Into Thin Air written by Jon Krakauer The slivers of ice cut through the air and bite at his face as he ascends into the dead zone of Mt Everest. The tips of his fingers have already succumbed to the inevitable frostbite, but his thoughts are devoted instead on the crucial juncture of his climb to the summit and the rapidly depleting supply of his supplemental air. He may live to see the summit and his family’s face once again or he may perish in his plight of strength. However, the impending storm might make the decision for him. Everest is a test to all who climb her, and I marvel at those who chose to. But I would much rather read a book about it while sipping earl grey tea than to challenge the top of the world myself. Luckily there exists a book that can guide me up the mountain better than any Sherpa. Into Thin Air, a non-fiction book, is Jon Krakauer’s personal account of the 1996 Everest disaster. It’s not often that I read nonfiction, but the gripping tale of Krakauer’s time on the Everest and the trials that his companions faced proved to be a tale worth reading. To climb Everest is no easy thing and upon completion of the book I had become painfully aware of this fact. In truth I have been so turned off to the idea of climbing that I can only stutter, “Why?” to those who do. For many climbers it is merely the existence of a summit that provokes them scale it. Krakauer was drawn to the mountain and his job requesting he do an article on it was more of an excuse than a reason to go. Thankfully his writing background helped in making Into Thin Air extremely comprehensive and successful in explaining climbing terminology. Since he was both a experienced climber and a journalist, Into Thin Air contains the mechanics and dangers of climbing a mountain, a history of Everest, and also interviews with other climbers after-the-fact for a holistic account of the 1996 climb. I thought it would be the tragedy of 1996 that would hook me into the book, but that was only a part of a bigger appeal. In reaching the summit one doesn’t just climb until they reach the top. There is a process of acclimatization, climbing up and down between camps in order to adjust to the altitude. It takes months of training and weeks on the mountain to attune your body to the atmosphere. It’s a whole new level of fitness, and one I don’t care to reach. But on the mountain even the most apt individual will find their body weakened considerably. The suffering that comes with the climb is so extreme that I could feel my feet going numb as I imagined the frostbite that befell so many of these adventurers. However, it was after my marathon reading session that I realized the numbness was due to sitting cross-legged with a book for too long and not sympathy frostbite. The historic storm of 1996 and its casualties headline the expense of Everest, but every climber must spend and lose in some way or another. Their breathless climb as recorded in this book will astound you as you read and, in my case, be forever grateful for living at sea level.
