Adventure Consultants: Into Thin Air By Rob Hall

Between 1990 and 2005, 1,916 men and women attempting Everest reached the summit, only 630 succeeded, equating to a 32.8% success rate or a 67.2% rate of failure. Mount Everest, 8,848.86 meters (29,031.7 ft) at its summit, is the world's highest mountain and a desirable peak for mountaineers, but climbing attempts can pose many hazardous threats. More than 300 people have died attempting to reach the summit from varying causes; HACE, HAPE, falling ice, exhaustion, etc. The novel Into Thin Air gives the perspective of Jon Krakauer and his trek on Mount Everest as a part of the Adventure Consultants group led by Rob Hall in the spring of 1996. Jon, a journalist for the Outside magazine, documented all successes, obstacles, fatalities, and failures

First and foremost, nature’s unpredictability and intense conditions can lead to physical, emotional, and mental fatigue on Everest, which can lead to severe obstacles and ones’ failure to conquer Everest. The novel stated, “Four hundred vertical feet above, where the summit was still washed in bright sunlight under an immaculate cobalt sky, my compadres dallied to memorialize their arrival at the apex of the planet, unfurling flags and snapping photos, using up precious ticks of the clock. None of them imagined that a horrible ordeal was drawing near. Nobody suspected that by the end of that long day, every minute would matter” (Krakauer, 9). Everest’s unique terrain and features pose an unforgiving/unsuspecting threat to those who embark on the journey to the top. So caught up in the moment of nearing the top of Everest, the “top of the world” (400 feet vertically above), climbers lack the situational awareness and fail to recognize a storm brewing. Despite knowledge and fear of risks going into the trek, climbers throw themselves in the way of danger/risk for their desire to complete their climb on Everest (most exhibited daily by sherpas and

Mount Everest is an exceedingly difficult trek to climb. Those who seek success often exhibit ambition like none other. The ambitious climbers often have to persuade their minds to disregard signs of death (grave) and imminent dangers. Those who are overly ambitious and driven will likely die, as ‘any bloody idiot can get up the mountain, but the struggle is to come down alive’. While being ambitious can be a good trait, people can exhibit over-ambition which can hinder their assessment of danger, and fatigue resulting in their downfall on one of the most treacherous mountains in the world. In summation, climbing Everest can have its ups and downs; success and failures and two contributing factors to defeat/death on Everest can be described as the conflict of man vs nature and being over-ambitious to reach the top. These two factors can pose many hazardous threats. Nature in Everest is unpredictable, hazardous, and has elevation with capabilities to hinder one’s decision making, and bodily