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1-Page Summary of Into Thin Air
Overview
Into Thin Air is the true story of a tragic event that happened on Mt. Everest, where many people died in one season due to bad conditions. Jon Krakauer was there as part of an expedition team; he’s an author and amateur climber who wrote about his experience for this book. The story begins with him summiting Mt. Everest, but since he’s too exhausted to care about it, he starts the descent back down the mountain. Soon after starting down the mountain, a storm hits while most of his teammates are still on top of the summit, which leads to 8 deaths and 4 more deaths from other events that same season.
The story starts with the history of Mt. Everest, starting in 1852 when it was first discovered to be the highest mountain. For 101 years after that discovery, climbers tried and failed to reach its summit, many losing their lives in their attempts. In 1953, Sir Edmund Hillary and Tenzing Norgay became the first men to summit Mt. Everest and become celebrities around the world as a result of this accomplishment. Their achievement sparked a new wave of interest about climbing Mt. Everest among amateur climbers who could afford guided expeditions up it at steep prices by professional guides; however, criticism arose about commercialization on what had been previously considered sacred ground for mountaineers only (and even then there were still deaths). This led Jon Krakauer an assignment from Outside magazine to join one such expedition and write about his experience for them; he couldn’t resist because Mount Everest has been a lifelong dream since childhood for him as well as an opportunity to prove himself against some critics who saw him as “not being good enough” or not being fit enough for such climbs due to his asthma condition which sometimes limits his ability during exercise – but he also worries whether he’ll be able to make it all the way up successfully given those limitations (which is why he’s chosen this particular climb specifically – if you don’t make it past Camp 4 before your oxygen runs out you’re going down no matter how much money you’ve spent so far).
In 1996, Jon Krakauer leaves his home in Seattle and travels to Nepal with his team. The leader of the expedition is Rob Hall, a celebrated climber from New Zealand who has an exceptional record for guiding clients up Mt. Everest and charging $65,000 per head for this service. There are seven other clients on their team: Beck Weathers, John Taske, Yasuko Namba, Lou Kasischke, Frank Fishbeck Stuart Hutchinson and Doug Hansen. All of these people are amateur climbers with limited experience but they’re reassured by Hall’s leadership along with Andy Harris who acts as senior guide during the expedition.
The trek begins in the village of Lukla, and the first stretch to Everest Base Camp is easy. As the team hikes through local villages, Krakauer meets Sherpa people who are accustomed to life at high altitudes. They are often hired as expedition guides and porters for foreign climbers on expeditions because of their climbing skills. The group passes by a renowned altitude sickness clinic in Pheriche before arriving in Lobuje Village, which is dirty and crowded. They get sick because they have to wait there for Hall while he helps with a rescue operation higher up on the mountain.
On April 8, the team arrives at Everest Base Camp. There are tents and temporary structures there. Scott Fischer is a member of that group who had been competing with Jon Krakauer to get him on their expedition for publicity purposes. They were eager for his Outside magazine article to be published so it would generate publicity for them. The team began feeling the effects of altitude sickness like fatigue, loss of appetite, and nausea as they prepared for their summit bid by doing short runs to higher altitudes every day while acclimatizing themselves because each camp was 2,000 feet apart from one another in order to reach the top without getting sick or dying since some people die when they try this climb due to not being fully prepared.
