Into Thin Air Study Questions
Chapter One – EVEREST SUMMIT - May 10, 1996 (29,028 feet)
1)What is Jon Krakauer’s condition as he reaches the summit?
2)What was the difficulty he faced on the way back down?
3)What was happening on the mountain?
4)Why do you think the book starts here?
Chapter Two – DEHRA DUN, INDIA- 1852 (2,234 feet)
1)Why does this chapter flash back to 1852? What is important about this year?
2)How far did the first Everesters have to travel before finally getting to the base of the mountain?
3)What happened to Mallory and Irvine in 1924?
4)What did Hillary and Tenzing do on May 29, 1953?
5)What else was happening in England at this time?
6)When Krakauer was climbing, why did he and his friends look down on the idea of climbing Everest?
7)What are the Seven Summits?
8)What was the problem with so many people hiking Everest?
Chapter Three – OVER NORTHERN INDIA - March 29, 1996 (30,000 feet)
1)What was Krakauer’s realization while on the airplane?
2)What was Rob Hall’s background?
3)How much was a guided trip to Everest?
4)What did Krakauer think of his new teammates?
5)How was this team different from the climbers Krakauer previously climbed with?
6)What was Krakauer’s hope at the end of this chapter?
Chapter Four – PHAKDING – March 31, 1996 9, 186 Feet
1)What is the temperature like in the Everest region – it lies at 28 degrees north latitude. What is the day like? What is the night like?
2)Who is Mike Groom?
3)What was Beck Weathers like, now that Krakauer got to know him at dinner?
4)Who are Sherpas? What is their life like, and why are they used to help climbers?
5)What did the lama want to eagerly show the Americans?
6)What is Andy Harris like? What were he and his wife working on?
7)At dinner, they started talking about the inherent risks of climbing. What were they certain would happen sooner or later? Why would it affect them?
8)What was so horrible about Lobuje?
9)What did they use there for heating? Why did this cause problems?
10)What happened to Tenzing?
Chapter Five – LOBUJE – April 8, 1996 – 16,200 feet
1)How many Sherpas did it take to rescue Tenzing?
2)What’s wrong with Andy (they call him Harold)?
3)What was the altitude of Everest Base Camp?
4)What did it look like?
5)How has the Base Camp gotten cleaner in recent years?
6)Rob Hall often gave advice to Scott Fischer. Who was he?
7)How did Adventure Consultants and Mountain Madness mirror the personalities of their respective leaders?
8)What drove Scott Fischer?
9)Why were Rob Hall and Scott Fisher both desperate to have Jon Krakauer, the Outside Magazine reporter, go on their expedition? Why did they offer him a discount?
10)How is Krakauer feeling in Base Camp? What’s wrong?
11) Who is Doug Hansen?
12)How does Doug Hansen feel? Why is this trip so important to him?
13)What is Rob Hall’s plan for getting everyone used to the altitude quick
Chapter Six – EVEREST BASE CAMP – April 12, 1996 – 17,600 Feet
1)How many people were on Hall’s team (counting the Sherpas)?
2)What was the plan for getting above Base Camp?
3)When would they reach Camp Four?
4)What was Krakauer worried about as they got ready for the round-trip climb to Camp One?
5)Where did most people do their training?
6)What different types of crevasses would they have to climb over?
7)What is the Khumbu Icefall?
8)Why is “inner voice” important on the mountain?
9)What was wrong with Krakauer’s inner voice?
10)What was hardest about the Icefall?
11)What was dangerous about the Icefall?
12) How big was the “serac”?
13)Does Krakauer still think climbing Everest is a simple “Yak Route”?
14)Krakauer used this time to evaluate his peers. What did he think of Beck and Yasuko?
15)Why did Krakauer get a headache?
16)What was the reason Krakauer gave his wife for going to Everest? Why did he really decide to go? How is their marriage?
Chapter Seven – CAMP ONE – April 13, 1996 – 19,500 feet
1)What type of people were attracted to Mount Everest?
2)What happened to Earl Denman?
3)When happened to Maurice Wilson?
4)Some people on this current trip were quite experienced. Why did Pete Schoening join Fischer’s Mountain Madness group?
5)Other groups were not very experienced. What was worrisome about the Taiwanese expedition?
6)Another inexperienced group was Petter Neby’s group. Who was he?
7)Or the South Africans. What problems were they having?
8)What were Rob Hall’s worries at the end of this chapter?
Chapter Eight – CAMP ONE – April 16, 1996 – 19,500 feet
1)Why was climbing over the “Mousetrap” so scary?
2)Why did shoveling 2 shovelfuls of snow tire out Jon Krakauer?
3)When they left for the hike to Camp Two, the weather was brutally cold. What happened when the sun came out?
4)At 21,000 feet, what did they find under the blue tarp?
5)Who was Ngawang Topche? What happened to him?
6)Why was this unexpected for a Sherpa?
7)When they realized Ngawang was seriously ill, where were Fischer’s guides?
8)Why didn’t they initially use a helicopter to get Ngawang to the hospital?
9)What was the “internet warp,” and how did it affect information on the mountain?
10) Who was Sandy Hill Pittman (a main character)?
11)How many times had she tried to climb the mountain?
12) How is the way Sandy is climbing the mountain different from the rest?
Chapter Nine – CAMP TWO – April 28, 1996 – 21, 300 feet
1)What is Doug “getting too old for”?
2)What formed on the inside of the tent fabric at night?
3)Why was Krakauer cold?
4)After the weather changed, they headed back. What health effects was Doug suffering from?
5)Why weren’t there guide ropes between Camp 3 and Camp 4?
6)Why did people believe that a climber had offended the goddess of the sky?
7)Describe the stone altars that are built each year for every expedition?
8)Who is Lopsang? Which team is he with?
9)How many times has Lopsang reached the top?
Chapter Ten – LHOTSE FACE – April 29, 1996 – 23,400 feet
1)What was Krakauer’s realization about climbing the mountain?
2)How did Krakauer come to respect Beck Weathers?
3)Why was Krakauer becoming uncomfortable in his role as a journalist?
4)What did Beck Weathers think of having a reporter along?
5)How did Beck think Krakauer influenced Rob Hall?
6)What was Camp Three like?
7)What is HACE?
8)What was the return to Base Camp like? Did Rob Hall’s acclimation plan work?
9)Why was May 10th the best date to reach the summit?
10)Why did this small window cause a problem?
Chapter Eleven – BASE CAMP – May 6, 1996 – 17,600 Feet
1)How did Krakauer try to prevent damage from solar radiation?
2)What adventures did Goran Kropp run into in his attempt to get to Everest?
3)And then what did Kropp do 60 minutes before reaching the top?
4)What was Hall’s observation about Kropp’s decision?
5)How was Scott Fisher acting?
6)Why was he exhausted?
7)Why was Fisher exasperated by Boukreev?
8)What happened to Andy Harris as they climbed the Lhotse Face?
9)On Camp Three, without the Sherpas, what did everyone have to do?
10) Why was there a debate over bottled oxygen?
11) Why didn’t Krakauer use the oxygen mask at night?
12) What were the dangers of going to the bathroom on the mountainside?
13) What happened after Chen died?
Chapter Twelve – CAMP THREE – May 9, 1996 – 24,000 Feet
1)How many climbers were lined up in front of Krakauer?
2)Why did he want to get to the front of the line?
3)What time did he get to the South Col, where they would launch their summit attempt?
4)What was scattered all around Camp Four?
5)What was Lopsang Jubar carrying that was so heavy??
6)What happened to the leader of the South African team?
7)Why was Krakauer feeling disconnected?
8)How had the 363 pounds of Oxygen gotten to the Sol? How many people was it good for?
9)What time did they start their climb? How many were in Hall’s group? How many were in the Mountain Madness group?
10) Why did Frank quit? What made Doug Hansen not?
11) What rules had Hall set for the team?
12) How was Sandy Pittman getting up the mountain?
13) Why was Lopsang feeling sick?
Chapter Thirteen – SOUTHEAST RIDGE – May 10, 1996 – 27,600 Feet
1)What is survival dependent upon in the Death Zone?
2)What would happen after 5-6pm?
3)What was Hall worried about, since no one had yet reached the top this season?
4)Why didn’t any Sherpas leave ahead of them to fix this?
5)How did Yasuko almost mess up?
6)What was causing the traffic jam?
7)What was the turn-around time? Why was it not specific?
8)Why did 3 clients turn around at 11:30?
9)Why did the drive to get to the top run opposite to what is needed at the top?
10) What did it feel like to climb on Oxygen?
11) What was it like to reach the top?
Chapter Fourteen – SUMMIT – May 10, 1996 – 29,028 Feet
1)What souvenirs did Krakauer have in his backpack? Why didn’t he take them out?
2)What did Adams recognize in the weather that Krakauer didn’t?
3)What did Andy accidentally do? How did that impair Krakauer?
4)What was Rob Hall upset about, when he ran into Krakauer?
5)What was supposed to be waiting at the South Summit?
6)What did Andy Harris say that panicked them all?
7)What was wrong with Andy, and why couldn’t he understand the bottles were full of oxygen?
8)What was going to haunt Krakauer for the rest of his life?
9)Why had Beck Weathers not continued on? What was wrong with him?
10) Krakauer almost got Beck to follow him, but what did he accidentally say that changed Beck’s mind?
11) What habit had been ingrained in Krakauer from his years of climbing?
12) Who did Krakauer think he saw when waiting before the final descent down the glassy slope to the tents?
Chapter Fifteen – SUMMIT – May 10, 1996 – 29,028 Feet
1)Why was Beidleman worried at 2pm?
2)What was supposed to be Scott’s responsibility?
3)What time did Fischer reach the top? And Doug Hansen?
4)Why was Scott Fischer sick during this attempt to climb Everest?
5)What’d they have to do to keep Pittman together?
6)What was Namba not able to understand?
7)Why couldn’t they find the camp? What was the danger of wondering blindly on the Col?
8)How many people were in the huddle, waiting for a break in the storm?
9)Why did Stuart Hutchinson go out alone to find the lost climbers?
10)Who was too weak to walk back to the tents?
11)Why would people question Boukreev’s actions as a guide?
12) Why weren’t the Sherpas able to help?
13)Why did the rescuers only take Sandy Pittman? What had happened to Yasuko and Beck?
Chapter Sixteen – SOUTH COL – May 11, 1996 – 26,000 Feet
1)Who was missing?
2)When Krakauer saw the tracks by the edge of the cliff, what did he think happened?
3)What difficult phone call needed to be made?
4)With everything in chaos, what did the team want to borrow from the South Africans? What did they say?
5)After coming home and writing his article in Outside, Krakauer finally interviewed Martin Adams. What did Adams clarify?
6)Why did Krakauer have “some explaining to do”?
Chapter Seventeen – SUMMIT – May 10, 1996 – 29,028 Feet
1)What time did Scott Fischer head down from the summit?
2)When Rob Hall met Hansen, how far past the turn-around time were they?
3)What were some reasons Hall let Hansen summit so late?
4)Why didn’t Rob Hall get the last 2 full bottles from the South Summit?
5)Why did Lopsang leave Andy Harris?
6)What was Andy Harris’ last act?
7)Why did Lopsang have to secure himself to Scott Fischer with a rope?
8)When Lopsang headed back to camp alone, he went down too far, and had to climb back up the cliff edge to get to the tents. How did this add to later confusion?
9)Why did Hall stay with Hansen on the Hillary Step?
10) Rob Hall made it to the South Summit on his own, but why weren’t the oxygen canisters useful?
11) How was a possible rescue of Hall much more difficult than that of Pittman and Fox?
12) Why did the rescuers leave Scott Fischer behind?
13) How many days would it be before they found Rob Hall’s body?
Chapter Eighteen – NORTHEAST RIDGE – May 10, 1996 – 28,550 Feet
1)When Doug Hansen made it to the top, what other team radioed saying that they had also made it?
2)What was “summit fever”?
3)The remaining members reached the “top,” but where were they actually?
4)While the one team was lost on the South Col, who set out to reach the summit?
5)When they came across a survivor, did they stop and help?
6)What was the Japanese team’s explanation for why they didn’t help the other 2 climbers they can across?
7)Why is morality different above 8,000 meters?
8)What happened when the rest of the Indo-Tibetan team tried again to reach the summit?
Chapter Nineteen – SOUTH COL – May 11, 1996 – 26,000 Feet
1)What somber actuality sank in with “paralyzing force”?
2)What was the flaw in encouraging the climbers to rely entirely on their guides?
3)What was Namba’s condition when they found her?
4)What was Beck’s condition? What did the Sherpas decide to do about them?
5)Which teams postponed their summit plans in order to help Hall’s expedition?
6)What did Breashers offer to help?
7)At 4:35pm, who showed up in camp?
8)Boukreev finds Scott. What is his condition? What does he decide to do?
9)What was the weather like that night?
10)How did Beck weather the storm?
Chapter Twenty – THE GENEVA SPUR – May 12, 1996 – 25,900 Feet
1)How was exhaustion making their descent perilous?
2)Back at Camp Two, what had their mess tent been turned into?
3)How as Beck able to walk down?
4)When was the last time helicopters had landed in the Cwm?
5)Why could Gau no longer walk or stand?
6)What did this mean for Beck?
Chapter Twenty-One – EVEREST BASE CAMP – May 13, 1996 – 17,600 Feet
1)What did people do at the memorial service for the Mountain Madness encampment?
2)How was Krakauer dealing with surviving the ordeal?
3)Of the six climbers on Hall’s expedition who made it to the summit, who survived?
4)What guilt haunted Krakauer?
5)What were some of the things Krakauer listed as reasons the tragedy happened?
6)How could tragedies be prevented in the future?
7)How did the “murderous outcome of 1996” compare to other years?
8)Who/what does Krakauer ultimately blame for the tragedy?
9)How does Paula Viesturs react to her husband’s decision for the IMAX team to continue climbing?
Epilogue – SEATTLE – November 29, 1996 – 270 Feet
1)What was the reaction to Krakauer’s article in Outside magazine?
2)What happened to Anatoli Boukreev after the climb?
3)What was the reaction to Sandy Pittman’s story?