Yet many little mistakes, which seemed like small items at the time, fed into those larger errors.Įverest sneaks up on you. Q - How did the inherent risks erupt into such huge problems during your climb?Ī - The big and obvious mistakes were: failure to fix ropes ahead of time on the high, steep pitches the "bottlenecking" or traffic jam of climbers that happened at key points and the lack of firm, pre-set turnaround times in order to get down safely. Should that run out - as mine did on a high, knife-edge ridge - it's seriously scary and threatening. Also, you're breathing oxygen from cylinders for life support. The thick, down clothes you wear make you as clumsy as you'd be in a space suit. Your surroundings are quite barren, harsh and austere. Q - Can any analogy help non-climbers grasp what things are like on a peak over 8,000 meters high?Ī - It's like outer space. So when things go well, nothing else in life touches the experience. But for climbers, the scale of rewards correspond to the risks. When things turn out badly, you can't defend it. That can cause people to go crazy and cast prudence to the wind. Q - Are you any closer to understanding what draws climbers to Everest, like moths to a flame?Ī - Since it's the highest, Everest has a mythic pull like no other mountain. Krakauer recently spoke to The Chronicle via telephone: on June 5 (Printers expects a large crowd, so tickets guaranteeing seating are available only with book purchase). Krakauer makes two Bay Area appearances next week: at Book Passages in Corte Madera at 7:30 p.m. Now, the book-length version, "Into Thin Air" ( Villard Press), is hitting bookstores. Outside's editor-in-chief Mark Bryant calls Krakauer's feature story on the 1996 debacle "the most powerful piece this magazine has ever published." It recently won a National Magazine Award for reporting. Adding in this year's casualties, Everest's cumulative toll now nears 150 climbers lost since 1920.
Four more alpinists died shortly thereafter. Eight lost their lives, including Scott Fischer and Rob Hall, two of the more successful guides in the Himalaya. The storm compounded errors made by guides on several teams, and exacerbated a lack of competence in many climbers. But fate crashed down on this scene like a sledgehammer. Many more sought to ascend by various routes. Everest with 23 others who had attained the summit. On May 10, 1996, Jon Krakauer - climber, author and contributing editor to Outside magazine - was on the lofty, icyflanks of 29,028 foot-high Mt.
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