Chapter 9: Problems with the Climbers
This is the chapter in which most of the people in the group start significantly feeling the effects of the journey. Most encounter frostbite or worse, and for the first time the team hits weather that prevents them from going as far as they'd planned. Not yet up as high as Camp Three, they are already pushed back by the unpredictability of Everest. "Even without unleashing the worst it could dish out, the mountain had sent us scurrying for safety."
•It's 4:00AM and Krakauer is currently preparing to make the trek to ______, which sits at a brisk 24,000 feet.
•In order to reach Camp Three, he'll need to ascend the ______, a "vast, titled sea of ice" Krakauer considers turning back out of fear of ______, but before he can, Rob Hall buzzes over the intercom and tells everybody to ______.
•Turns out that Krakauer isn't the only one who's struggling. ______, a doctor from Australia, is actually beginning to suffer from minor frostbite.
•______is even worse. His toes—damaged from his previous Everest attempt—are particularly susceptible to frostbite. And that's not even getting into his ______, for which he had surgery mere weeks before coming to Everest.
- Other than the obvious physical issues, how might the various ailments of the team members affect their ability to summit Everest?
•Given all of this, the mood at Camp Two is gloomy. Plus, it doesn't help that Hall is currently arguing with the leaders of the ______and ______teams.
Chapter 9: The Sherpas
The relationship between Fischer's primary Sherpa, Lopsang, and Ngawang is revealed in this chapter. Lopsang actually makes an entire extra climb when he descends to be with ______, and then climbs up again to rejoin the group. He covers territory that the other climbers have toiled and sweat over with remarkable speed. After climbing professionally for ______, he had already reached the summit of Everest ______times without using ______.
Krakauer barely comments on his absence, except to say that the extra trip has made Lopsang tired. This demonstrates the strength and skill of the Sherpas. However, Lopsang is in rough shape—his uncle has just died, and he has physically overexerted himself. With each passing day it seems as if some of the climbers who anchor the expeditions become ______.
Krakauer is fascinated that the Sherpas believe that Ngawang is stricken with an illness other than HAPE. The concept of retaliation by a ______is an entirely new concept altogether. The idea that to make it up the mountain safely, one must appease ______ is simple, and Krakauer seems to embrace it.
The Sherpas strict adherence to the Buddhist traditions and rituals is an attempt to ______.
•The primary issue between the teams is a lack of ______and ______, which is vital in these conditions.
•For the safety of all climbers, ______must be installed on the Lhotse Face. Securing the rope is not simply something that helps the clients, but it is a necessity for every climber.
•Two days earlier, ______(along with other guides from Hall's and Fischer's teams) was supposed to install fixed rope lines up the Lhotse Face with Sherpas from the ______and ______teams, who had already agreed to help secure these ropes. They didn't show up, though.
•The Sherpas in particular are there to help, and their failure to provide even the most basic assistance lends credence to Hall's prediction that ______. The leader of the Taiwanese team apologizes profusely. Woodall, the leader of the South African team, however, chooses instead to cuss Hall out and accuse AngDorje of lying.
•Their lack of cooperation also adds an unnecessary tension to the climb.
- How would these issues with cooperation and trust contribute to the tension of the climbers?
Chapter 10: Motivations for Climbing
Reaching Camp Three
•On the 29th, Hall's team (minus Hansen who stays behind due to his frozen larnyx) makes a second attempt at reaching ______. Though the going is agonizingly painful, Krakauer successfully makes it.
•Unlike Camps One and Two, Camp Three is precariously ______. In other words, "the vista was primarily sky rather than earth."
Impressions of Other Climbers
•Along the way, Krakauer finds himself impressed by his inexperienced colleagues, namely ______.
–Although the two men's political differences drove a wedge between them at first, Krakauer finds himself respecting Weathersfearless pursuit of his goals.
–Krakauer also realizes that his assumptions about many of his fellow climbers’ motivations have been incorrect. He realizes the fellow climbers are climbing to______.
–Despite his pride, Krakauer is a little freaked out—he worries that he has ______(HACE).
•While Hall’s acclimatization plan seems to be working, Krakauer notes that his body is not in good shape. He has lost ______, and he has a very bad ______.
Plans to Summit
•Hall's team descends back to Base Camp over the next several days. This is a momentous occasion, as it marks the ______acclimatization trip—they'll be heading for the summit on ______.
- What could be some factors that would make Hall choose this particular date?
•______team will be attempting the summit the ______, and the other teams, including the Taiwanese and South Africans, have ______.
Krakauer’s Role as a Reporter
•During this ______trip, Krakauer notes that he feels uncomfortable in his role as a ______at this point in the climb.
•No one who signed up to go with Rob Hall originally knew a reporter would be coming along. Krakauer He feels bad that he is taking away the climber’s ______.
•After the expedition, climber Beck Weathers noted that having a reporter with them added a lot of ______.
•“It’s bad enough to go up there and make ______of yourself if it’s just you and the climbing group. That somebody may have you written across the pages of some ______as a buffoon and a clown has got to play upon your psyche as to how you perform, how hard you’ll push,” Weathers said.
Chapter 11: The Ascent
•May 6th 4:30AM- Krakauer’s team leaves base camp for summit attempt
•While at Camp Two, they see ______—29, Swedish, solo climber, left Stockholm in October by bike—on his way back down.
•He climbed all the way to the ______, a mere couple of hundred feet from the top, before deciding he was so exhausted that it would be unsafe for him to press on and that he would be in no condition to descend if he kept going.
•Why is Hall impressed with Kropp?
•May 7th is a “rest day” at Camp Two.
•Doug Hansen and Krakauer talk about getting to the summit. Doug is determined to make it this time, even though his throat is still bothering him.
•Why do you think he is so determined?
•In the afternoon, Scott Fischer arrives, tired and angry because he has had to make special trips to help his clients and has just come back from base camp for the second time.
•Fischer had originally gone to Camp Two ahead of his group and instructed ______ to bring up the rear and help their team.
•Boukreev slept late and left Base Camp 5 hours after his group.
•Because Fischer paid him $25,000 to guide the group, he was understandably angry that Boukreev was not fulfilling his end of the deal.
•Tensions between Fischer and Boukreev spike, largely because Boukreev feels that "'if client cannot climb Everest without big help from guide…this client should not be on Everest'“ (156).
•By this time, Fischer's health has begun to reflect the fact that his guide hasn't been as helpful as he expected.
•What does all of this say about Boukreev’s character? How would you describe him?
•On May 8, Hall’s and Fischer's teams both leave Camp Two and begin to climb up the ______.
•Just beneath Camp Three, a boulder falls from the cliffs above and slams into ______
______chest. He falls, dangling from his rope. They eventually reach the Camp and Harris claims to be okay, acknowledging that had the rock hit him on the head he wouldn't be.
•A few of the members have trouble reaching Camp Three, and need assistance. Two team members, ______, struggle into camp hours later. Krakauer is stunned—Frank is one of the climbers he expected to make it to the summit.
•They begin using supplemental oxygen.
•Some climbers feel that using canned oxygen is cheating.
•The most legendary climber of all, ______, was the first to summit the mountain without oxygen. Many people, especially Sherpas, were skeptical that these men—Westerners—had actually achieved the feat without supplemental oxygen, but investigation yielded support for the claim.
•Two years later, Reinhold made a solo ascent up the Tibetan side of the mountain, again without oxygen.
•Climbing without oxygen is a distinction, but most guides feel that climbing without gas is ______.
•The next morning, a member of the Taiwanese team, Chen Nu-Yan, goes outside to go to the bathroom wearing only the liners of his boots. He slips on the ice and falls down the Lhotse Face.
•He falls into a crevasse after only seventy feet, and survives.
•The Taiwanese leader leaves Chen in the tent to recover, and then tells Hall of his intention to summit on May 10, despite his promise to avoid the peak on that day.
•Why do you think the Taiwanese leader went back on his word?
•Later, Chen suddenly takes a turn for the worse. He is in pain and disoriented, and as he is descending the mountain he suddenly loses consciousness.
•A few minutes later he stops breathing.
•The IMAX team hurries to help, but when they arrive, Chen is dead.
•Gau, the Taiwanese leader, upon hearing of Chen's death, says: "O.K." and announces that no plans for his team have changed.
•Chen’s death is the first that they have experiencedduring this climb.
•How do you think this event will affect the rest of the teams?