Into Thin Air

A Personal Account of the Mt. Everest Disaster

By: Jon Krakauer

Narrated by: Philip Franklin

Length: 9 hrs and 8 mins

Publisher's summary

When Jon Krakauer reached the summit of Mt. Everest in the early afternoon of May 10, 1996, he hadn't slept in 57 hours and was reeling from the brain-altering effects of oxygen depletion. As he turned to begin his long, dangerous descent from 29,028 feet, 20 other climbers were still pushing doggedly toward the top. No one had noticed that the sky had begun to fill with clouds.

Six hours later and 3,000 feet lower, in 70-knot winds and blinding snow, Krakauer collapsed in his tent, freezing, hallucinating from exhaustion and hypoxia, but safe. The following morning, he learned that six of his fellow climbers hadn't made it back to their camp and were desperately struggling for their lives. When the storm finally passed, five of them would be dead, and the sixth so horribly frostbitten that his right hand would have to be amputated.

Into Thin Air is the definitive account of the deadliest season in the history of Everest by the acclaimed journalist and author of the best seller Into the Wild. On assignment for Outside Magazine to report on the growing commercialization of the mountain, Krakauer, an accomplished climber, went to the Himalayas as a client of Rob Hall, the most respected high-altitude guide in the world.

A rangy, 35-year-old New Zealander, Hall had summited Everest four times between 1990 and 1995 and had led 39 climbers to the top. Ascending the mountain in close proximity to Hall's team was a guided expedition led by Scott Fischer, a 40-year-old American with legendary strength and drive who had climbed the peak without supplemental oxygen in 1994. But neither Hall nor Fischer survived the rogue storm that struck in May 1996.

Krakauer examines what it is about Everest that has compelled so many people - including himself - to throw caution to the wind, ignore the concerns of loved ones, and willingly subject themselves to such risk, hardship, and expense.

Written with emotional clarity and supported by his unimpeachable reporting, Krakauer's eyewitness account of what happened on the roof of the world is a singular achievement. Into the Wild is available on audio, read by actor Campbell Scott.

©1997 Jon Krakauer (P)1997 Bantam Doubleday Dell Audio Publishing, Bantam Doubleday Dell Audio Publishing, A Division of Random House Inc.

Critic reviews

"Into Thin Air ranks among the great adventure books of all time...a book of rare eloquence and power that could remain relevant for centuries." (Galen Rowell, The Wall Street Journal)

"No added dramatics are needed for the listener to imagine the high-altitude cold, fear, bravado and sense of total isolation felt by all who were trapped beyond help, as well as by those who survived. Franklin’s emulations of the multinational voices of guides, clients and Sherpas bring one still closer to the action." (AudioFile)

Crazy Story

Hearing the story of the tragedy directly from John was amazing. I think we can all take away something from his experience.

excellent book & excellent reading

I read the book last year and decided to re-read it on Audible. I'm glad I did. the reading of Into Thin Air was very well done! harrowing story told with compassion.

Very well told version of what happened.

The author was very detailed with the months leading up to, what happened during, and the months after the horrible storm that caused so many deaths on Mount Everest during the climbing season in 1996. I felt like I was there with him at many times. Such a tragedy that occurred. Well worth listening to. I bought the book after watching the film about the tragedy.

Detailed accounts of a horrific accident

He does an amazing job of bringing you into the story and it makes you feel like you were beside him on the journey. What a heart wrenching story to tell. Human adversity and pushing your limits...wow!

Spellbinding

So well written that I could almost feel the cold, hear the howling wind, and feel fear of being left alone on the dangerous track to Everest's summit.

Amazing. Frightening. Breath holding suspense. The best 'trip' to Everest!
This is as close to climbing any huge mountain, as I ever wish to be.

Great story, Narrator sometimes repeats sentences

There are some nstances where I think the narrator may be a different person too

Great book, The many individuals can be confusing

Great book- and I'm a critical rater. It almost even makes me want to go outside into cold weather- thank goodness books allow us to live such things by proxy. I found the numerous individuals in the book confusing and difficult to follow, Jon Krakauer could have easily made this book 3x as long and elaborate and detail each individual more in depth- as an homage to them and for the sake of making his story more clear. Although the book accurately portrays the morbidity of Mt. Everest, it is hard to truly fathom the icy mountain crevasses and conditions. I highly recommend simultaneously checking out one of the many movies made regarding Mt. Everest to appreciate its dangers and the descriptions in the book. Jon Krakauer did a fantastic job telling the story of a killer mountain. He is a true old-school journalist of a golden era- defined by enlightening ethical storytelling with gripping morals to his tale.

Good story

Story was good. So much more detail than the movie and it helped a lot with the story line. The narrator was pretty monotone and dry. Would have liked to have more expression from the narrator. Was hard at times following who was who. The book ended strangely as well.

great listen

highly recommend, well written and well read. very descriptive and well done. it really dives you into the story and the perspective of everyone involved.

Book is wonderful, narration is not

A fascinating, engaging book with evocative language that pulls the reader in. I listened to it almost in one go. Krakauer's skill as a writer really shines; I had already read about the disaster, but his narrative deepens and personalizes it. The level of language is fairly high, but he isn't pretentious and doesn't talk down to the reader. I don't often read memoirs because they're so often self-aggrandizing or self-flagellating, but Krakauer is reflective without being either of those things.

That said, the narration is wretched. The narrator's voice and affect is fairly good, but it's clear no one directed him or the VA director was bad. The mispronunciation of "Himalaya" throughout was grating enough, but then he attempted, VERY badly, several different accents. There was absolutely no need for this, especially since it was clear the narrator did not know how to do any of the accents he portrayed. His New Zealand accent was Australian, his South African was a combination of Russian and Irish, his Russian was almost indistinguishable from the South African one, and his Texas accent was more like a broad, stereotypical, general Southern one. His narration of the Sherpas' dialogue came very close to being offensive. Unless someone's accent is very important to their character, you shouldn't try to do it.