Anyone Up For Some Climbing?

Into Thin Air: A Personal Account of the Mt. Everest Disaster is a best selling non-fiction book of Jon Krakauer who tells the story of his 1996 ascent of Mt. Everest which turned tragic when eight climbers were killed and several other stranded on the mountain during a severe storm. Different portions of Krakauer's account have been criticized and repudiated by other survivors who were there but his telling is basically a recollection of small errors and lapses of judgement that eventually snowballed into "a perfect storm" and greatly contributed to what was the deadliest year at Everest on record. 210 people have lost their lives on the mountain in the 120-odd (or 75-ish I can't really confirm which) years that people have been attempting to reach the summit. A total of 15 climbers were lost in 1996.

One of the most dramatic and well-known stories in the book is the experience of Beck Weathers. Comatose and twice left for dead by other climbers, Weathers suddenly awakened after more than 12 hours of lying in the sub-zero temperatures. In spite of horrific frostbite on his hands and face, Weathers got to his feet and staggered into camp. Every climber was shocked at his survival, and after a dangerous high-altitude helicopter rescue, Weathers made it off the mountain alive but lost one arm between the hand and elbow, and all five fingers on his other hand.

This was my first glimpse into the real, hardcore mountaineering, let alone "high altitude mountaineering" and I have to admit that while I have a lot of things I would like to do that people think are crazy, climbing Everest, or any other peak in the Himalyia region is not one of them! A commercial climb of Everest is about $35,000 - $65,000, not to mention about two months in terrible living conditions and weeks camping, yes, in tents, in freezing temperatures... and that's the affordable package!

Everest, the 1998 IMAX movie was coincidentally being filmed at the same time as the tragedy. The crew not only helped with rescue efforts but ended up giving away about 1/2 of the 50 supplemental oxygen bottles they had horded for the shoot putting their $5.5 million shoot in jeopardy.

While reading the book I also learned about the Seven Summits Mountaineering Challenge, where people try to climb the highest peak on each of the seven continents. As of press time 198 individuals have met this challenge. What really blows me away is people wanting to limb the Vinson Massif, the 16,050 foot peak on Antarctica, about 750 miles from the South Pole (which, incidentally, is claimed by Chile) and has been claimed by over 450 individuals, including Jon Krakauer, who made this climb in 2001; about five years after his Everest ascent. Aside from the Seven Summits people also track the Second Seven Summits and the Seven Volcanic summits. I'm there are more records out there too. What I find most impressive is a statistic mentioned in the book I've kind of gotten off topic from. Richard Bass and Rob Hall, both guides on Krakauer's Everest expedition who lost their lives on the mountain during the storm, completed the seven summits in under seven months!

An interesting book filled with good information and I believe about the make it onto the big screen (it apparently was already a made for TV movie not too longer after the publication of Thin Air). I found this a very interesting read about a subject I did not previously (and still don't) know a whole lot about.