Into Thin Air: An Intimate Look at the Mount Everest Tragedy

Holm Ay: Wer authentische Darstellungen von Abenteuern mag - ob mit oder ohne Drama - wird dieses Buch schwer weglegen können. Krakauer schreibt sorgfältig, reflektiert und lebendig. So macht er das Abenteuer und die Tragödie dieser Everest Besteigung nachvollziehbar.

Germany on Oct 03, 2023

Thomas: Als Bergsteiger und Höhenmediziner fand ich das Buch spannend, fesselnd geschrieben mit guten Hintergrundinformationen. Auch die Stellungnahme des Autos zu den Kritikern anderer fand ich ganz interessant zu lesen. Ich empfehle es weiter

Germany on Sep 30, 2023

Catherine: Gripping read. Book arrived in good condition.

United Kingdom on Sep 29, 2023

Brendan Ryan: "Into Thin Air: A Personal Account of the Everest Disaster" by Jon Krakauer is an awe-inspiring and harrowing memoir that takes readers on a treacherous journey to the top of Mount Everest. Krakauer, a seasoned journalist and mountaineer, provides a firsthand account of the ill-fated 1996 Everest expedition, during which multiple climbers lost their lives in one of the deadliest tragedies in the mountain's history.

Krakauer's writing is masterful, seamlessly blending vivid descriptions of the breathtaking Himalayan landscapes with intimate details of the climbers' experiences. With raw honesty and introspection, he recounts his own motivations, fears, and triumphs, as well as those of his fellow climbers. The narrative is gripping from start to finish, as readers are drawn into the exhilarating but perilous world of high-altitude mountaineering.

What sets "Into Thin Air" apart is Krakauer's commitment to accuracy and transparency. He meticulously reconstructs the events leading up to the disaster, providing readers with a comprehensive understanding of the challenges faced by the climbers. The book serves as a cautionary tale, exploring the complex factors—ranging...

Spain on May 23, 2023

John Jenkins: This book was recommended to me by people who knew that I am a backpacker. If I didn’t know it before reading this book, I quickly realized that there are huge differences between backpacking and mountaineering (not the least of which is cost: $65,000 for permit/guide/sherpa services for one person to climb Everest in 1996 compared to a $15 permit to backpack the John Muir Trail in 2021).

Some reviewers have suggested that the author could have done more to try to save the lives of the nine climbers who died on Everest in May, 1996. The author makes it clear that he will always be haunted by survivor’s guilt – partly because Rob Hall, the leader of his group (Adventure Consultants), took on some risks that he might have resisted without having the journalist along. But he also makes it clear that it took all his physical abilities and his will to survive the descent of Mount Everest. As with most - if not all - of the other members of the expeditions, Mr. Krakauer had no energy left to pursue the missing climbers and he was probably not coherent enough to realize that they were missing.

Mr. Krakauer admits that most of the gear was carried by sherpas, and his...

United States on Jan 26, 2023

Adnan Soysal: This book made me watch tons of videos about climbing Everest, and mountaineering.
Now I love having a very good understanding of the common route to Everest summit used by commercial expeditions, and challenges of mountaineering,
particularly to the mountains higher than 8.000 meters.

The book is a memoir about Everest disaster where five people out of two expedition groups died in May 1996. Author, Jon Krakauer participated in it, and he was one of the survivors.
He was a writer in the magazine Outsider at the time, and participated in the expedition on the request of the magazine. And he is himself a mountaineer also. This just makes the book very informative, and real.
He wrote his essay about the tragedy in the magazine in September 1996.
And it got back the most response from the readers in the entire history of the magazine.
This was due to two reasons I think. First it was a real eye witness story of the disaster, and
second is that his narrative of the events was controversial since each participator has his own version of the disaster.

So, he came across criticism of unfair reporting, even he is accused of being egoist saving himself...

United Kingdom on Aug 06, 2021

Aletheia Knights: Almost twenty years ago, journalist Jon Krakauer joined a guided expedition to the top of Mount Everest, led by accomplished high-altitude climber and guide Rob Hall. Ostensibly on assignment to write a magazine piece on the increasing commercialization of Everest, as outfits like Hall's made it possible for climbers with more disposable income than actual mountaineering experience to have a go at the summit, Krakauer knew this might be his only chance to fulfill his own boyhood dream by standing atop the highest mountain on earth. An enthusiastic climber since childhood - though with no experience whatsoever at very high altitudes - he was one of the most technically proficient clients on Hall's team, and on May 10, 1996, he made it to the summit. On the way back down the mountain, however, Hall's group was one of several expeditions caught up suddenly in a violent snowstorm. Krakauer, farther down the mountain than most of his teammates when the storm hit, made it safely back to the tents before he collapsed in exhaustion. He woke to discover that triumph had given way to terror and tragedy: several guides and clients, including Hall, were still out there in the storm, their...

United States on Sep 29, 2015