be released soon.

This book was truly horrifying, sending shivers down my spine. It was also shockingly revealing, a remarkable show of the human heart, its resilience, and bravery.

I will never be able to fathom what it was like to be up on Mount Everest on that fateful and tragic day. However, I do know for certain that each and every individual who was present there bears the scars as a testament to their experience.

Jon Krakauer leaves no stone unturned in this book. He takes us on a journey, starting from the excitement that prevailed at Base Camp, all the way to the horrible dangers posed by altitude sickness. At its very core, this book showcases the incredible strength that humans possess when faced with life-threatening situations and the extraordinary lengths that people are willing to go to in order to save each other.

This is not just a story; it is an unforgettable account that will stay with me forever. It serves as a reminder of the power of the human spirit and the lengths we can go to in the face of adversity.

My 5-star rating is a reflection of both the outstanding quality of the book and my lifelong passion for mountains. I have voraciously consumed all the books and magazine articles I could find in the past, following the adventures of climbers from Cerro Torres to the Eiger or Matterhorn, Trango Towers, Kilimanjaro, or McKinley. However, the Himalayan peaks have always been the jewels in the crown, with their enchanting names that promise adventure and fame to the bold and determined climber: Nanga Parbat, Makalu, Annapurna, Kangchenjunga, Chomolungma, Lhotse, Dhaulagiri, Gasherbrum, Nanda Devi, Nuptse - the ultimate challenges in the attempt to eliminate the white spots from the world maps. Jon Krakauer's account of the 1996 doomed attempt at climbing the highest mountain in the world as part of a commercial expedition is a worthy addition to my mountain-themed bookshelf.

I didn't pick up the book with the intention of uncovering the absolute truth about the events that led to one of the deadliest climbing days at high altitude. I was already aware of the numerous controversies surrounding the publication of his reportage, and I decided to approach the facts presented with caution. This is an eyewitness account of someone who was in the thick of it, directly involved in decisions that had life-and-death implications for the members of the summit teams on that fateful day. It likely contains its fair share of finger-pointing and a self-serving, selective presentation of facts. Another source of interference that I noticed was the fact that the story was commissioned by Krakauer's publishers with a predetermined theme, and I suspect that they had some influence on the final version of the book, especially regarding the dangers of commercial guided expeditions and the false promise of a safe climb to the top for amateurs.

My initial reservations about the book were quickly forgotten as I became completely immersed in the day-to-day grind of preparing for the crucial moments in the "death zone" - acclimatization ascents, the health hazards at base camp and above, the complex interplay between the members of the team and between different expeditions. Krakauer makes excellent use of these preparation weeks, sketching detailed portraits of the main characters in the drama, familiarizing the reader with them and with the technical aspects of high-altitude climbing, and allowing the later chapters to focus on the unfolding events on the peak and in the aftermath of the devastating tempest that rendered all previous planning and training irrelevant.
Krakauer's training as a journalist is evident in his clear and concise prose, the depth of his research, and the powerful emotional impact of the human-interest stories behind the cold facts that left 9 people dead. One of the things that really drives home to me the unforgiving nature of the Himalayas and the debilitating effect of the lack of oxygen and the physical exhaustion of the climbers is the casual mention of climbers passing by frozen corpses on their way to the summit. These bodies have lain there for decades in some cases, and no one attempts to bring them down to base camp due to the risks involved for the rescuers. The "death zone" at 8000 m above sea level is so named for a reason: humans are not meant to survive there, and the body will simply shut down, regardless of how strong the climber's will is or how good their training.
Krakauer and his teammates are not oblivious to the risks; in fact, they are well aware of them from past ascents and numerous accounts of previous expeditions. The author does an excellent job of exploring the various motivations, including his own, that drive people to put their lives on the line: fame, the allure of adventure, the pride of belonging to an elite group, curiosity, self-fulfillment, commercial interests, the desire to escape the monotony of a life without real challenges, and so on. He also provides a vivid description of what a high-altitude climb actually feels like: you have no time to admire the scenery or ponder the deeper meaning of existence and fulfilled dreams. Instead, you are too busy gasping for thin air, taking three breaths for every step forward, too exhausted after three sleepless nights and weeks without proper food. Your brain slows down due to the lack of oxygen, and your eyes are blinded by the snow and ultraviolet light. Every hour spent in the "death zone" increases the risk of never leaving it alive. As Rob Hall, the most famous guide on the mountain in 1996, put it: "With enough determination, any bloody idiot can get up this hill. The trick is to get back down alive."
Jon Krakauer may be subjective in what he includes in his account, but he convinced me as a reader that he was truly there on top of the world, and that he survived to bring back a warning about overestimating one's abilities, disrespecting the mountain, and taking unnecessary risks with people's lives. His lesson about excessive commercial interests and the lack of coordination between different teams has unfortunately not been fully learned: just as I was in the middle of reading the book, I saw a news item that on 21 May 2012, 4 more people died on Everest, not due to accidents, but from exhaustion. Apparently, 150 people attempted to climb the summit on the same day, causing a traffic jam on the most dangerous part of the climb.
I will conclude my report with a quote from when Jon first saw the peak on the trail to base camp: "The summit looked so cold, so high, so impossibly far away. I felt as though I might as well be on an expedition to the moon. As I turned away to continue walking up the trail, my emotions oscillated between nervous anticipation and a nearly overwhelming sense of dread."

Read within the span of 10 hours. This is not a hard read, well, if you take out the subject matter.

I picked this up because 'Into the Wild' has been out or on hold for months at the library so I thought I'd at least get a feel for Jon Krakauer's writing style.

I also have to admit that it wasn't the writing style that sold me, not that it isn't well done. Usually, I'm not drawn to 'personal accounts' or non-fiction in general, unless it's a subject that really fascinates me. I'm an escapist, and sometimes the reality seeps in and rattles me in ways I'd rather not experience.

This is very much like rubbernecking. I knew there's no happy ending to this tale, yet I was riveted and sickened throughout.

I wasn't so much interested in the feat of the climb or the determination of the climbers, but more in their never-ending egos and downright obsession. Their fanatical need to conquer. The fact that these people spend over $65,000 to subject themselves to hypoxia, frostbite, and possible cerebral edemas makes me shake my head and ask 'what the fuck?'

Krakauer states in the first chapter that once reaching the summit, a sheet of ice at 29,028 feet above sea level, he couldn't summon the energy to care. He spent less than 5 minutes on the 'roof of the world' with no spiritual awakening to speak of.

What makes people do this? What drives them to become so consumed with the thought of scaling a mountain that has killed 1 in 4 climbers since the first summit was reached in 1953?

Because it's there.

Which, on its own, I can sort of understand. But to get there and not feel euphoria? That's where I'm lost. This passage, in particular, floored me:

"People who don't climb mountains...tend to assume that the sport is a reckless Dionysian pursuit of ever escalating thrills.... The ratio of misery to pleasure was greater by an order of magnitude than any other mountains I'd been on. I quickly came to understand that climbing Everest was primarily about enduring pain."

The fact that the drive to reach the summit had climbers walking over the corpses of their peers is also mind-numbing. To think that some of these climbers were so single-minded that they would assess a fellow climber, make the instantaneous decision that they would be nothing more than baggage and refuse to help them makes me think of the survival of the fittest mentality that makes my stomach curl.

This is a freakin' Darwinian rat race.

I need to research this further. The IMAX film has been Netflixed, and I'm adding the K2 disaster and other stories to my reading list. What a fun summer this will be.

We've got the big E figured out, we've got it totally wired. These days, I'm telling you, we've built a yellow-brick-road to the summit. -Scott Fischer, of Mountain Madness

I don't start off with that quote to be flippant or disrespectful to the dead, but to show that even an experienced guide like Fischer, whose life was dedicated to mountains and mountaineering, could tragically underestimate Everest. A lot had changed since 1924, when Mallory and Irvine were last seen on the peak. In the mid-90s, Krakauer was asked by Outside magazine to write about the commercialization of Everest. But as a climber himself, he couldn't resist attempting the climb.

Krakauer joined an expedition led by Rob Hall's Adventure Consultants, along with Fischer's group and others. The opportunity to pay up to 70K for a guided climb wasn't available in the 20s. The alpinists Krakauer describes remind me of runners, with their talk of summits and achievements. Krakauer's book is impressive for its narrative balance, use of pace, and economy of language. It became a bestseller, even being assigned as summer reading in my high school.

Krakauer does a great job of balancing the narrative, including character sketches, previous expeditions, the effects of altitude, and the superstition surrounding the mountain. Everest is a dangerous place, as Krakauer quickly learned. Base Camp, at 17,600 feet, is far from a pleasant place. The climb is a harrowing tale, like a horror movie where the characters are picked off by the elements. Trying to climb Everest is madness, but as Krakauer puts it, there are many reasons not to go, yet people do anyway. One of the most haunting anecdotes is of the Thai expedition leader who yelled "Victory!" despite his frostbite and the loss of a team member.

I was dismayed by the use of the word "idiocy" in the most-liked review. Madness seems more appropriate. Krakauer gives the impression that all kinds of people climb Everest, and while there are some jerks, there are also many with a serious purpose. Take John Taske, for example. He was a colonel in the Special Air Service who found climbing provided the challenge and camaraderie he was missing in civilian life. That's not idiocy to me.

***NO SPOILERS***

May 10, 1996 was an extremely disastrous day for those attempting to climb to “the roof of the world.” On that fateful day, journalist and passionate mountain climber Jon Krakauer, as part of a guided expedition, reached the summit of Mt. Everest. He was on assignment for “Outside” magazine and was among the few in his group to survive this expedition after a brutal storm suddenly struck. Into Thin Air is not only a detailed account of this tragedy but also a personal catharsis for Krakauer: “ . . . what happened on the mountain was gnawing my guts out. I thought that writing the book might purge Everest from my life.”

For those with little to no knowledge about climbing Mt. Everest (or mountain climbing in general), Into Thin Air is an excellent starting point. Krakauer covers a wide range of topics and is a highly organized writer who doesn't overlook the details necessary to bring the reality of high-altitude climbing to life. It's a rather grim picture, at best: Mt. Everest climbers are bound to encounter numerous corpses on their journey to the summit (there are now over 235 on the mountain); they must cross crevasses via metal ladders; and they'll struggle for breath more and more as they climb higher. The harshest reality? One in ten dies. This climb could be the ultimate adventure or a painful death. Krakauer presents all this in a highly engaging and vivid manner. At no point does it feel dry, and even for those who aren't outdoor enthusiasts, Into Thin Air will prove captivating.

Krakauer makes it clear early on how crucial proper acclimatization is. No climber simply arrives at the base of the mountain and starts climbing. Climbing is done in a series of organized phases, with climbers ascending to and resting for a few days at a series of five camps located at increasing altitudes on the mountain.

He also devotes a great deal of attention to the growing commercialization of climbing Mt. Everest, which is fascinating to read about. This awe-inspiring mountain may be a natural wonder, but access to it comes at a high price. Anyone who wishes to climb it must pay tens of thousands of dollars, and most do so as part of guided expeditions.

Although Krakauer is a journalist, his style is never cold or detached. Interspersed among the climbing facts and detailed portraits of the other climbers on the mountain are his own reflections, fears, and personal confessions. Several times he questions whether he is being snobbish in his judgments of the others in his group; he describes debilitating, altitude-induced headaches so severe that even moving his eyes hurts; and he battles with survivor's guilt after so many of his new friends meet a gruesome end. At one point, while thinking about a missing friend he searched for in vain for an hour: “I fell to my knees with dry heaves, retching over and over as the icy wind blasted against my back.”

Krakauer is so honest and unafraid to share his lowest moments and the guilt that consumes him that I also feel his pain. There's no way not to empathize with him. To my amazement, some critics have labeled Krakauer as “cowardly” and “selfish.” I can only wonder how they would have behaved in the same horrific circumstances.

On the surface, Into Thin Air is a story about mountain climbing and tragedy, but at its core, it's an emotional survival story. It has a universal appeal. All lovers of nonfiction, whether outdoorsy or not, will want to read this.

One of the darkest moments in the history of Mt. Everest climbing occurred, and writer Jon Krakauer was there to document it.

Overconfidence, ego, greed, and competition, combined with bad weather, all came together in the worst possible way.

For tens of thousands of dollars, any individual can attempt to ascend to the top of Everest. However, you'll be nearly dead when you get there, if you manage to reach the summit at all.

If you're fortunate enough to reach the top with all your body parts intact, you'll only spend 5 minutes at the summit before starting your descent.

If your guide tells you to turn around just 30 or 40 feet from the summit, you must do so without question, regardless of your ability or the cost you've incurred.

This account is thrilling, gripping, maddening, and well-told. If you loved "Into the Wild," you're sure to love this one too. It offers a vivid and harrowing look at the perils and challenges of climbing the world's highest peak.

I really enjoyed this audiobook, although it's a bit strange to say you enjoy a story about people dying on a hillside. But it was truly an interesting listen from beginning to end.

It started by providing a history of those who attempted to conquer the tiny Himalayan hill, leading up to the ill-fated season of '96. That year saw a significant number of climbers, both clients and guides, lose their lives, making it the worst season in terms of deaths.

I simply couldn't fathom trying to do what these brave individuals do. It's truly epic. Just the thought of going through the intense acclimatisation period alone sounds absurd. And then, to reach the summit, they have to pass through the death zone, where their bodies are literally dying while they are at the same altitude as a Boeing 747, hoping for a bit of good weather luck so they don't end up dying and becoming a grim warning to others who are foolish enough to attempt the climb. These people are crazy, but I also admire their determination to be on top of the world and endure all of this.

The story is presented really well here, giving you snippets of information along the way about the history of the climbers and their reasons for being there. It details all the trials and tribulations they face in their attempt to reach the top, as well as other issues that occur throughout the season. Everything is interesting, and even though you know the outcome, it's still exciting.

The audiobook is well narrated, without being overly dramatic. The material itself is so engaging that not much needs to be added to create intrigue. The narrator does some accents, and the results are somewhat variable.

I enjoyed this audiobook so much that I'm actually interested in reading or listening to other similar style books and also more by the author. There is another book that tells the same incident from a different perspective, and I'm eager to give that a try. I would highly recommend this to anyone with even a slight interest in climbing, as it offers so much more than just a climbing story.

My overall take is that for a significant number of people aiming to climb Mt. Everest, ambition often overshadows experience. It is truly astonishing to discover just how many individuals arrive at the base camp with little or no experience, inadequately provisioned, or lacking proper attire. One person even mentions that they are wearing brand new, unbroken-in boots and admits that this is not a wise choice.

According to Jon Krakauer, the majority of climbers are in search of "a state of grace" rather than mere fame, money, or simply seeking thrills.

Krakauer's wife, Linda, accepts that climbing is a "crucial, albeit perplexing part of his life." Linda herself doesn't climb. After falling and breaking her arm and injuring her back, she has given up climbing.

One aspect that has always struck me is the lack of color and the general bleakness of the surroundings as one climbs higher on Everest. I had not really considered how the conditions of the camps contribute to this bleakness. However, Krakauer vividly describes the squalor of the camp, where the only thing to read is the nutrition labels on canned goods.

The weight restrictions for their Everest expedition are so strict that climbers are unable to include books, magazines, or other reading materials, which could add both color and diversion during downtimes. I simply can't imagine being without a book. Indeed, Krakauer writes, "there is nothing to look at but the bleak confusion inside the tent and the scaly bearded countenance of one's companion."

Another thing I learned is that the effects of high altitude and exhaustion cause climbers to be inattentive to safety precautions. Regarding the impact of high altitude on the brain, Krakauer writes, "one's intellect becomes dull and unresponsive."

Additionally, I was surprised by the queue of climbers waiting to descend a sheer cliff face. I had never imagined that such a wild place could be so crowded.

Later, Krakauer discovers that "our mess tent [...] had been transformed into a field hospital." Sherpas bring in the Taiwanese climber Makalu Gau, and the doctors begin "examining his frozen hands and feet, which had a dull whitish sheen like a dirty bathroom sink." They exclaim that it is the worst case of frostbite they have ever seen.

When asked by one of the doctors if he can photograph Gau's severely injured hands and feet, "the Taiwanese climber consented with a broad smile; like a soldier displaying battle wounds, he seemed almost proud of his gruesome injuries." He will later undergo surgery to remove fingers and reconstruct his nose.

In conclusion, "Climbing mountains will never be a safe, predictable, rule-bound enterprise. This is an activity that idealizes risk-taking. The sport's most celebrated figures have always been those who take the greatest risks and manage to succeed." While I may appreciate their drive and ambition, I cannot relate to the risk-taking aspect.

I truly have a strange feeling when it comes to rating this.

The reason is that it is a personal account of an extremely tragic event. However, to be honest, this book really didn't have much impact on me.

It's not that it was a bad book per se. The writing might have been fine, and the story was based on a real and sad incident. But for some reason, it just didn't click with me.

Maybe it was because I couldn't fully connect with the author's emotions or the way the events were presented.

Or perhaps it was because my own experiences and perspectives were so different that I couldn't truly understand the significance of what was being described.

In any case, while I respect the author's courage in sharing this story, it simply wasn't the right book for me.

Though I understand that this might have some flaws, as it is told from one man's perspective.

However, I still thought this was an extremely harrowing account. It had a certain allure that made it fascinating to read.

The way it was written was truly remarkable. The author managed to convey the emotions and details in a way that kept me engaged from start to finish.

I really don't know how it could've been done any better. It seemed to capture the essence of the story perfectly, despite its limitations.

Overall, I was very impressed with this piece and would highly recommend it to others who are interested in such captivating tales.

The beginning of this book was extremely slow and encumbered by numerous stories and in-depth research about Mount Everest.

Although I initially found these details interesting, they continuously pulled me away from Kraukauer's actual journey to the summit and the impending tragedy.

However, once I reached approximately the halfway point of the book, where they were making an attempt at the summit, I became completely engrossed.

I devoured those pages and managed to read half of the book in a single night.

I read the Book of the Month edition, which included a postscript written by Kraukauer in 1999 about The Climb.

This was yet another account by a guide on the mountain during the same tragic incident.

Kraukauer's perspective was not only well-researched but also deeply tragic and traumatic.

I am intrigued to explore the other perspective on what exactly happened, but I am extremely glad that I finally got around to reading this book!

It has been a captivating and thought-provoking experience.