This is one of the best selling nonfiction books written by Jon Krakauer. The writer is one of the climbers of Mount Everest which ended with a disaster where eight were killed and several others swept by a storm while other summits were starting. This was happening during the season when climbing is considered to be dangerous. The writer who is being consulted for climbing adventure and expedition is the narrator of the book. They are in the summit of the mountain too exhausted tired and happy of what they are about to accomplish. They start climbing down but the unfortunate happens as the storms start to form and to make the matter worse his friends who they had climbed with are still up in the summit. That when the lost 8 people and 4 more others in unclear circumstances.
Mt Everest is one of the tallest mountains discovered in 1852. Many climbers had tried to reach the summit for over 101 years but they failed. Many had lost their lives or disappeared when attempting to make history. In 1953 this dream came to be when two men managed to climb to the summit. That was Sir Edmund Hillary and Tenzing Norgay. They entered the world book of records and even to date they are highly celebrated. This accomplishment created a new interest and confirmed that it is possible and by the 80s there were many guides experiences that motivated more people who could afford to climb. There was a complaint about how these guided expedition climbing events were commercialized at the Everest. The writer had an assignment to join a team and document the whole trip phenomenon in the Outside magazine for commercial purposes. He doubts if he will reach the summit but he can’t let down such a lifetime golden opportunity and furthermore this has been one of his childhood dreams.
He leaves his Seattle home in 1996 and heads to Nepal where he is meeting his teammates at Kathmandu. They have one of the celebrated climbers Rob Hall from New Zealand and he has great records of guiding people to the summit. His company earns a lot and it is well established. Many of his teams are strangers with little experience and he worries a lot but he trusts the leader and senior guide.
They started in a small village called Lukla. The start is easy and fun especially when you meet the villagers of the Sherpa ethnic group who are hired to help in the journey. The Buddhist monk blesses them for a safe journey.
They succeed to reach the basement of the mountain where camping takes place. There the witter meets with Scott who is a rival of Hall in guiding. The team starts feeling the effects of nausea sickness, exhaustion, and loss of appetite. The altitude is now affecting them. They prepare for the next month by taking every exercise that is necessary. Everyone struggles to run and exercise. The writer’s wife is against and also the runs camps are being aborted due to cold temperatures.
The team summit begins everyone has an oxygen tank. Krakauer blames the guides sometimes for neglecting his clients. At the third camp, they had to supplement themselves with oxygen as now they are on the death zone where they are experiencing thin air. A fourth camp there is a wind storm threatening to blow away the tents. Finally, the writer makes it to the summit. on the way down the weather no longer favors them. They are suffering from low oxygen and he now has some poor eyesight. He, fortunately, made it to his camp. The books explain the details of how others how the others faced unfortunate events and the sad to learn of the events the next morning.