Climbing Mount Everest, By Jon Krakauer

One must take risks if they want to succeed. Risks propel people past the norm and set them apart from society. However, there is a difference between taking a risk and being stupid. Climbing Mount Everest without much experience or preparation definitely falls under the category of being stupid. As Larry Kersten, CEO of Despair, Inc, once said, “Before you attempt to beat the odds, be sure you could survive the odds beating you.” Before summiting such a prodigious mountain, one should be sure of the peril they are bringing on themselves. Mount Everest, with little oxygen and roaring winds, is one of the most dangerous places on earth. Climbing up such a hazardous environment is something that should be left to the professionals, not me. I
Climbing Mount Everest is a very time and money consuming venture. I do not have such a significant chunk of free time in my life that I can dedicate to conquering Everest. As Jon Krakauer prepares for his ascent to the summit of Everest he, “…asked Mark Bryant, the editor of Outside, if he would consider postponing the assignment for twelve months.” (Krakauer, 27) Twelve months is a lot of time to dedicate to one expedition. Clearly, a climbing trip of such magnitude would be impossible to fit in the average vacation. I certainly do not have any more time than the average vacation to spend away from the day-to-day trials of life. Climbing Mount Everest would drag me into a hole that I would never be able to climb out of. Not only is climbing Everest a lengthy endeavor, but it is also a pricey one. “By 1996 Hall was charging $65,000 a head to guide clients to the top of the world.” (37) That $65,000 fee does not even include equipment or air fare. Though Hall charges more than his competitors do, he also has a brilliant success rate. If I were to climb Everest I would want the best guide I could find, which would also be the most expensive guide I could
As mentioned before, there is little oxygen and huge gusts of wind blowing constantly. In fact, giant blizzards, like the one faced by the characters in Into Thin Air, are actually quite common on top of the Himalayan death trap. Not only are the conditions on Everest incredibly perilous, but I would have to brave them impaired by the high-altitude. Illnesses like HAPE (High Altitude Pulmonary Edema) and HACE (High Altitude Cerebral Edema) are a result from large exposure to high altitudes and are very deadly, even to well acclimated sherpas such as Ngawang Topche. Above twenty-five thousand feet is known as the “Death Zone.” Climbers become so impaired due to lack of oxygen in the brain that the rate of death sharply spikes in this region of the mountain. In fact the air is so thin up there that helicopters are unable to be flown. This means that bodies are unable to be brought down from the mountain and that rescue attempts are near impossible. “As he (Hall) himself had put it, “You might as well be on the moon.”” Hall makes it clear that there is no rescue near the top of Everest, even going so far as to compare the inaccessibility of the moon and Mount Everest. Even if you are well acclimated and climbing during a period of good weather, there is still the worry of simply falling off a cliff and dying. The title of this book is Into Thin Air. The title does not describe