Before I read the book “Into Thin Air” I wasn’t into Mount Everest or mountain climbing. Climbing Mount Everest wasn’t something that appealed to me. Jon Krakauer is a fantastic writer. The book begins with Krakauer on top of the Mountain. He is cold and tired and has a hard time feeling anything at all.

Krakauer describes the dangers of climbing the mountain and everything he sees on his way up the mountain. Krakauer envies a man by the name of Scott Fischer who has climbed Everest before and climbed all the way up and down the mountain without an oxygen mask. While Krakauer is very inspired by the man, he also finds him to be a little bit crazy.
He is very observant about his surroundings. In some parts of the book he notices some of the climber’s new climbing boots. In other parts he discovers how the elevation is affecting the group as well as himself. He feels like most of the other climbers lack climbing experience and are holding the more experienced climbers back.

Krakauer notices how intense the climbing conditions are and what they are doing to him and the other climbers. He has a lot of determination to reach the top of Mount Everest, which is still important to him even if it is harder than he expected. Injures and climbing conditions become harder for the climbers to continue. Injures that consist of frost bit and falling boulders make the climb very difficult. They are very close to the top but the conditions are getting too difficult for some of the less experienced climbers to make it to the top before the turn around time.

Krakauer is feeling really sick from the elevation and some of the people in his climbing group have been stricken with hypothermia or hypoxia. Later in the evening of May 10th Krakauer starts to worry about some of the climbers that should’ve made their way back to base camp but haven’t returned yet. He worries about one climber in particular, Andy Harris. I think Andy Harris is a great climber; he is the leader of Krakauer’s climbing group. He helps some of the slower climbers make their way back to the base camp. The book ends with a safe descent back down the mountain.


I would recommend this book to anyone that enjoys Mount Everest or Mountain climbing. This book is great for teens, young adults, and anyone who loves Jon Krakauer’s writing. It is a great read and is a very likable book for people who enjoy Mount Everest.