On January 5 Books on Tap met to discuss Into Thin Air: A Personal Account of the Mount Everest Disaster by Jon Krakauer. 

Born in 1954, Krakauer is an American author and mountaineer. He was hired by Outside magazine to climb Everest in May 1996 with respected high-altitude guide, John Hall. Krakauer chronicled that fateful expedition and the horrible tragedy that left a total of 12 climbers dead.  

Given the number of times people said something similar to “I can’t imagine what drives someone to want to do this,” perhaps a better quote would be:

“Everest has always been a magnet for kooks, publicity seekers, hopeless romantics and others with a shaky hold on reality.”

As some pointed out, even the best climbers could die. But someone else noted that everybody has their own tolerance of risk, and these climbers know what they are getting into.  At least one reader found the varying levels of skill troubling. Even with highly skilled guides, throwing those who are unprepared into the group affected everyone. 

Many commented on the impact of the high altitude and the oxygen deprivation. Even highly-skilled guides, when oxygen deprived, were unable to make good decisions. Some found it sad that in the effort to reach the summit, climbers were littering the mountain with oxygen bottles until someone began to pay for the bottles to be carried back down. 

The journalistic style of the writing made the book readable.  But there was discussion of whether this was a cautionary tale or exploitative. Krakauer wrote the book as a catharsis a very short time after the events took place. Readers thought it was clear that he suffered from survivor’s guilt. He felt it was an important story to be told. Readers identified themes of personal responsibility, teamwork, lack of communication, and ambition, even hubris that prevented individuals from cooperating.

Krakauer’s depiction of Guide Anatoli Boukreev caused friction between the two. Boukreev did not feel that he was portrayed fairly in the book. Some noted that he was paid a lot of money for his role as a guide but did not behave in the way other guides did. He did not use supplementary oxygen when he climbed and was therefore unable to remain at the higher altitude with clients. He had a different cultural background and expectations of what a guide was expected to do. It was pointed out that while he descended from the peak early, he did risk his life and saved two people. 

There was a lot of discussion about factors that contributed to the disaster, from inexperienced climbers to greed, arrogance, and competitiveness.  Inexperienced climbers were accepted because they paid, and because they paid so much money they believed they were entitled to reach the summit no matter what. Different groups competed with each other for the best weather and ignored agreements they’d made, creating bottlenecks that delayed everyone. One reader pointed out that the personality traits of those drawn to climb Everest, like ego, selfishness, and arrogance, are barriers to being a team player, to cooperation. Weather also played a role. When the weather was good, people were able to complete the climb. But the weather is unpredictable and turned deadly in this case. 

Some questioned whether Fisher and Hall were actually good guides because they failed to enforce their own rules. Having a journalist on the expedition provided an opportunity for positive publicity. It put pressure on them to complete the ascent. In their defense, someone pointed out that if they cannot get their group to the summit, who will pay to join their group in the future. 

In closing, some readers proposed that there should be an experience requirement or that the use of oxygen should be banned in an effort to force people to turn around before they get in trouble. But several attendees pointed out that the countries involved would not cooperate with each other and both desperately need the hard currency that Everest expeditions generate. Another pointed out that adrenalin junkies will do it anyway. 

In the end, all agreed that the measure of success is not just getting to the top, but also being able to get down alive. 

Film: Into Thin Air – television movie available on YouTube