Mason Moore Mrs. Vermillion Advanced Placement Language and Composition March 29, 2017 Ascent to Death Jon Krakauer’s “Into Thin Air” is an amazing book that describes the treacherous journey from the bottom to the top of Mt. Everest. Krakauer joins a large team of climbers led by Rob Hall to the top of the summit. They endure many hardships not just from the terrain but from the sheer effects of the high altitude on the body. This ultimately caused the down fall of many skilled and unskilled climbers on May Tenth.
Into Thin Air Novelist, Jon Krakauer, author of Into Thin Air, recounts the catastrophe that happened on Mount Everest, at the top of the world. There are many factors that led to the final conclusion of the tragedy on May 10, 1996. It’s impossible to know how different courses of action could have changed the outcome of those desperate hours, but there were things done that made the rescue more problematic. Rob Hall’s actions directly affected the success of the climbing expedition. Rob Hall was the head guide of Adventure Consultants, the climbing group that Jon Krakauer was assigned to.
79) (Simile). "The wind kicked up huge swirling waves of powder snow that washed down the mountain like breaking surf, plastering my clothing with frost." (pg. 125) (Simile).These smilies really compare, and show the reader the harsh conditions the climbers faced everyday. The main paradox in the book is that experience and preparation ultimately means nothing on Mt. Everest. In particular, no one thought that such a tragedy could occur on an expedition guided by Rob Hall, the most celebrated Everest guide dog of the decade.
Mountain climbing is a very tough activity that includes years of training before someone is ready to complete an exhilarating climb. Looking around the world, there are many amazing places to climb. Although two of the most difficult and intense climbs include the Devil’s Thumb in Alaska and Mount Everest, the tallest mountain on earth. “Everest,” by Erik Weihenmayer and “The Devils Thumb,” by Jon Krakauer have some similarities and some differences in terms of the author’s perspective, organization structure, and tone and word choice. As the two authors wrote, they showed their struggles and feats of every situation through words.
All in all, the author manages to balance out his appeal to emotion with the intense sequences of his journey up Mount Everest. Describing how sad he was when he saw his teammates buried in the snow ice cold, and also rescuing one of his teammates, only to see him die a few minutes later from severe
This summer my family and I traveled to Colorado for my cousin’s wedding and to experience the mountains. While we were hiking I was able to go on my own and start to climb off the trails. I was able to climb high and get to see all the trees in their vibrant fall colors. The view was stunning compared to at eye-level view. When Jon Krakauer describes the amazing view from standing at the summit of Mount Everest, I was able to remember that moment from my off-trail adventure.
*MILD SPOILERS THROUGHOUT* “With enough determination, any bloody idiot can get up this hill,” Hall observed. “The trick is to get back down alive.” These were the words of the head guide on a Mount Everest Climb in 1996 that had just finished his fifth summit but had not lived to do it again. Into Thin Air is an autobiographical novel of a first hand account of the 1996 Mount Everest Climbing Disaster. The author, Jon Krakauer was a journalist hired to do a study on Mount Everest.
Near the apex of Everest, Goran Kropp made a very strange yet rational decision. Due to the dangerous conditions, he turned around before submitting. Ignoring their instincts, Climbers usually don’t turn back. Peter Lev, an American guide, said, “If a client sees that the summit is close and they’re dead-set on getting there, they’re going to laugh in your face and keep going up.” (Krakauer
Picture yourself on top of the highest mountain in the world, you are feeling euphoric and elated you were able to make it this far. Now, imagine that you see bad weather coming your way and getting back down could be a matter of life and death. This exact situation was stricken upon author Jon Krakauer, who would write about his experiences in the book Into Thin Air: A Personal Account of the Mt. Everest Disaster, which was published in 1997; with a postscript authored in 1999. The paperback is a first-hand account of Krakauer’s journey to Everest as a journalist.
You are looking up at the top of the mountain that you have been climbing for weeks. Do you take the short dangerous route and expedite the time it takes to get to the top or the longer safe route and lengthen the time it takes to get to the top? Since Erik Weihenmayer and John Krakauer have both climbed burdensome mountains, they had to make decisions like these all the time. John Krakauer, who is the author of the memoir “The Devil’s Thumb”, successfully climbed Devil’s Thumb with no disabilities, but on the other hand, Erik Weihenmayer, who is the author of “Everest”, successfully climbed Mount Everest blind. Krakauer wrote his story more than a dozen years later and shared it with the reader by flashbacks and a more negative tone.
This is yet another demonstration of sacrifice for a course on mountaineering concerns. Basing on his wealthy experiences both a former mountaineering survivor and journalist; Jon Krakauer is able to demonstrate the level of perseverance that these folks face. Also learnt from the book is the apology to families, relatives and friends of persons who have died in the disastrous activity of
Krakauer explains how following the discovery of Everest as the highest mountain in the world, the journey to the top would take the lives of 24 men, the efforts of 15 expeditions and the passage of 101 years before someone would finally reach the summit. This demonstrates how all though the expedition to the top was not easy, and would require the lives of many men, people would not stop trying because that is human nature. Not all people climb Mt. Everest in their lifetime, but most people, if not all, work hard to achieve something or be successful. Whether that success may be in their professional life, their personal life, or anything else, Mt. Everest can symbolize all of it. It symbolizes a journey to success and relates to the theme of humans natural drive and passion to pursue what they want.
It provides insights on both the mental and physical problems the climbers face when they are in the death zone. Some of the climbers who are, during the duration of the storm, forced to undergo the death zone without oxygen experience severe versions of mental deterioration and contribute to the poor decisions and actions on the mountain. The Epigraph not only shows the human body’s reaction to the surroundings, but also shows the changing weather on Everest. The changing weather shows the constant confusion the human body experiences on
Doug worked two different jobs to afford to go on the trip to Everest, and was making his second attempt to reach the summit of Everest. Doug came back to Everest to try and reach the summit for the first time. Because Doug failed to reach the summit on his first attempt, I argue that Doug Hansen’s primary motivation
Jon Krakauer wrote many books in his life, and he bases many of his books on his own experiences as a mountaineer. A majority of his books are nonfiction and have become very popular. That could be said because of his writing style and how he draws people in with his way of words. His most well-known book is Into Thin Air, which recalls about a journey of his during a Mount Everest Expedition which resulted in a disaster that included many deaths. Jon Krakauer’s personal account of the 1996 Mount Everest disaster Into Thin Air is riveting and exciting, the reason being is that its historical origin resulted in many enthusiastic book assessments leading to a widening cultural influence.
