Into Thin Air brings to mind a number of different aspects of mountaineering that must be addressed. For one thing, Into Thin Air is notably different than other mountaineering accounts, like Annapurna and The White Spider because it is much more modern and more recent account. Because of that, the dynamics of mountaineering are completely different than they were in these previous accounts. The biggest change that seems to have come in mountaineering, from the time of first ascents like that of Annapurna to the disaster that Krakauer is recounting, seems to be the sheer number of people on the mountain at one time. Rather than one national team, there were so many teams it could be hard to keep track of who was with what team and where they were from. Some of these teams were national, like the South African, Taiwanese, and Japanese, and commercial tourist teams like those put on by companies like Adventure Consultants. I think that this brings an entirely new element to high-altitude mountaineering, and I think that is, what in part led to the disaster that occurred on the tenth and eleventh of May. Krakauer even notes that 34 people began summit attempts around the same time. This, without a doubt, has to bring a lot of danger to climbing, as that number of people brings in so many more variables than in the past. How are you supposed to account for that many people on top of the world’s highest mountain? Sure, it helps that they are divided up into teams, but that does not excuse the fact that this brings in so much more danger. I think of Krakauer’s experience being delayed at the Hillary Step. That was seriously not a safe situation at all. Along with that, it seemed the guides had a hard time keeping track of everybody and keeping people together. Krakauer had to wait for the slower members of his party a lot, and was eventually told to go on ahead, but people were so spread out, no one really knew where some people were at certain points, again, it seems to be an unnecessary danger on such a dangerous mountain.

I enjoyed how well Krakauer introduced the danger that comes with being at high altitude simply because of how it affected the human body. This, I think, plays a key role in how Krakauer is describing the events that led to the tragedy that occurred. No one, it seems, was able to think clearly, which of course comes with the territory. Krakauer’s account of when he thought he ran into Andy Harris, and two months later discovered he had actually interacted with Martin Adams. It is an incredibly sad story, but the fact that altitude affected the mind in that way, where it is even difficult to distinguish between people, shows just how dangerous and serious high altitude climbing can be. I think it shows just how much error there can be when life and death situations come down to decision making. How are you supposed to depend on the brain to make the right choice, when it is under that kind of stress? Krakauer does an excellent job of bringing that into his account, and I think, making sure that people understand how much high altitude alone plays a part when disaster strikes.