Into Thin Air
Into Thin Air: A Personal Account of the Mt. Everest Disaster is a 1997 nonfiction book by American author and mountaineer Jon Krakauer, chronicling his firsthand experience during the deadly 1996 Mount Everest expedition.[1] The narrative centers on the catastrophic storm that struck on May 10, 1996, trapping multiple climbing teams in the "death zone" above 8,000 meters, resulting in the deaths of eight climbers and severe injuries to numerous others.[2] Krakauer, who joined the commercial Adventure Consultants expedition as a client while reporting for Outside magazine, provides a minute-by-minute recounting of the tragedy, blending personal reflections with broader critiques of the commercialization of high-altitude mountaineering.[3] Published by Villard Books on May 1, 1997, the book quickly became a #1 national bestseller and was named a finalist for the 1998 Pulitzer Prize in General Nonfiction.[1] It explores the perilous dynamics of guided ascents on Everest, highlighting the risks posed by inexperienced climbers, logistical failures, and the unforgiving Himalayan weather.[3] Krakauer's account draws from his own struggles with altitude sickness and oxygen deprivation, as well as interviews with survivors, to illustrate the human cost of pursuing the world's highest peak.[4] The disaster involved two primary guiding companies—Adventure Consultants led by Rob Hall and Mountain Madness led by Scott Fischer—whose clients and Sherpas faced a sudden blizzard that disoriented teams near the summit.[2] Among the fatalities were experienced guides like Hall and Fischer, alongside clients such as Yasuko Namba and Doug Hansen, underscoring the unpredictable dangers even for well-prepared groups.[2] Krakauer's narrative also addresses his feelings of guilt and the ethical dilemmas faced by rescuers in extreme conditions.[3] Into Thin Air sparked significant debate within the mountaineering community, particularly after the publication of Anatoli Boukreev's counter-narrative The Climb in 1997, which challenged some of Krakauer's interpretations of events and decisions. The book raised global awareness of Everest's commercialization and contributed to discussions on safety reforms in high-altitude climbing. It remains a seminal work on adventure journalism, blending meticulous reporting with introspective storytelling to capture the allure and peril of extreme exploration.[4]Background
Author and Context
Jon Krakauer, born on April 12, 1954, is an acclaimed American author and mountaineer renowned for his immersive nonfiction writing on adventure and the outdoors. His career as a journalist began in the 1980s, with significant contributions to Outside magazine, where he established himself as a leading voice in adventure journalism through detailed reporting on extreme sports and wilderness exploration. Key early works include the 1990 collection Eiger Dreams: Ventures Among Men and Mountains, which compiled his essays on climbing feats such as his solo ascent of the Devil's Thumb in Alaska, and the 1996 bestseller Into the Wild, an expansion of a 1993 Outside article examining the tragic journey of Christopher McCandless into the Alaskan wilderness. These publications highlighted Krakauer's signature style: blending personal experience with rigorous investigation to explore human limits in harsh environments.[5] In 1996, Outside magazine assigned Krakauer, then 42, to report on the burgeoning trend of commercial guided expeditions to Mount Everest, aiming to capture the shift from elite mountaineering to accessible adventure tourism. Rather than observing from afar, Krakauer chose to participate actively, joining the Adventure Consultants team led by renowned New Zealand guide Rob Hall; the expedition fee was $65,000, which was covered by Outside magazine, allowing him to join as a client to gain an insider's perspective on the high-stakes operation.[6] This decision reflected his commitment to experiential journalism, allowing him to document the logistical and ethical challenges of guiding novice climbers on the world's highest peak.[7] Krakauer brought substantial climbing credentials to the expedition, including successful ascents of major North American peaks such as Denali (Mount McKinley) in Alaska, which he chronicled in his writing as a test of endurance in extreme conditions. At 42, he was in peak physical condition, having rigorously trained for high-altitude challenges despite lacking prior experience above 8,000 meters, a factor that underscored the risks even for seasoned climbers in commercial settings.[8] This assignment occurred amid the 1990s surge in adventure journalism, a period when publications like Outside popularized narratives of risk and exploration to a broad audience, often critiquing the democratization of once-elite pursuits. Krakauer's intent was explicitly to examine Everest's commercialization, where outfitters like Hall's enabled paying clients—many without advanced skills—to summit, raising questions about safety, ethics, and the mountain's sanctity in an era of growing accessibility.[9]Commercial Mountaineering on Everest
Commercial mountaineering on Mount Everest emerged in the 1980s as a shift from elite, self-supported expeditions to guided ventures catering to paying clients, exemplified by American businessman Dick Bass's 1985 summit, where he became the first to complete the Seven Summits with professional support from guides like David Breashears. This milestone highlighted the potential for commercial operations, transforming Everest from a domain of seasoned alpinists to an accessible goal for affluent adventurers seeking personal achievement.[10] The 1990s saw explosive growth in guided expeditions, spurred by Nepal's 1990 People's Movement, which restored multiparty democracy and liberalized the economy, leading to relaxed regulations on foreign-led climbs and increased permit issuance by 1993. Pioneering firms included New Zealand's Adventure Consultants, founded in 1991 by Rob Hall and Gary Ball—Gary Ball died in 1993 on K2, after which Hall continued the company—and the U.S.-based Mountain Madness, established in 1984 by Scott Fischer and Wes Krause; both offered all-inclusive packages priced at approximately $65,000 per client in the mid-1990s, attracting demographics of wealthy professionals—often executives or entrepreneurs—with minimal prior high-altitude experience. These operations relied heavily on Sherpa support staff, who fixed ropes through perilous sections like the Khumbu Icefall—a constantly shifting glacier labyrinth—and managed logistics such as oxygen transport and load carrying, enabling larger team sizes but amplifying logistical demands.[11][12][13][14] Summit numbers reflected this boom: 15 successful ascents occurred in 1970, compared to 98 in 1996, driven by commercial teams that accounted for the majority of climbers by the decade's end. However, this commercialization introduced inherent risks, as inexperienced clients' dependence on guides for critical decisions—such as pacing ascents or navigating crevasse fields—increased vulnerability to environmental hazards and human error, straining the mountain's capacity without corresponding improvements in safety protocols. Sherpas, in particular, bore disproportionate dangers, traversing the Khumbu Icefall multiple times to prepare routes for clients who passed through fewer than five.[15][16][17]The 1996 Mount Everest Disaster
Expedition Teams and Preparation
The Adventure Consultants expedition, one of the two primary commercial teams on Mount Everest in 1996, was led by Rob Hall, a 35-year-old New Zealander renowned for his guiding expertise and prior success on the mountain, having summited Everest four times before this attempt.[18] Key guides included Andy Harris, another New Zealander and experienced alpinist making his first Everest summit bid, who handled much of the logistical coordination alongside Hall.[19] The client roster featured a diverse group of paying climbers, such as Yasuko Namba, a 47-year-old Japanese executive who had already conquered the other Six Summits of the Seven Summits challenge, and Doug Hansen, a 46-year-old American postal worker attempting his second Everest ascent after a near-success in 1995.[18] Supporting the team were several Sherpas, including veteran climbers responsible for carrying loads and establishing safety infrastructure, though specific names like the sirdar Ang Dorje Sherpa were noted for their critical role in operations.[20] The Mountain Madness expedition was headed by Scott Fischer, a 40-year-old American high-altitude specialist celebrated for summiting K2 without supplemental oxygen in 1991, marking him as one of few Americans to achieve that feat.[19] Prominent among the guides was Anatoli Boukreev, a 39-year-old Kazakh mountaineer and elite alpinist who had scaled ten of the world's fourteen 8,000-meter peaks by 1995, bringing unparalleled technical skill to the team.[21] Clients included Sandy Pittman, a 41-year-old American journalist and socialite with extensive mountaineering credentials, having completed the Seven Summits prior to this expedition and described by the team as a competent contributor.[22] The Sherpa contingent, led by sirdar Lopsang Jangbu—a young but accomplished climber who had summited Everest multiple times by age 25—provided essential support, including personal assistance to select clients amid the demanding conditions.[23] Preparation for both teams began in early April 1996 with the establishment of base camp at approximately 17,600 feet in the Khumbu Icefall region, serving as the logistical hub for the entire season.[24] Acclimatization was a methodical process involving progressive rotations: climbers ascended to Camp 1 (around 20,000 feet), Camp 2 (21,300 feet), and Camp 3 (24,000 feet) over several weeks, descending periodically to base camp to mitigate the risks of acute mountain sickness and allow physiological adaptation to low oxygen levels.[24] Supplemental oxygen systems relied on Russian-made POISK bottles, lightweight aluminum canisters holding about 704 liters of oxygen each, which were cached at higher camps for use above 26,000 feet to combat hypoxia during the final push.[25] Sherpas from both teams collaboratively fixed thousands of feet of ropes along the Southeast Ridge route, securing steep ice and rock sections from the Western Cwm up to the South Col at 26,000 feet, creating a lifeline for the ascent and descent.[26] Interpersonal dynamics within and between the teams revealed underlying tensions, particularly stemming from cultural differences between the predominantly Western clients—many of whom were affluent novices prioritizing personal achievement—and the Sherpas, whose traditional roles emphasized collective support and endurance under grueling labor.[27] In the Mountain Madness group, for instance, Lopsang Jangbu's close tethering to Pittman, including physically carrying her during a leg of the climb, sparked perceptions of imbalance in workload distribution among team members.[28] These frictions were compounded by the high-stakes environment, where clients' expectations for guided success sometimes clashed with the Sherpas' pragmatic approach to safety and pacing. Despite meteorological forecasts warning of an approaching storm, both Hall and Fischer opted for the summit attempt on May 10 after observing temporarily favorable conditions, a decision coordinated with their Sherpa leads to capitalize on the narrowing weather window typical of the pre-monsoon season.[26]Timeline of the Disaster
On the morning of May 10, 1996, climbers from the Adventure Consultants team led by Rob Hall and the Mountain Madness team led by Scott Fischer departed from the South Col at around 2:00 a.m., initiating the final push toward the summit amid clear weather and temperatures hovering near -20°F.[26] The ascent proceeded slowly due to fixed rope delays and congestion at the Hillary Step, a sheer rock face at 28,000 feet, where climbers waited up to an hour in single file.[23] Hall reached the summit at 2:10 p.m., followed by several clients including Doug Hansen, while Fischer arrived later at approximately 3:40 p.m. after assisting his group.[26] By 2:00 p.m., as the last climbers summited, the weather abruptly shifted from sunny skies to a ferocious blizzard, with winds exceeding 60 mph reducing visibility to near zero and whipping snow into a blinding whiteout.[26] This sudden storm stranded multiple climbers above 26,000 feet on the Southeast Ridge, far beyond the turnaround time of 2:00 p.m. recommended for safety, exacerbating risks from oxygen depletion and hypothermia in the death zone.[23] During the night of May 10-11, critical events unfolded high on the mountain; Doug Hansen collapsed near the summit from exhaustion and oxygen shortage around 4:00 p.m., prompting Hall to remain with him in a desperate attempt to revive him using supplemental oxygen.[26] Hall's radio communications from 8,000 meters relayed his deteriorating condition and Hansen's worsening state to base camp, while Scott Fischer, exhausted below the South Summit, was unable to descend further and bivouacked in the open, later assisted briefly by guide Anatoli Boukreev.[23] The descent devolved into chaos as the storm intensified, with loss of visibility forcing climbers to separate and navigate by feel along fixed lines, compounded by dwindling oxygen supplies that left many gasping and disoriented.[26] Jon Krakauer, part of the Adventure Consultants team, pushed through the blizzard to reach the South Col by 5:00 p.m., making survival decisions to conserve energy and oxygen while assisting others, ultimately collapsing into camp amid 100 mph gusts.[23]Casualties and Immediate Aftermath
The 1996 Mount Everest disaster claimed the lives of eight climbers caught in the sudden blizzard on May 10–11, marking one of the deadliest days in the mountain's history. Among the victims were expedition leader Rob Hall of Adventure Consultants, who died from exposure while stranded on the South Summit with client Doug Hansen, who had fallen nearby during their delayed descent. Guide Andy Harris, also from Adventure Consultants, perished after attempting to aid Hansen, likely from a fall or severe exposure. Client Yasuko Namba, another Adventure Consultants member, succumbed to hypothermia after becoming separated and exhausted in the storm. Mountain Madness leader Scott Fischer collapsed from exhaustion on the Southeast Ridge while trying to support his team. South African expedition member Bruce Herrod died from exposure after summiting late. On the north side, Indian Indo-Tibetan Border Police climbers Tsewang Paljor and Dorje Morup froze to death while caught in the storm near the Northeast Ridge.[19][29][30][2]| Name | Team/Affiliation | Cause/Circumstance of Death |
|---|---|---|
| Rob Hall | Adventure Consultants (leader) | Exposure on South Summit |
| Doug Hansen | Adventure Consultants (client) | Fall near South Summit |
| Andy Harris | Adventure Consultants (guide) | Fall or exposure during rescue attempt |
| Yasuko Namba | Adventure Consultants (client) | Hypothermia/exposure |
| Scott Fischer | Mountain Madness (leader) | Exhaustion/collapse on Southeast Ridge |
| Bruce Herrod | South African Expedition (client) | Exposure after late summit |
| Tsewang Paljor | Indian ITBP Expedition | Exposure on Northeast Ridge |
| Dorje Morup | Indian ITBP Expedition | Exposure on Northeast Ridge |