Into Thin Air is a first-person account of a climbing expedition that went horrifically wrong. Krakauer, a journalist, was hired by Outside, an adventure magazine, to join a mountain climbing team whose purpose was to attain the summit of Mount Everest in May 1996. He recounts his journey to Nepal, his hike to Everest Base Camp, his climb to higher altitudes, and his successful ascent to the summit. At the same time, he familiarizes readers with his companions, a host of climbers of diverse nationalities from his and other concurrent expeditions. In fact, there are so many relevant characters in the narrative that it is sometimes difficult to keep track of them, especially since Krakauer alternates between using the first names and the last names of the major players. For the most part, all is well during the weeks of preparation and acclimatization, as they ascend from primary camps to camps at higher altitudes, but the day of the climb turns disastrous when a storm with gale-force winds sweeps the top of the mountain. Although Krakauer himself makes it off the peak successfully, numerous men and women in his and other expeditions do not. In all, eight climbers die in the blizzard-like conditions.

Krakauer was an experienced mountaineer, but he had never attempted to climb at such a high altitude before. His account of the journey and the resultant tragedy is visceral in its intensity. What began as high adventure became a relentless catastrophe for all involved. In gut-wrenching detail we learn the perils of attempting to survive at that altitude. In the face of temperatures far below zero where the lack of oxygen can render climbers imbecilic and sluggish, most of those who could still function responded heroically, but there was a lot of confusion, garbled communications, missed rendezvous, and so on. Krakauer explains that in the aftermath of the disaster there was much controversy about some of the decisions the guides and clients made, and also about his take of what happened in the narrative he shared in his magazine article.

This account works as a rousing tale of adventure; as I read, however, I had mixed feelings about the motivations of the characters. After all, I’ve never had the urge to climb mountains, or at least to climb with the sole purpose of attaining the summits of formidable peaks. I’ve hiked through the Olympic Range in Washington State, and I’ve followed unmarked trails into the Himalayan Mountains alone without maps or guide, but I’ve never felt compelled to climb to the top of a mountain just because it is there. The vast majority of the people on this planet, in fact, share this indifference. For a time, therefore, as I was reading, I wondered how to approach this story. Without this motivation, what was the point? I found it difficult to empathize with people who would risk their lives for such a nebulous distinction. But then I realized that we are all mountain climbers in a metaphorical sense; however, instead of climbing physical mountains we reach for other goals that are just as difficult and dangerous to attain. And our efforts do not always lead to success. Often they end in confusion and despair. Into Thin Air, therefore, becomes a parable of striving for near-impossible goals.

Ultimately, the measure of your courage is not whether or not you reach the top, but how you react when faced with human tragedy along the way. Do you stop to assist, or do you continue onward toward your objective, ignoring the needs around you? In the end, it is not so important who makes it to the top of the mountain. A victory won at the expense of others is a hollow victory; in fact, it is a defeat. All of us have different goals in life, and many of us pursue those goals as avidly as mountain climbers attempting to summit Everest. But we should never lose sight of the fact that the decisions we make along the way are just as important, and often even more important, than reaching the end of the line.