ipl-logo

Into Thin Air Essay

607 Words3 Pages

Mount Everest is the highest mountain in the world. Knowing that any person in the world can climb Mount Everest is amazing. In the novel Into Thin Air written by Jon Krakauer, climbers climb to the highest point of the world. Some everyday people like Jon Krakauer, who is an author hired to write an article about Mount Everest for an adventure magazine and Doug Hansen who is a postal worker climbing Mount Everest for the second time. It is unfortunate what happened to the people that died when descending from the summit. However, no one is responsible for those deaths, it was an unexpected storm that killed them. Ultimately a person is not responsible for another person 's action. I believe once a person is near death self-preservation will …show more content…

Many things could go wrong climbing the highest mountain in the world with an elevation of 29,029 ft. 12 people died climbing Mount Everest. No is responsible for those death. The climbers had chosen to climb the mountain. In the novel it states, “Hall was charging $65,000 a head to guide clients to the top of the world” (Krakauer 35). This shows that a person is willing to pay to go through so much pain, risk and sickness to summit the top of the world. None of these people were forced to climb the mountain, especially Hansen climbing the mountain his second time. There was a specific rule that the turnaround time was at 2 pm, no matter where you are on the mountain you go back to camp, that was the rule. Hansen should have started to turn back to camp, but since he wasn 't able to reach the summit his first time he didn 't want to go back down again. So he kept on going past the turnaround time. This leads Hansen to make a serious mistake pushing for the summit despite it being way later than the agreed upon turnaround time. In the novel Hansen says, “I want to get this thing done and out of my life” (Krakauer 293). Hansen didn 't want to climb Mount Everest for a third time since he was starting to get to old. This shows Hansen didn’t care about the turnaround time, he cared most about reaching the summit. Ultimately, no one is responsible for Hansen’s

Show More
Related
521 Words | 3 Pages

Hall held the lives of all his clients in his hands, and he intended to help them descend safely. He set a turn-around time to begin to descending down Everest to assure his clients had enough supplemental oxygen and stamina to continue. That turn-around time came and went, Hall never putting it into effect. There are many factors that could have contributed to Hall abandoning his fool-proof plan. Months prior, Rob Hall had convinced Doug Hansen to give Mt. Everest a second shot, as he didn’t make it to the summit last time.

Read More
513 Words | 3 Pages

Many of them are inexperienced and would undoubtedly never make it to the top without a guide. The one unifying characteristic shared by all of the climbers is that they have money—enough to shell out $65,000 a piece for their shot at the top. Krakauer spends long chapters giving his best, most educated guesses about why climbers made certain decisions, and what happened to the people who disappeared. This is an exercise that must result in major frustration, as no one can be entirely sure what took place. Many mistakes later, Krakauer manages to piece together an outline of what happened to whom and when during the climb, but the questions he struggles with in almost every situation are "why" and "how".

Read More
1031 Words | 5 Pages

As the author writes, it comes clear to the reader of how much completing this climb means to him and how determined he is to go through with it and conquer the climb, but he also shows his excitement throughout the journey. “Wind and horizontal snow takedown our suits and covered us with a layer of ice,” one example stated by Weihenmayer that the climb was very difficult, but the team had to push through with determination. Throughout the story, Weihenmayer explains every tough situation of the climb, like this one, that he had to struggle to overcome. He continues to push through to complete the climb because of his determination and with every obstacle conquered his excitement is visible. As Weihenmayer stated, ‘“We’re on the top.

Read More
759 Words | 4 Pages

I think that jon Krakauer is wrong to just bring Lopsang into this writing of his and didn't ask lopsang about this because it could be just make him look horrible and no one wants that feeling. He also was just trying to survive as Jon Krakauer did say in his movie at 8000 meters its every climber for themselves and Jon Krakauer could have helped Beck Weathers down the hill so he wouldn't have needed to remove his nose instead he let Mike Groom take him down the mountain and got stuck. Jon was also the first one up and no one followed head boss Rob Hall's instructions to turn around by 2:00 the only one was Krakauer and he could have helped others turn around by then and he didn't help so it's partially his fault and lopsang helped get down while Jon was in his tent at night while people were dying.

Read More
931 Words | 4 Pages

On top of that, the higher the climbers go, the more they are met with this challenge. The final person vs nature conflict that I found is shown through setting when Peak and his group were struggling with their climb. Peak was always thinking about Zopas guidance when he heard “You can never tell who the mountain will allow and who it will not.” (Smith, 121). This demonstrates a person vs nature type of conflict because the quote proves that the climbers that make it to the summit, make it due to their luck with the weather

Read More
1257 Words | 6 Pages

For people who don’t know anything about Everest or climbing in general, Krakauer dives into the history and technicality of climbing Everest. Only after describing every incident leading up to the summit, Krakauer begins detailing the events and mistakes during the storm that ended up killing thirteen people. The storm leaves Krakauer and many other survivors shaken, the only thing left is to see how the deaths on Everest end up affecting friends and family. There is no real ending to this book, it was only meant to purge Krakauer of the guilt and shame Everest left him with. The only resolution is for Krakauer getting as accurate of an account of the event as he could

Read More
667 Words | 3 Pages

For the next two decades Krakauer spent his time climbing mountains. In the year 1996 Krakauer climbed Mt. Everest, this was a harsh journey for Krakauer and the rest of the crew. This is due to a storm that would lead to the death of some of the climbers. When Krakauer climbed Everest he was inexperienced. Before Everest “Krakauer had not even been to an altitude as high as the Everest Base Camp” (Shmoop Editorial Team. "

Read More
847 Words | 4 Pages

Krakauer explains how following the discovery of Everest as the highest mountain in the world, the journey to the top would take the lives of 24 men, the efforts of 15 expeditions and the passage of 101 years before someone would finally reach the summit. This demonstrates how all though the expedition to the top was not easy, and would require the lives of many men, people would not stop trying because that is human nature. Not all people climb Mt. Everest in their lifetime, but most people, if not all, work hard to achieve something or be successful. Whether that success may be in their professional life, their personal life, or anything else, Mt. Everest can symbolize all of it. It symbolizes a journey to success and relates to the theme of humans natural drive and passion to pursue what they want.

Read More
1399 Words | 6 Pages

It is also stunningly beautiful from its glistening ice to its crystal clear air. The mountain is beautiful, a beautiful beast that is. Mount Everest has taken the lives of over 280 people in its recorded history and claims several lives each year. Everything is deadly on this mountain from the subzero temperatures to the high altitudes. The novel Into Thin Air by Jon Krakauer describes one of the worst disasters in the mountains recent history.

Read More
864 Words | 4 Pages

Once they hit summit and were at the top of the mountain, some of the groups caught in the end by the storm. Sadly, Hansen, Hall and Fischer were left stranded. Hansen ran out of oxygen, and Fischer was found dead. Some groups were saved, but others were presumed dead. Krakauer survived and achieved the task of climbing the mountain that most people would not or could not do.

Read More
1229 Words | 5 Pages

In the short story “Top Man” by James Ramsey Ullman a group of climbers were ascending up the tallest mountain; Kalpurtha. No one had ever reached the top. The protagonist, Osborn was not a cautious person; he just wanted to make it to the top. He did not care about others; he did what was best for him and not for the group. He was selfish.

Read More
984 Words | 4 Pages

The top of Mount Everest. Seen by many as an outstanding achievement of human perseverance, courage, and strength. However, the reality of reaching the 29,032 foot summit is a much harsher and less rewarding experience in the grand scheme of a person's lifetime. Nowhere is this made clearer than in the novel “Into Thin Air” written by journalist Jon Krakauer. He argues that his story and others should be told in the most thorough and accurate manner as to showcase the very real and dehumanizing reality that climbing this gargantuan mountain entails.

Read More
1979 Words | 8 Pages

Over the following decades, Mount Everest has been seen as an opportunity for commercialization. You can now pay thousands of dollars for an experienced climber to guide you up the mountain, along with Sherpas to help you carry your things. This has become such a norm that people have lost sight of the real reason they climb the mountain.

Read More
692 Words | 3 Pages

This is because, in the end, the two guides were not careful or safe, each for their own reasons. “Likewise since he had failed to get anybody to the top in 1995, it would have been bad for Hall’s business if he failed again in 1996-- especially if Fisher succeeded(285).” This is Hall’s reason for pushing forward, the fact that it would be bad for his business if he didn’t keep on pushing forward, especially since he “was charging $65,000 a head to guide clients to the top of the world(37).” Fisher's reason was that “Fisher had never guided Everest before 1996. From a business standpoint, there was a lot of pressure on him to be successful(285).”

Read More
701 Words | 3 Pages

The government tried to help the mountain climbers by sending helicopters on the mountain and look for survivors. Sadly, the helicopter is only limited to a certain height. Although people know the danger of the Annapurna massif, it is that danger that will keep people climbing the mountain. It is the challenge that makes them

Read More

More about Into Thin Air Essay

Open Document