Summary of "Into Thin Air"

 “Into Thin Air” is a true-story about an author named Jon Krakauer and his expedition climbing Mt. Everest. Throughout the climb, Krakauer and his team, featuring the well-known climber Rob Hall, encountered many difficulties they had to work through including illness, weight loss and acclimatization. After being one of the first to reach the summit of Everest on May 10th, 1996, Jon was descending as quickly as possible because he’d run out of supplemental oxygen which exposes him more quickly to hypothermia, disease and hallucination. He reached his tent and passed out into a deep sleep before the storm struck on his other teammates. While others made heroic attempts to save the other climbers in the blizzard, some losing their lives, eight climbers were still lost that day including Rob Hall and another famous climber, Scott Fischer. The rest of his life, Jon has been troubled with survivor’s guilt and decided to go on with his story from his Outside Magazine article, feeling like he had more to say. After extensive research and many interviews with the survivors, he wrote this book in thorough detail to clear up any questions about that fateful trip.

# of Deaths per year on Everest - shows a spike in 1996, the year of Krakauer's expedition

Significance of "Into Thin Air"

I interpreted the title of my book “Into Thin Air” in two different ways.

In one way, you could easily think it signifies that when one climbs Mt. Everest, the air has about one-third the oxygen than there is at sea-level. The air is thinner, with less oxygen, nitrogen, and other gases we breathe at sea-level. Climbers undertake a process called acclimatization to help their bodies grow used to the thinner air and allow them to climb Everest with less risk to their health or possibly their lives. Some climbers believe the best way to climb is to go all natural and not use supplementary oxygen to assist their bodies with better quality air. Many who do this or run out of air on the mountain temporarily lose their minds or even lose their lives. Titling the book “Into Thin Air” could represent the quality of the air at such great heights and the struggle it can pose for climbers and their safety.

A crevasse on Mt. Everest

Do you know the phrase commonly used to describe magicians magic tricks, “it vanished into thin air,” meaning it disappeared without a trace of where it went or where it may be?  In another way, I see “Into Thin Air” as a good representation of some the climbers who die on Mt. Everest. Mt. Everest is a dangerous place that could take your life with the littlest mistake made. Avalanches, crevasses, weather, and rock fall are just the beginning to a long list of hazards that kill climbers, many of which are never to be seen or heard from again. Mt. Everest is unpredictable. In my book, “Into Thin Air,” no one saw the disaster coming or think it would take the lives of expert and amateur climbers alike. In the 1999 season alone, Everest caused twelve casualties. Maybe not all of the bodies of those climbers physically vanished into thin air but spiritually, those people disappeared from the lives of their loved ones in an instant.

Powerful Passage - Conditions Outside Everest Itself

Lobuje - 16,200 feet in elevation

“The three or four stone toilets in the village were literally overflowing with excrement. The latrines were so abhorrent that most people, Nepalese and Westerners alike, evacuated their bowels outside on the open ground, wherever the urge struck. Huge stinking piles of human feces lay everywhere; it was impossible not to walk in it. The river of snowmelt meandering through the center of the settlement was an open sewer. The main room of the lodge where we stayed was furnished with wooden bunk platforms for some thirty people. I found an unoccupied bunk on the upper level, shook as many fleas and lice as possible from the soiled mattress, and spread out my sleeping bag. Against the near wall was a small iron stove that supplied heat by burning dried yak dung.” (pg. 54)

Two toilets in Lobuje overflowing with waste

Man's pillow in Lobuje room covered in
 puke stains from past visitors

I chose this passage to share because it shows the conditions before the climbing of Mt. Everest even begins. The passage is describing a village called Lobuje, a grim collection of tumbledown buildings, filled with Sherpas (climbing expedition helpers) and climbers from various expeditions. Lobuje was the pit stop to reaching Everest base camp, left with a day journey through the valley to the camp. Krakauer, the author, uses great imagery and describes so in depth you are almost transported to the dingy village. I can only imagine the overpowering smell and lack of sanitation. What amazes me is that climbers pay up to $65,000 to be guided to the summit but are put into conditions like that before the journey even begins. Let’s just say most rich men and women aren’t in their element at this moment. I like this passage because I know what would be going through my mind if I were one of the climbers. It would be something along the lines of, “I paid $65,000 for this treatment?!” Many climbers developed illnesses, some serious, at Lobuje. Those who didn't, refused to stay a minute longer than needed.

The Face Behind the Words

I will be reading a book called Into Thin Air by Jon Krakauer. Jon was born on April 12, 1954.  Growing up Corvallis, Oregon, he was introduced to mountaineering at only 8 years old. Jon studied and attained a degree in Environmental Studies from Hampshire College. 

After college, two decades of his life were focused on climbing mountains. He wrote about his climbing experiences in his books Into the Wild and Eiger Dreams.  In 1996, Krakauer climbed Mt. Everest but the trip turned deadly after reaching the summit. Four out of five of Jon’s teammates were lost on the expedition. He wrote about the tragedy in the book I am choosing to read, Into Thin Air, and also in Outside, a magazine.  In tribute to the friends he lost, Krakauer created the Everest ‘96 Memorial Fund at the Boulder Community Foundation with the money he earned from Into Thin Air. The fund has donated $1.7 million to various charities as of 2012. In 1999, Krakauer won an Academy Award in Literature from the American Academy of Art and Letters, honoring him of his exceptional accomplishments. All the proceeds from his later creations were also donated to the Stop Girl Trafficking program at the American Himalayan Foundation.