Been wanting to get to this for too long. All I can say is canoe tripping seems way too easy now. The details of this tragedy give new meaning to the word obsession. How bad do you really want to get to the top of that mountain and how much can I pay you to take me there?

Yeah, ITA is a classic, though not really a book to brighten up your day.

Eventually, you might like to try "Into The Wild" by the same author. It's also about the tragedy that can come from overestimating the amount of control one has over the forces of nature, in this case the Alaska wilderness. Some people think it's better than ITA.

One of my absolute favs.......I have read it twice. If you can get the hardback copy with the pics go for it, you won't regret it even if your not a climber. Krakauer account is by far the best of the several books written about that eventful summer IMO..........

Been wanting to head to Rainier one summer soon. Who wants to go?  8-) Probably not going to get to the Himalayas to trek and see the places I have read so much about but Rainier has plenty of Glaciers and high places.

If you liked "Into Thin Air"  may I suggest two classics "K2 The Savage Mountain" or the French triumph from Maurice Herzog "Annapurna". Both are quite inspiring. If you search used bookstores you can often get a hard copy complete with pics for a reasonable price.

There are wilderness challenges out there other than carrying a boat over your head. (yea like trying to reel in that 10lb walleye! :D )

Jon Krakauer's accounts of extreme behaviors are consistently good reads and fascinating studies of human nature gone awry.  He can really bring a news story to life.

Jimbo   8-)

I heard the IMAX movie that was being shot the same climbing season is great too.
If I remember that was why some of the help/helicopters were there??
Makes you stop and think if you want your next trip to turn into a "story". No, No, No, boring is better IMO.

mastertangler wrote on May 3^rd, 2012 at 10:47am:

If you search used bookstores ...

Or go to Abe's Books online. They will deliver to your mailbox from their network of affiliated used bookstores for cheap.

Joe_Schmeaux wrote on May 3^rd, 2012 at 7:24pm:

mastertangler wrote on May 3rd, 2012 at 10:47am: If you search used bookstores ... Or go to Abe's Books online. They will deliver to your mailbox from their network of affiliated used bookstores for cheap.

Hey wow.......who would of thunk it. Thanks Joe.
The geeky nerdy part of me still likes to go into those old used bookstores though 8-) and kind of wander aimlessly around in the narrow and confined isles while twin towers of unstable ink and paper loom above you.........

Jim J Solo wrote on May 3^rd, 2012 at 7:13pm:

I heard the IMAX movie that was being shot the same climbing season is great too. If I remember that was why some of the help/helicopters were there??

Yes the IMAX movie is good. It was shot either one or two weeks after Krakauer's ascent, so by then Krakauer's group and the storm were both gone.

Plus ça change ...

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The author had commented about the ethics of guides bringing low skill level climbers on to the mountain.  The story developes into a real life account of the perfect storm. 

-YB

Three more climbers died on Everest this past weekend on their way down after a relatively uneventful ascent.  Apparently they ran afoul of what's been called a freak windstorm, though I suspect such developments are not really that "freakish" in the Himalayas.

Jimbo   8-)

Latest account I heard, it was a traffic jam. Nobody wanted to turn around short of the summit at the advised time. Extra traffic and waiting at backups used up extra oxygen too.
Sounds like deja vu.

The local (Toronto) girl who died was described as having died doing what she loved on her own terms.  We should all be so lucky.  Condolences for the bereaved.  Congrats for the deceased.

Look up the account of the guy who carried his bicycle up to the base-camp. He made it to the summit, but had to be carried down by another climber who gave up his summit attempt to save him.
If you read the book, it sounds like the same caricatures climbing this year too. IMO, a mixed crowd, some I admire, some not. My condolences to those who died and lost someone.