Book: Into Thin Air

Title: Into Thin Air

Author: Jon Krakauer

Genre: Non-fiction, Mountaineering

Rating: 4/5

"I quickly came to understand that climbing Everest was primarily about enduring pain. And in subjecting ourselves to week after week of toil, tedium, and suffering, it struck me that most of us were probably seeking, above all else, something like a state of grace."

As mentioned in my previous post, my trek to Himalayas was cancelled due to the ongoing pandemic. So in order to find some solace, I turned to the next best thing to be on mountains – read a book about mountains or expeditions.

That led me to this wonderful and fulfilling book, Into Thin Air by Jon Krakauer.

A personal account of his Mount Everest expedition and the horrific tragedy that took place in May 1996 where few of the climbers from his group and other groups died in the storm at the top.

The book written mainly to reveal all the events that happened on the mountain on that dreadful day of the tragedy, goes through all other aspects about how expeditions are planned and carried out, the different perspectives and intensions of the climbers coming to the mighty Everest, the life of Sherpas and their beliefs in general. And the author has also penned down about the ongoing problem i.e. the traffic jams being caused on the mountain.

The things which I liked the most was the disclosure of the mental psych of a climber when he is attempting such a big task of Everest summit. Of course, the accident and the details of the people dying during the storm was heart breaking to read. Jon, due to a sense of moral obligation, has gone through a lot of R & D and interviewing different stake holders from his group before writing this book which is apparent when one reads about all the minute details of the expedition and people associated.

At some point, few details of the climbers and events seemed unnecessary but one can excuse the author for that considering the circumstances he has gone through and also who had to relive it while writing this book.

A haunting story which also covers about all the insane risks associated with high altitude mountaineering.