THEME: Is a sense of achievement/ accomplishment worth a life?
Why take such a risk?
INTO THIN AIR:
“The culture of ascent was characterized by intense competition and undiluted machismo, but for the most part, its constituents were concerned with impressing only one another.”
- To conquer such a big challenge was not only individual success but the competition of others and surrounding mountaineers.
“Nobody was admired more than the so called free soloists; visionaries who ascended alone, without rope or hardware.”
- The climbers who look for a larger range of success than the general commuters are those who climb without any safety rope, ultimately putting their lives at high risk for the right to be well known in the mountaineering world.
“Previously, Everest had by and large been the province of elite mountaineers.”
- Before Jon Krakauer was born Mt Everest was seen as the most challenging mountain to climb and never before had man reached the summit. In the three years Jon lived to climb, Mt Everest had been conquered over 100 times, now seen as an easier root of mountaineering Jon began to look down his nose on the world’s highest mountain.
“Getting to the top of any given mountain was considered much less important than how one got there: prestige was earned by tackling the most unforgiving routes with minimal equipment, in the boldest style imaginable.”
- Rob Hall’s team both knew that getting to the top of Everest’s summit wont get them the fame and stardom they were looking for. It is the skill of conquering the mountain with a real sense of danger, for example climbing with limited and minimal equipment like ropes and many more newly enhanced gadgets.
- This shows the immense competition between climbers for distinguishment within their community, This can conduct many expeditions to lead there team into tremendous danger and cause casualties that could end in tragedy.
“Everest has always been a magnet for kooks, publicity seekers, hopeless romantics and others with a shaky hold on reality.”
- Jon krakauer himself explains the treacherous climb as a magnet for attention seekers and those who search for fame in the climbing world. This may be to get sponsorships in further adventures to come, or for many expeditions it is to get a large recognition in there mountaineering community and become a so called “celebrity”.
“…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 else, something like a state of grace.”
- Jon Krakauer had never endured such difficulty while climbing until he came across Everest. He later came to acknowledge the pain that goes through the human body while dealing with the altitude climbing and the share force of nature.
“If you get killed,” she argued with a mix of despair and anger, “it’s not just you who’ll pay the price. I’ll have to pay, too, you know, for the rest of my life. Doesn’t that matter to you?”
- Jon had to face more than the mountain on his expedition to Everest. His personal life took a toll on him when he knew all along the risks and effects this climb may have on his family. If Jon was not to make it down the mountain alive his wife explained the price she will have to pay from him leaving them.
- So why would Jon and many other mountaineer’s leave there well earning jobs and families to potentially not only put there lives at risk but the loved ones around them?
“In climbing, having confidence in your partners is no small concern. One climber’s actions can affect the welfare of the entire team. The consequences of a poorly tied knot, a stumble, a dislodged rock, or some other careless deed are as likely to be felt by the perpetrator’s colleagues as the perpetrator.”
- havting to put all your trust in your climbing partners you first meet at base camp is a huge risk every expeditioner had to take. One wrong step and that climber has put their whole team at jeopardy. Jon throughout the text expresses multiple feelings of worry between his team. More and more new climbers are challenging themselves to complete Everest, which potentially puts everyone else at risk of certain death.
“Unfortunately, the sort of individual who is programmed to ignore personal distress and keep pushing for the top is frequently programmed to disregard signs of grave and imminent danger as well.”
- When in high altitudes and bad weather, rational thinking causes a climber to make dangerous decisions that may lead to serious injury or death. Jon explains that when the body doesn’t get enough oxygen to the brain, you are unable to walk and talk straight, some described the feeling as being drunk. While mountaineering on the edge of Everest’s ice shafts you need all the important wise decisions to get you down the mountain safely.
- Although bad weather ultimately caused the disaster in Rob Hall’s team, the altitude sickness and irrational decision making made it increasingly harder to get down the mountain alive which is later described by Jon.
“Why did veteran Himalayan guides keep moving upward, ushering a gaggle of relatively inexperienced amateurs into an apparent death trap?”
- This is a question that haunts throughout the entirety of “Into thin air”. Was it the mistake of the guides, leading their team through an apparent death trap? Were they too set on reaching the summit at any costs. Was it inexperienced climbers ambition to complete Everest with no real training prior to the event.
The acheivments of Ametuer climbers have had a real impact on the mountaineering world for conquering Everest. Many famous and well known expeditions held in experienced climbers to endure on the experience of a lifetime, After becoming one of the first to reach the summit of the highest mountain in the world, Many could say they found inspiration to follow down there road. Sadely in this time thousands of expeditioners have lost their lives while descending down Everest, caused by cases of inexperience of the basic climbing rules and ice picking.
Touching the void:
“We were in the middle of Cordillera Huayhuash, in the Peruvian Andes, separated from the nearest village by twenty-eight miles of rough walking”
- Joe and simon know how vulnerable they are before the climb, they know the risks and challenges they are about to endure. In the back of both their minds they know they could both die, So why take such a risk? Is the climb worth both their lives?
“There had been few ascents since then, and the true prize, the daunting 4,500-foot west face had so far defeated all attempts
- A never before climbed ridge 4,500 feet up Siula Grande, Joe and simon risk everything to complete the climb, All for a sense of achievement? Accomplishment?
- Why do they do it? Why do people regularly risk their lives to summit a mountain peak or scale sheer cliffs?
“We can do it… we can do it… i kept repeating like a mantra whenever i felt that hollow hungry gap in my stomach.”
- Joe Simpson was naturally afraid of the the climb and the passing whether to come, but despite his warning signs his ignorant personality kept him enduring for longer and longer, it was only till half way up Siula Grande where Joe started reassuring himself within his head and talked and encouraged his body to keep moving forward.
- This was a very important part within the text as it tells the reader despite Joes past experience with mountaineering, a ridge never before climbed had almost stopped his goal of completing the force of nature.
- So why would Joe push himself through such a mental challenge to complete this climb? He knew the risks he was taking.
“Head down, keep looking at your feet, swing, swing, hop, look at your feet…all the way up a smooth 150 feet, no effort, no headache, feeling on top of the world.”
- This is another example of Joe Simpsons ongoing mental battle while climbing up siula grande. Although originally Joe was calm before the climb the reader can see the effects and mental barriers that are stopping Joe from completing the mountain. Why not turn back now? Why keep struggling with the pain inside and throughout?
“If you succeed with one dream, you come back to square one and it’s not long before your conjuring up another, slightly harder, more ambitious – a bit more dangerous.”
- A dream is only one thing after its become completed. Societies pressures take a toll on every mountaineer/ expeditioner whether its conquering a mountain or an expedition, yet fame will only bring to you if its the highest on earth, never before climbed or even conquered without the essential safety equipment necessary. Human nature