Article archive / December 1, 2014
Originally published: . Volume 5, No. 16. Source pages: 12.
I love books that open the door to understanding how human beings get into and react to situations that are unusual. Into Thin Air by Jon Krakauer is the story of his trip to climb Mount Everest. Turned out to be the deadliest season ever on the mountain. Krakauer went to write an article for Outside magazine.
Climbing takes the climber to a world full of danger and unpredictable events, and requires decisions that are a matter of life and death. By the time you make an attempt at the top (in what is called the death zone) you are usually sick and sleep deprived. On Krakauer’s trip a storm came up long before everyone on line had gone up. The most challenging part of an expedition on Everest is getting down. What a nightmare. Bodies cannot be evacuated from the top of the mountain so part of your experience is passing the dead bodies as you climb.
How do human beings cope with such dangerous and difficult circumstances? No one better to tell you than Krakauer. He is a superb writer and a fine observer.
This article is part of a historical newspaper archive. Read the original issue for its original layout, photographs and graphics.