Into Thin Air

A Personal Account of the Mt. Everest Disaster

By: Jon Krakauer

Narrated by: Jon Krakauer

Length: 5 hrs and 58 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.

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

Critic reviews

• Publishers Weekly Listen Up Award Winner, Best Audio of 1998, Best of the Best
  Alex Award Winner, 1998

Revisiting Everest

I first read Into Thin Air when I was in middle school, and was recently reminded of my interest, and so decided to listen to the audio version as an adult. I am SO glad I did- the book is even more riveting now than when I first read it, and Krakauer's narration adds a personal touch to a deeply mesmerizing story. I couldn't stop listening and will probably give it another listen again soon.

jon is a god

amazing
thats all i can say. he is the best at taking you to the top with hi.

Tragic story and interesting read

this is a great book but be prepared for something more akin to a deposition than a novel. I wish I'd bought the physical book instead of the audio book as the names were hard to keep track of at times and the narration left a little to be desired. overall a great book, just not a great audiobook.

better than expected

I was a little late to the party on this book. It is great, very gripping start to finish, the pace reminded me of The Perfect Storm. I read John's book on Pat Tillman and it was great as well.

Well done!

Riveting account of the 96' Everest debacle. Well worth your time and a valuable lesson on sacrifice. RR

“What’s all this shuffling?” Sir Robert Swan

Just completed ITA for the 10th+ time including reading and rereading my heavily marked-up copy and listening combined. A friend was headed to climb at the end of March 2020 so I thought a reread was in order before her trip (began listening prior to the 2020 Everest shutdown due to COVID-19). Hearing Jon read his own words is definitely is the best format. As someone who has done many expeditions, including 3 with Rob Swan to the Antartic, where the atmosphere OTW to the Pole can change from “feels like” 16,000ft to feels like 8k+ meters in 15mins, I particularly resonate with Jon’s excellent documentation of multitudes of individual realities while there is theoretically but one “real” truth/fact-set.

Captivating and Heart Breaking

A beautiful balance of adventure and gritty details. The characters did get a little muddled to be because I blew through this book in on sitting. But it was too good to stop everyone's story.

Insanity

A truly head-shaking tale of crazy people. "Because it is there", is that really a reason to do a crazy dangerous almost impossible quest? But wait, it gets better, now people STAND IN LINE to reach the summit of Everest...they stand in line in conditions that WILL kill you...and pay tens of thousands of dollars to do it...all while endangering the Sherpas and tour personnel to be able to say that they did it...sometimes the tour personnel literally drag them or tote them physically to the top so they can say "they did it" Sheesh. I encourage you to read this book so you will not become one of those people.

Highly recommend and unbelievable story

last chapter I couldn't help myself and started crying. a must book for every mountaineers.

A Top-5 Favorite

This is an engaging story, carefully told, with absorbing context. Mr. Krakauer also does an excellent narration. It's among my top-5 favorites.