Into Thin Air

Additional Into Thin Air Information

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 affects of oxygen deprivation. As he turned to begin his long, dangerous decent from 29,028 feet, twenty other climbers were still pushing 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, as the storm swept the peek with seventy-knot winds and blinding snow, Krakauer collapsed in his tent, freezing, hallucinating from exhaustion and hypoxia, but safe. The following morning he awakened to learn that six of his companions hadn't made it back to their camp, and were in a desperate struggle for their lives. When the storm finally passed, five of his fellow climbers would be dead, and the sixth so horribly frostbitten that he would have to have his right hand amputated. By the time all expeditions had quit the mountain and departed Nepal, twelve people had perished on the slopes of Everest.

Into Thin Air is the definitive, personal account of the deadliest season in the history of Everest by the acclaimed journalist and author of Eiger Dreams and Into the Wild. On assignment from Outside magazine, Krakauer, an accomplished climber, went to the Himalayas to report the growing commercialization of the planet's highest mountain. Everest has always been a dangerous mountain. From the first British expeditions in the 1920s until 1996, one climber has died for every four who have attained the summit. This shocking death toll has not put a damper on the burgeoning business of guided ascents, however, in which amateur alpinists with alarmingly disparate skills are ushered up the mountain for a $65,000 fee.

To ascend into the thin, frigid air above 26,000 feet--the cruising altitude of a commercial jetliner--is an inherently inrrational act. The environment is unimaginably harsh, the margin for error minuscule. Krakauer examines what it is about Evereest 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 frank eyewitness account of what happened on the roof of the world is a singular achievement.

What Customers Say About Into Thin Air:

It put me on the mountain with the author and other climbers. He appeared to be "well read" with a varied background (great food, top shelf beverages, business, and travel to name a few) so I accepted his recommendation (along with his suggestion that I might find "The Perfect Storm" equally enjoyable). I bought the book on the recommendation of a drug company executive I was transporting to the airport. I seemed to experience the cold, the hunger, the primitive conditions, and most of all, the danger. I enjoy non-fiction and this book is pure adventure although it oozes the personal torment of the author as he attempts to deal with not only nature, but the loss of companions. Sometimes he over does the descriptions and he might send you hustling for the nearest dictionary but I found it exciting. In my youth, I could have handled the ascent but now, I have to settle for a well-told documentary of an adventure that should be a part of a lot of people's fantasy. A beneficial, side affect might be to keep the average person off the mountain.

This book was recommended by my son and I read it and gained a whole new insight into mountain climbing. Wow, What an ordeal. If my son ever considers it, I will lock him up, tie him up, sit on him, or whatever it takes to keep him off a mountain like that. I have great respect for the author and the impact his experience had on his life and many others.

I can't explain it, but Mt. Reading `Into Thin Air' was like being on a flight from say. Everest has always been a subject of awe and fascination for me. Akron, Ohio to New York, flying at a cruising altitude of say 29,028 ft., to look out the window and see someone standing out on a cloud, smiling and waving looking eye-level back at me. --- Picture my expression as I read. And anyone who has a deep passion for climbing, or who craves an amazing adventure, or seeks a better understanding the gripping allure these mountains hold, and why climbers are drawn to them will appreciate this account too. The only misgivings reading `Into Thin Air' was that in effort to show this great mountain in all of its grandeur & magnificence, its death-gripping power had to be explored.Without doubt, a tremendous read.

Krakauer grabs your inner advemturer's spirit on page one and doesn't let go. Well written and very descriptive, the author makes you feel what climbing Everest is really like, from the brain haze of high altitude to the bone chilling cold, its all there.

A friend loaned me this book and I couldn't put it down. It captures you from beginning to end, even though I had read what had happened at Everest during that year's expeditions.