Mountaineering, By Jon Krakauer

Mountaineering is a sport in which people put matter of sensibility. There is no gain in climbing a mountain or an award, it’s just for personal pride. The most popular mountain, and the tallest mountain, Everest, can create problems because of how much commercialization Everest gets. Since the commercialization of Everest is so popular; non-experienced climbers are able to be guided up Everest, which can create harm to themselves and to others. People who climb Everest now sadly can substitute money for experience which can also create harm to themselves and to others. Everest used to be a secluded place that not a lot of people did not have the chance to climb Everest. Since Everest is now greatly available to the public, it creates a

Krakauer is explaining that any climber who can pay the $65,000 to be guided up Everest most likely does not have a lot of climbing experience. People believe that the $65,000 guarantees a spot to eventually reach the summit. Also, when people are not very experienced with mountaineering, it can create problems to the other climbers because everyone is dependent on each other. Scott Fischer said, “Hey, experience is overrated. It’s not the altitude that’s important, it’s your attitude, bro” (70). Fischer would not want to talk to Krakauer because of his job for reporting for Outside magazine, but when Krakauer alluded to his non-experience of climbing Fischer said that it is your attitude over the altitude. A lot of times, money can be a substitute for experience which can cause a lot of fatalities. Lastly, Sandy Pittman is a rich, successful business woman from California that does not have a lot of climbing experience, but when she was high up on the mountain, a sherpa took matters into his own hands and decided to attach her to a small rope on himself. Neal Beidleman said, “As I came up from below, Lopsang was leaning into the slope, clinging the the rock like a spider, supporting Sandy on a tight tether”