In the end, despite his evenhanded and even generous assessment of others' actions, he reserves a full measure of vitriol for himself. Clearly, Krakauer remains haunted by the disaster, and although he relates a number of incidents in which he acted selflessly and even heroically, he seems unable to view those instances objectively. But for Krakauer himself, further interviews and investigations only lead him to the conclusion that his perceived failures were directly responsible for a fellow climber's death. Krakauer's highly personal inquiry into the catastrophe provides a great deal of insight into what went wrong. He also avoids blasting easy targets such as Sandy Pittman, the wealthy socialite who brought an espresso maker along on the expedition. He takes great pains to provide a balanced picture of the people and events he witnessed and gives due credit to the tireless and dedicated Sherpas.

The storm, which claimed five lives and left countless more-including Krakauer's-in guilt-ridden disarray, would also provide the impetus for Into Thin Air, Krakauer's epic account of the May 1996 disaster.īy writing Into Thin Air, Krakauer may have hoped to exorcise some of his own demons and lay to rest some of the painful questions that still surround the event. Everest, saw nothing that 'suggested that a murderous storm was bearing down.' He was wrong. Everest DisasterĪ bank of clouds was assembling on the not-so-distant horizon, but journalist-mountaineer Jon Krakauer, standing on the summit of Mt. Into Thin Air: A Personal Account of the Mt.

Beck weathers into thin air