Into Thin Air, Jon Krakauer
I read this book before reading What The Psychic told the Pilgrim and it may be partly why my judgement of Pilgrim was so harsh, because Into Thin Air is a breathtaking book of the life and death challenges of facing a completely different kind of hike. Jon Krakauer shares his story of joining a world-renowned mountaineering expedition to climb Mount Everest in 1996, a tragic year that saw more people die on the mountain than any other.
Similarly to the way people are attracted to the Camino by the thousands, by 1996 Everest had become a mecca for many barely qualified people with a spirit of adventure (and a lot of money). Aas a result, Everest had become not just uncomfortably busy but dangerously so. Long lineups of people waiting in freezing temperatures with limited oxygen, desperate to make the last push to the summit, meant more opportunity for people to get caught out in unexpected storms or make bad, high-risk decisions. As well, the desire to summit after having paid lots of money, having made several failed attempts or wanting to make a name for your adventure company may also contribute to poor decisions and greater risk-taking on a mountain trek that is ultimately unforgiving.
Krakauer is more self-aware than Jane Christmas, acknowledging in one (short) section that he, as a journalist climbing Mount Everest to write about the trek in a popular outdoor magazine, probably also contributed to the ego-based, poor decision making on his ill-fated trip. However I don’t believe his presence alone could fully explain everything that went wrong that day. Just like with an airline crash (as I have learned from watching numerous episodes of Mayday), accidents like this almost never result from a single malfunction or wrong decision. This May 9-10 tragedy, being no exception, was an accumulation of bad choices, preparation failures, lack of adherence to pre-established plans and some very unfortunate weather. Any single mistake would likely have been recoverable, but as the mistakes compounded, so did the danger and, ultimately, the death toll.
The Everest climb was Krakauer’s personal pilgrimage and his spiritual growth is in the retelling of an event for which he still carries great degree of guilt. It compels the reader to appreciate and respect the enormity of what an Everest hike entails. 1 of every 4 people who attempt to climb Mount Everest die in the attempt, almost a third of whom are Sherpas hired to lead expeditions, carry load and break trail. When I started at University, we held an assembly where we were told to look to the person on our left and the person on our right and know that one of the 3 of us would not make it to graduation. I don’t know if people who are about to climb mount Everest are given the same speech (with the slight change from “won’t graduate” to “will die”) and I wonder, if they are, how many people would still do it? I have to wonder – aren’t there safer but still spiritually or physically rewarding things to do? Why yes! Yes there are! The Camino, for one! I, for one, would choose that.
Rating: Read it.