Overconfidence In Into Thin Air

In order to continue climbing Everest, many aspects of climbing need to be improved before more people endanger their lives to try and reach the roof of the world. The guides have some areas that need the most reform. During the ascension of Everest the guides made a plethora mistakes that seemed insignificant but only aided in disaster. The guides first mistake is allowing “any bloody idiot [with enough determination] up” Everest (Krakauer 153). By allowing “any bloody idiot” with no climbing experience to try and climb the most challenging mountain in the world, the guides are almost inviting trouble. Having inexperienced climbers decreases the trust a climbing team has in one another, causing an individual approach to climbing the mountain and more reliance on the guides. While this approach appears fine, this fault is seen in addition to another in Scott Fischer’s expedition Mountain Madness. Due to the carefree manner in which the expedition was run, “clients [moved] up and down the mountain independently during the acclimation period, [Fischer] had to make a number of hurried, unplanned excursions between Base Camp and the upper camps when several clients experienced problems and needed to be escorted down,” (154). Two problems present in the Mountain Madness expedition were seen before the summit push: the allowance of inexperienced climbers and an unplanned climbing regime. A third problem that aided disaster was the difference in opinion in regards to the responsibilities of a guide on Everest. One guide “went down alone many hours ahead of the clients” and went “without supplemental oxygen” (318). These three major issues: allowing anyone up the mountain, not having a plan to climb Everest and differences in opinion. All contributed to the disaster on Everest in

Being responsible is a huge factor in guiding a mountain climbing team. There are a lot people on each team, and some are more experienced then others, so it takes a lot of coordination and cooperation from everyone. Rob Hall, because of his experience, knew he was responsible for making sure that everyone on his team was prepared for the summit of Everest. With that knowledge Rob Hall utilized his organization skills and "he'd fine-tuned a remarkably effective acclimatization plan" (p.74) that would enable all members of the team to adapt to the scarcity of oxygen in the atmosphere. Along with making sure he had an arrangement for how to acclimatize his team he also managed to consult "with the leaders of all the expeditions planning to climb Everest in the spring," and they agreed on which team "would be responsible for establishing and maintaining a route through the icefall" (p.80). Rob Hall had a very heavy load that he was responsible for as a guide in 1996 and he demonstrated how reliable he was in the way he took care of business using his ability to plan ahead and stay organized.

Lack of psychological safety within the team members failed to fix cognitive bias of irrationality. If members developed trust within the team, cognitive bias could have been prevented or at least minimized. The truth that climbers might make irrational decisions and find it hard to turn back when they are so closed to the summit was obvious, but teammates seeing this problem did not speak up since they did not feel that their thoughts were welcome and felt uneasy. More cognitive biases could also been prevented to lessen the complex system of the expedition. Since climbing Mt. Everest is already a high risk venture, any additional problems such as irrational decisions can cause a crisis. Using the early sign of issues with Hall’s team’s progress, it was obvious that the probability of failing the expedition was high before the team even started. Hall could have used the issues as a sign of the complex systems that exist, and could have used this knowledge to prevent any irrational decisions. The complex systems and the lack of psychological safety also contributed to the tragedy. The team members failed to communicate and trust each other, which then added more problems to the complex systems. For instance, Boukreev’s could have spoken up to his team leader, Fischer, about his concerns regarding his team members lacking experience to begin with. By speaking up, he could have prevented more chain reaction due to lack of communications and feedback within the

Mt. Everest’s summit has always seemed an unattainable goal for most people. The idea that most people have is that if I can climb Mt Everest, I can accomplish anything. To have the money and desire to try to attempt it is one thing, but being able to endure the punishment is quite another. Beck Weathers, one of the climbers on this particular expedition, had such severe frostbite that he had to have his right arm, nose and the fingers on his left hand amputated. Everyone on the expedition suffered the rigors of Everest. The two expert guides, Rob Hall and Scott Fischer, lost their lives due to a violent storm that ripped through during their descent from the summit. Their impaired judgment also contributed to their demise. Everest is no respecter of persons. Mt Everest is the most respected mountain in the whole world and if

Despite his impressive record he had never attempted anything close to the scale of Everest, whose summit is at an extremely dangerous altitude. He even admits to his relative inexperience with high altitude saying, “Truth be told, I’d never been higher than 17,200 feet--not even as high as Everest Base Camp”(28). Krakauer also mentions how he has gotten out of shape over the years partially because of the lack of climbing in his life, making him even less prepared for the assent. Krakauer shows a definite fear of such a high mountain, referring to climbers who have perished in the past. He states that, “Many of those who died had been far stronger and possessed vastly more high-altitude experience than I.” (28). Even though Krakauer’s experience may be more relevant to the Everest assent than some of the other tourist climbers, it is nowhere near the level needed to be considered an elite climber.

Before reading this book, I had already been aware of the countless dangers of Mt. Everest. Last summer I read a book about Mt. Everest much like this one in the state that both were spoken through personal accounts, and both used constant detail to express the horrible and painful experiences that both authors had to go through. This prior knowledge helped better my understanding of this book because I was aware of the common occurrences that can take place while climbing Mt. Everest, and the gruesome circumstances that go with it. During the eighth chapter, readers become aware of a horrible condition that a character is dealing with. “By the time he arrived at the tents late that afternoon Ngawang was delirious, stumbling like a drunk, and coughing up pink, blood-laced froth” (Krakauer 113).

Rob Hall, the Kiwi guide of the Everest expedition group of Adventure Consultants, was the head guide during the terrible accidents of 1996. He led his team through many obstacles, facing them head on and never faltering until his last moments. Even in his dying breath he didn’t succumb to fear and didn’t want anyone to worry about him. Rob Hall would not leave Doug Hansen alone, even though he knew Hansen would die eventually, and didn’t desert him until there was a 100 percent certainty that Hansen was dead. Even though Hall himself had told all of the Adventure

The first reason why Krakauer is responsible for the crew’s death is because he recruited them. Krakauer knew who he was recruiting, some experienced and some who relied heavily on the guide’s help. “I want you all to remember we have absolutely no chance of getting to the summit of Everest without their help.” (Krakauer 4:43). This shows how weak each member is without the help of a professional guide. While Krakauer knows the death rate on the trek to the top of Everest is high, he knew deep down it’d be a bad idea to bring inexperienced climbers onto this dangerous mountain.” Ever since 1922, when seven Sherpas were killed in an avalanche during the second British expedition, a disproportionate number of Sherpas have died on Everest—fifty-three all told.” ( Krakauer 4.17). This quote proves how dangerous Everest is even for experienced and

Having trust is very important when it comes to something like climbing Mt. Everest. What he is saying is also very true because if a person makes only one small crucial mistake it can break open hell for the rest of the team. That is definitely not what people on the team want

Krakauer describes how dedicated Linda is and shows a lot of respect for her. Krakauer also describes how bad his relationship with Linda in a sad tone. For example, he says, “Our relationship remained rocky for two or three years after my failed attempt on the Eiger, but the marriage somehow survived that rough patch. Krakauer uses symbolism of the ropes and knots that are used during the Mount Everest climb. The climbers ascend the more difficult parts of the mountain by following ropes installed ahead of time by guides. These help the climbers ascend the mountain and ensure that the group stays together and follows the exact same path up the mountain. In addition, clients gains some peace of mind knowing that someone has climbed the path ahead of them and installed a hands-on map. Krakauer notes that on this climb, the clients are not all attached to the same rope. The rope symbolizes unity and loyalty, exemplifying the idea that one's life is bound to

According to Friedrich Nietzsche, a famous German scholar and philosopher, “To live is to suffer, to survive is to find some meaning in the suffering,” After reading the memoir, Into Thin Air, by Jon Krakauer, the message is evident that one of the main themes of the story is suffering. Immediately to begin the story, the narrator, Jon Krakauer, is standing upon the peak of Mt. Everest. Immediately this poses a lot of questions as to how he got there and the pain he must have went through because there is no easy journey to take to climb a mountain. Krakauer and his guides take a risk but suffer through the pain to come out on top. Even though he had to suffer at times, it was all worth it in the end when he accomplished what many people couldn’t do.

First, Rob Hall shows courage by being confident in his ability to get his clients up the mountain. “‘With so many incompetent people on the mountain,’ Rob said with a frown one evening in late April, ‘I think it’s pretty unlikely that we’ll get through this season without something bad happening up high.’” This might have convinced the climbers that they were safe as long as they were guided by Rob Hall. When he showed that confidence, it assures the climbers that they are in the best hands possible. His stunning record of getting people to summit was probably directly related to the way he thought of his climbing skills.

Not only climbing Mount Everest can affect the climber, environment, but it can affect the local population of Nepal. According to the textbook Geography Alive! Regions and People it says on page 422 “ Porters are sometimes overworked and they are mistreated.” It is clearly testified that not everyone is nice to the porters, when they are only trying to help the climber climb safe to the summit. Another evidence, on page 216 from the book Peak, where it says “I had seen a dead person, let alone a frozen dead person.” Peak has testified that he saw a corpse just laying down face down on the cold snow on camp 4. This was new to him because he was not expecting this new thing for him. Concluding with this, climbing Mount Everest is not the best

And they got one climber off, and they crashed attempting to rescue the second man” (Helicopter Rescues Increasing on Everest 7). It is a rescuer’s job to know the risks for saving a climber but if the climber is a professional, they shouldn’t be easily be making mistakes. When there are rescuers who come pick you up fast when you can’t complete the climb, it is like having a safety net behind you. But where is the safety net behind the rescuers? There isn’t one, once they make a mistake, there won’t be someone to save them, so there shouldn’t be rescuers saving climbers when they are risking their own lives but also the

On May 10, 1996 six people died trying to reach the summit of Mt. Everest. These people were parts of two expeditions that were in the Himalayas, preparing to ascend the summit for six weeks. The first group was under the direction of Rob Hall, who had put 39 paying clients on the summit in five years. Hall was considered the leader of the mountain and the man to see no matter what the discrepancy. Group two, headed by Fisher, who like Hall, was trying to start a profitable business in providing the experience of climbing Mt. Everest to all for the price of 60 to 70 thousand dollars. Unfortunatly, neither man would live to tell the tale of this expedition.