Mount Everest: 29,028 Feet

When Jon Krakauer reached the summit of Mt. Everest in the early afternoon of May 10, 1996, he hadn't slept in fifty seven hours and was reeling from the brain-altering affects of oxygen depletion. As he turned to begin his long, dangerous descent from 29,028 feet, twenty other climbers were still pushing doggedly toward the top. No one had noticed that the sky had begun to fill with clouds. Six hours later and 3,000 feet lower, as the storm swept the peak with seventy knot winds and blinding snow, Krakauer collapsed in his tent, freezing, hallucinating from exhaustion and hypoxia, but safe. The following morning he awakened to learn that six of his companions hadn't made it back to their camp, and were in a desperate struggle for their lives. When the storm finally passed, five of his fellow climbers would be dead, and the sixth was so horribly frostbitten that he would have both of his hands and nose amputated after a dangerous helicopter rescue at 20,000 feet. By the time all expeditions had quit the mountain and departed Nepal, twelve people had perished on the slopes of Everest.
INTO THIN AIR is the definitive, personal account of the deadliest season in the history of Everest by John Krakauer. On assignment for OUTSIDE magazine, Krakauer, an accomplished climber, went to the Himalayas to report on the growing commercialization of the planet's highest mountain. Everest has always been a dangerous mountain. From the first British expedition in the 1920's until 1996, one climber has died for every four who have attained the summit. This death toll has not put a damper on the burgeoning business of guided ascents, however, in which amateur alpinists with disparate skills are ushered up the mountain for a $65,000 fee.
To ascend into the thin, frigid air above 26,000 feet--the cruising altitude of a commercial jetliner--is an inherently irrational act. The environment is unimaginably harsh, the margin for error is miniscule. Krakauer examines what it is about Everest that has compelled so many people--including himself--to throw caution to the wind, ignore the concerns of loved ones, and willingly subject themselves to such risk, hardship, and expense. Written with emotional clarity and supported by his unimpeachable reporting, Krakauer's frank eyewitness account of what happened on the roof of the world is a singular achievement. I recommend reading this book from Villard Press.

I also recommend the IMAX movie about Everest.

Other Recommended Books

A Picture of Huangshan
The Himalayas from Space
A Picture of The Himalayas
A Picture Mount Everest
A Picture of Mount Everest
A Picture of Mount Everest
The top of Everest is near
A Large Picture of Everest
A Large Picture of Everest
A large picture of a Snow Leopard.
A Picture of a Snow Leopard.
A Picture of A Himalayan Blue Sheep.
Another Picture of a Snow Leopard.
A Snow Leopard in a Clearing.

Mount Everest Links

Outside Magazines Archive of Everest Stories, including John Krakauer's original article

Sean's Everest Page. Also has a Mailing list you can join and join an Everest discussion.

Jochen's Homepage. Archives of Everest Information. Jochen knows a lot about Mount Everest and is kind enough to help anyone seeking information about this mountain.

Everest Home Page

New Site, Mount Everest Net, discussion and info.

THE MOUNTAIN ZONE: A very nice mountain sports site. Everest stories, all mountain sports.

Mt. Everest Information (mteverest.com)

Everest News and Information Site, with Discussion Group.

The Mountain Zone Links to Everest Coverage.

The Himalayan Explorer's Club.

A History of the Climbing of Mount Everest.

Himalayan Rescue Association Home Page.

Other Everest and Himalayan Links.

The National Geographic Everest Site.

Climbing Magazine

Rock and Ice Magazine

On cloud-trails, I go, Alone, with the chatting porters, there is a crow.

"We felt the lonely beauty of the evening. The immense roaring silence of the wind, the tenuousness of our tie to all below. There was a hint of fear, not for our lives, but of a vast unknown which pressed upon us. A fleeting disappointment--that after all those dreams and questions this was only a mountaintop--gave way to suspicion that maybe there was something more, something beyond the three dimensional form of the moment. If only it could be perceived.--Thomas F. Hornbein. EVEREST: THE WEST RIDGE

"I appreciate why I come to the mountains: not to conquer them but to immerse myself in their incomprehensible immensity — so much bigger than us; to better comprehend humility and patience balanced in harmony, with the desire to push hard; to share what the hills offer, and to share it in the long-term with good friends and ultimately with my own sons..." --Alex Lowe, Sunday, October 3, 1999 from Shishapangma, Chinese Tibet.

When asked by a journalist why he wanted to climb Mount Everest, George Mallory replied, "Because it is there." ANOTHER ANSWER: "Why climb Everest?" was a question posed rhetorically in Mallory's American lecture tours, and the response, given to Harvard undergraduates in 1923, was: "For the stone from the top for geologists, the knowledge of the limits of endurance for the doctors, but above all for the spirit of adventure to keep alive the soul of man."

Upon being the first person to summit and descend from Mount Everest successfully with Tenzing Norgay on May 23, 1953, Sir Edmund Hillary told his expedition mate, George Lowe, "Well George, we knocked the bastard off."

"Have we vanquished an enemy? None but ourselves. Have we gained success? That word means nothing here."--George Mallory, 1918 Alpine Journal.

MU

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