Into Thin Air Sherpas

  into thin air sherpas: Into Thin Air Jon Krakauer, 1998-11-12 #1 NATIONAL BESTSELLER • The epic account of the storm on the summit of Mt. Everest that claimed five lives and left countless more—including Krakauer's—in guilt-ridden disarray. A harrowing tale of the perils of high-altitude climbing, a story of bad luck and worse judgment and of heartbreaking heroism. —PEOPLE A bank of clouds was assembling on the not-so-distant horizon, but journalist-mountaineer Jon Krakauer, standing on the summit of Mt. Everest, saw nothing that suggested that a murderous storm was bearing down. He was wrong. By writing Into Thin Air, Krakauer may have hoped to exorcise some of his own demons and lay to rest some of the painful questions that still surround the event. He takes great pains to provide a balanced picture of the people and events he witnessed and gives due credit to the tireless and dedicated Sherpas. He also avoids blasting easy targets such as Sandy Pittman, the wealthy socialite who brought an espresso maker along on the expedition. Krakauer's highly personal inquiry into the catastrophe provides a great deal of insight into what went wrong. But for Krakauer himself, further interviews and investigations only lead him to the conclusion that his perceived failures were directly responsible for a fellow climber's death. Clearly, Krakauer remains haunted by the disaster, and although he relates a number of incidents in which he acted selflessly and even heroically, he seems unable to view those instances objectively. In the end, despite his evenhanded and even generous assessment of others' actions, he reserves a full measure of vitriol for himself. This updated trade paperback edition of Into Thin Air includes an extensive new postscript that sheds fascinating light on the acrimonious debate that flared between Krakauer and Everest guide Anatoli Boukreev in the wake of the tragedy. I have no doubt that Boukreev's intentions were good on summit day, writes Krakauer in the postscript, dated August 1999. What disturbs me, though, was Boukreev's refusal to acknowledge the possibility that he made even a single poor decision. Never did he indicate that perhaps it wasn't the best choice to climb without gas or go down ahead of his clients. As usual, Krakauer supports his points with dogged research and a good dose of humility. But rather than continue the heated discourse that has raged since Into Thin Air's denouncement of guide Boukreev, Krakauer's tone is conciliatory; he points most of his criticism at G. Weston De Walt, who coauthored The Climb, Boukreev's version of events. And in a touching conclusion, Krakauer recounts his last conversation with the late Boukreev, in which the two weathered climbers agreed to disagree about certain points. Krakauer had great hopes to patch things up with Boukreev, but the Russian later died in an avalanche on another Himalayan peak, Annapurna I. In 1999, Krakauer received an Academy Award in Literature from the American Academy of Arts and Letters--a prestigious prize intended to honor writers of exceptional accomplishment. According to the Academy's citation, Krakauer combines the tenacity and courage of the finest tradition of investigative journalism with the stylish subtlety and profound insight of the born writer. His account of an ascent of Mount Everest has led to a general reevaluation of climbing and of the commercialization of what was once a romantic, solitary sport; while his account of the life and death of Christopher McCandless, who died of starvation after challenging the Alaskan wilderness, delves even more deeply and disturbingly into the fascination of nature and the devastating effects of its lure on a young and curious mind.
  into thin air sherpas: Into Thin Air Jon Krakauer, 1998-11-12 #1 NATIONAL BESTSELLER • The epic account of the storm on the summit of Mt. Everest that claimed five lives and left countless more—including Krakauer's—in guilt-ridden disarray. A harrowing tale of the perils of high-altitude climbing, a story of bad luck and worse judgment and of heartbreaking heroism. —PEOPLE A bank of clouds was assembling on the not-so-distant horizon, but journalist-mountaineer Jon Krakauer, standing on the summit of Mt. Everest, saw nothing that suggested that a murderous storm was bearing down. He was wrong. By writing Into Thin Air, Krakauer may have hoped to exorcise some of his own demons and lay to rest some of the painful questions that still surround the event. He takes great pains to provide a balanced picture of the people and events he witnessed and gives due credit to the tireless and dedicated Sherpas. He also avoids blasting easy targets such as Sandy Pittman, the wealthy socialite who brought an espresso maker along on the expedition. Krakauer's highly personal inquiry into the catastrophe provides a great deal of insight into what went wrong. But for Krakauer himself, further interviews and investigations only lead him to the conclusion that his perceived failures were directly responsible for a fellow climber's death. Clearly, Krakauer remains haunted by the disaster, and although he relates a number of incidents in which he acted selflessly and even heroically, he seems unable to view those instances objectively. In the end, despite his evenhanded and even generous assessment of others' actions, he reserves a full measure of vitriol for himself. This updated trade paperback edition of Into Thin Air includes an extensive new postscript that sheds fascinating light on the acrimonious debate that flared between Krakauer and Everest guide Anatoli Boukreev in the wake of the tragedy. I have no doubt that Boukreev's intentions were good on summit day, writes Krakauer in the postscript, dated August 1999. What disturbs me, though, was Boukreev's refusal to acknowledge the possibility that he made even a single poor decision. Never did he indicate that perhaps it wasn't the best choice to climb without gas or go down ahead of his clients. As usual, Krakauer supports his points with dogged research and a good dose of humility. But rather than continue the heated discourse that has raged since Into Thin Air's denouncement of guide Boukreev, Krakauer's tone is conciliatory; he points most of his criticism at G. Weston De Walt, who coauthored The Climb, Boukreev's version of events. And in a touching conclusion, Krakauer recounts his last conversation with the late Boukreev, in which the two weathered climbers agreed to disagree about certain points. Krakauer had great hopes to patch things up with Boukreev, but the Russian later died in an avalanche on another Himalayan peak, Annapurna I. In 1999, Krakauer received an Academy Award in Literature from the American Academy of Arts and Letters--a prestigious prize intended to honor writers of exceptional accomplishment. According to the Academy's citation, Krakauer combines the tenacity and courage of the finest tradition of investigative journalism with the stylish subtlety and profound insight of the born writer. His account of an ascent of Mount Everest has led to a general reevaluation of climbing and of the commercialization of what was once a romantic, solitary sport; while his account of the life and death of Christopher McCandless, who died of starvation after challenging the Alaskan wilderness, delves even more deeply and disturbingly into the fascination of nature and the devastating effects of its lure on a young and curious mind.
  into thin air sherpas: The Climb Anatoli Boukreev, G. Weston DeWalt, 2015-09-22 Everest, the major motion picture from Universal Pictures, is set for wide release on September 18, 2015. Read The Climb, Anatoli Boukreev (portrayed by Ingvar Sigurðsson in the film) and G. Weston DeWalt’s compelling account of those fateful events on Everest. In May 1996 three expeditions attempted to climb Mount Everest on the Southeast Ridge route pioneered by Sir Edmund Hillary and Tenzing Norgay in 1953. Crowded conditions slowed their progress. Late in the day twenty-three men and women-including expedition leaders Scott Fischer and Rob Hall-were caught in a ferocious blizzard. Disoriented and out of oxygen, climbers struggled to find their way down the mountain as darkness approached. Alone and climbing blind, Anatoli Boukreev brought climbers back from the edge of certain death. This new edition includes a transcript of the Mountain Madness expedition debriefing recorded five days after the tragedy, as well as G. Weston DeWalt's response to Into Thin Air author Jon Krakauer.
  into thin air sherpas: Buried in the Sky Peter Zuckerman, Amanda Padoan, 2012-06-11 In August 2008, when 11 climbers lost their lives on K2, the world's most dangerous peak, two Sherpas survived and are two of the most skillful mountaineers on earth.
  into thin air sherpas: Tigers of the Snow Jonathan Neale, 2002-06-29 Tigers of the Snow is true story of the tragedy and survival on one of the world's most dangerous mountains. In 1922 Himalayan climbers were British gentlemen, and their Sherpa and Tibetan porters were coolies, unskilled and inexperienced casual laborers. By 1953 Sherpa Tenzing Norgay stood on the summit of Everest, and the coolies had become the Tigers of the Snow. Jonathan Neale's absorbing book is both a compelling history of the oft-forgotten heroes of mountaineering and a gripping account of the expedition that transformed the Sherpas into climbing legends. In 1934 a German-led team set off to climb the Himalayan peak of Nanga Parbat, the ninth highest mountain on earth. After a disastrous assault in 1895, no attempt had been made to conquer the mountain for thirty-nine years. The new Nazi government was determined to prove German physical superiority to the rest of the world. A heavily funded expedition was under pressure to deliver results. Like all climbers of the time, they did not really understand what altitude did to the human body. When a hurricane hit the leading party just short of the summit, the strongest German climbers headed down and left the weaker Germans and the Sherpas to die on the ridge. What happened in the next few days of death and fear changed forever how the Sherpa climbers thought of themselves. From that point on, they knew they were the decent and responsible people of the mountain. Jonathan Neale interviewed many old Sherpa men and women, including Ang Tsering, the last man off Nanga Parbat alive in 1934. Impeccably researched and superbly written, Tigers of the Snow is the compelling narrative of a climb gone wrong, set against the mountaineering history of the early twentieth century, the haunting background of German politics in the 1930s, and the hardship and passion of life in the Sherpa valleys.
  into thin air sherpas: Left for Dead Beck Weathers, Stephen G. Michaud, 2000-09-21 With a new preface by the author • As featured in the upcoming motion picture Everest, starring Jason Clarke, Josh Brolin, John Hawkes, Robin Wright, Emily Watson, Keira Knightley, Sam Worthington, and Jake Gyllenhaal “I can tell you that some force within me rejected death at the last moment and then guided me, blind and stumbling—quite literally a dead man walking—into camp and the shaky start of my return to life.” In 1996 Beck Weathers and a climbing team pushed toward the summit of Mount Everest. Then a storm exploded on the mountain, ripping the team to shreds, forcing brave men to scratch and crawl for their lives. Rescuers who reached Weathers saw that he was dying, and left him. Twelve hours later, the inexplicable occurred. Weathers appeared, blinded, gloveless, and caked with ice—walking down the mountain. In this powerful memoir, now featuring a new Preface, Weathers describes not only his escape from hypothermia and the murderous storm that killed eight climbers, but the journey of his life. This is the story of a man’s route to a dangerous sport and a fateful expedition, as well as the road of recovery he has traveled since; of survival in the face of certain death, the reclaiming of a family and a life; and of the most extraordinary adventure of all: finding the courage to say yes when life offers us a second chance. Praise for Left for Dead “Riveting . . . [a] remarkable survival story . . . Left for Dead takes a long, critical look at climbing: Weathers is particularly candid about how the demanding sport altered and strained his relationships.”—USA Today “Ultimately, this engrossing tale depicts the difficulty of a man’s struggle to reform his life.”—Publishers Weekly
  into thin air sherpas: High Crimes Michael Kodas, 2008-02-05 High Crimes is journalist Michael Kodas's gripping account of life on top of the world--where man is every bit as deadly as Mother Nature. In the years following the publication of Into Thin Air, much has changed on Mount Everest. Among all the books documenting the glorious adventures in mountains around the world, none details how the recent infusion of wealthy climbers is drawing crime to the highest place on the planet. The change is caused both by a tremendous boom in traffic, and a new class of parasitic and predatory adventurer. It's likely that Jon Krakauer would not recognize the camps that he visited on Mount Everest almost a decade ago. This book takes readers on a harrowing tour of the criminal underworld on the slopes of the world's most majestic mountain. High Crimes describes two major expeditions: the tragic story of Nils Antezana, a climber who died on Everest after he was abandoned by his guide; as well as the author's own story of his participation in the Connecticut Everest Expedition, guided by George Dijmarescu and his wife and climbing partner, Lhakpa Sherpa. Dijmarescu, who at first seemed well-intentioned and charming, turned increasingly hostile to his own wife, as well as to the author and the other women on the team. By the end of the expedition, the three women could not travel unaccompanied in base camp due to the threat of violence. Those that tried to stand against the violence and theft found that the worst of the intimidation had followed them home to Connecticut. Beatings, thefts, drugs, prostitution, coercion, threats, and abandonment on the highest slopes of Everest and other mountains have become the rule rather than the exception. Kodas describes many such experiences, and explores the larger issues these stories raise with thriller-like intensity.
  into thin air sherpas: Touching My Father's Soul Jamling T. Norgay, 2002-05-14 In a story of Everest unlike any told before, Jamling Tenzing Norgay gives us an insider's view of the Sherpa world. As Climbing Leader of the famed 1996 Everest IMAX expedition led by David Breashears, Jamling Norgay was able to follow in the footsteps of his legendary mountaineer father, Tenzing Norgay, who with Sir Edmund Hillary was the first to reach the summit of Mount Everest, in 1953. Jamling Norgay interweaves the story of his own ascent during the infamous May 1996 Mount Everest disaster with little-known stories from his father's historic climb and the spiritual life of the Sherpas, revealing a fascinating and profound world that few -- even many who have made it to the top -- have ever seen.
  into thin air sherpas: High Exposure David Breashears, 2000-05-17 The author, a noted mountaineer and cinematographer, describes a lifetime of conquering the world's mountain peaks and discusses his 1996 expedition to Mount Everest to create his IMAX film Everest.
  into thin air sherpas: The Third Pole Mark Synnott, 2022-04-05 ***NPR Books We Love selection*** “If you’re only going to read one Everest book this decade, make it The Third Pole. . . . A riveting adventure.”—Outside Shivering, exhausted, gasping for oxygen, beyond doubt . . . A hundred-year mystery lured veteran climber Mark Synnott into an unlikely expedition up Mount Everest during the spring 2019 season that came to be known as “the Year Everest Broke.” What he found was a gripping human story of impassioned characters from around the globe and a mountain that will consume your soul—and your life—if you let it. The mystery? On June 8, 1924, George Mallory and Sandy Irvine set out to stand on the roof of the world, where no one had stood before. They were last seen eight hundred feet shy of Everest’s summit still “going strong” for the top. Could they have succeeded decades before Sir Edmund Hillary and Tenzing Norgay? Irvine is believed to have carried a Kodak camera with him to record their attempt, but it, along with his body, had never been found. Did the frozen film in that camera have a photograph of Mallory and Irvine on the summit before they disappeared into the clouds, never to be seen again? Kodak says the film might still be viable. . . . Mark Synnott made his own ascent up the infamous North Face along with his friend Renan Ozturk, a filmmaker using drones higher than any had previously flown. Readers witness first-hand how Synnott’s quest led him from oxygen-deprivation training to archives and museums in England, to Kathmandu, the Tibetan high plateau, and up the North Face into a massive storm. The infamous traffic jams of climbers at the very summit immediately resulted in tragic deaths. Sherpas revolted. Chinese officials turned on Synnott’s team. An Indian woman miraculously crawled her way to frostbitten survival. Synnott himself went off the safety rope—one slip and no one would have been able to save him—committed to solving the mystery. Eleven climbers died on Everest that season, all of them mesmerized by an irresistible magic. The Third Pole is a rapidly accelerating ride to the limitless joy and horror of human obsession.
  into thin air sherpas: Sherpa Ang Tharkay, 2016-02-16 • Ang Tharkay was the sirdar for Maurice Herzog’s Annapurna expedition in 1950—the first 8000-meter peak to be climbed • Ang Tharkay was a key member of the 1951 reconnaissance of Everest—which led to the successful 1953 ascent Sherpas have recently been in the public eye, in part because of the 2013 Everest “brawl,” the 2014 avalanche that took the lives of thirteen climbing Sherpas, and the 2015 earthquake that devastated Nepal. These events and others have led to much public discussion about how Sherpas today are treated and viewed by their Western employers. Sherpa expands our understanding of these issues by providing historical context. The autobiography of Ang Tharkay, who was born in 1908 and became one of the most renowned Sherpas of early Himalayan exploration, has long been a collector’s item in the original French-language edition but it has never been available in English until now. In Sherpa, Tharkay describes his experiences traveling with Eric Shipton and H.W. Tilman and as the sirdar (head Sherpa) on Maurice Herzog’s 1950 ascent of Annapurna. Few such Sherpa accounts have been written, and fewer still from these early Himalayan expeditions. Opening with a brief account of Tharkay’s childhood and background, Sherpa then immerses readers in expeditions on Everest, Nanga Parbat, and, of course, Annapurna. Tharkay reveals some of the politics within the Sherpa support teams: petty arguments and shared struggles that went unnoticed or at least unrecorded by those who hired them. Tharkay’s admiration of his employers is leavened with his recognition of their shortcomings, but his affection for the climbers who employed him, and theirs for him, radiates throughout the story. Sherpa includes an original foreword by Tashi Sherpa, founder of Sherpa Adventure Gear and the nephew of Ang Tharkay. He remembers how he and his young cousins worshipped “Agu” (Uncle) as a respected mountaineer and hero, a warm and safe presence for the family.
  into thin air sherpas: Fever 1793 Laurie Halse Anderson, 2011-08-16 It's late summer 1793, and the streets of Philadelphia are abuzz with mosquitoes and rumors of fever. Down near the docks, many have taken ill, and the fatalities are mounting. Now they include Polly, the serving girl at the Cook Coffeehouse. But fourteen-year-old Mattie Cook doesn't get a moment to mourn the passing of her childhood playmate. New customers have overrun her family's coffee shop, located far from the mosquito-infested river, and Mattie's concerns of fever are all but overshadowed by dreams of growing her family's small business into a thriving enterprise. But when the fever begins to strike closer to home, Mattie's struggle to build a new life must give way to a new fight-the fight to stay alive.
  into thin air sherpas: Alone to Everest Earl Denman, 2018-12-01 The story of some of Earl Denman’s mountaineering exploits to Africa, culminating in his journey in 1947 through Tibet to Everest with Tenzing Norgay (later to become one of the first two individuals known to reach the summit of Mount Everest) is here told for the first time. Alone to Everest tells the remarkable story of a remarkable man. Among many present-day accounts of hardship and adventure, it stands out as the testimony of a man for whom modern civilisation and modern equipment mean little, and who is happiest, as he says, “walking barefoot on warm grass or wet rocks; in probing deep into cool, quiet forests; in days of healthy activity and evenings of restfulness spent beside a warming fire.” Denman’s achievements in the Belgian Congo—where with only local guides as companions he became one of the first men to climb all eight of the high and remove Virunga Mountains—made him realise that he would never rest until he had made a similar expedition to the highest mountain in the world. At the time £250 was all he had in the world; his equipment was of the simplest and cheapest. His journey by sea and land to Darjeeling was made under great difficulties. His meeting with Karma Paul, who introduced him to Tenzing and his friend Ang Dowa, was entirely fortuitous; he was expressly forbidden to enter Tibet (Nepal at that time was entirely closed to the Western world). Yet with all these handicaps he and the two Sherpas set off alone from Darjeeling, made their way, with many mishaps, through Sikkim and Tibet to the Rongbuk monastery, and thence to Everest itself. Appalling weather conditions finally drove them back, but not before they had attained a height of 23,500 feet. Everest has now been climbed, and no doubt will be again. But Denman’s feat, though superficially unsuccessful, remains a triumph against fantastic odds.
  into thin air sherpas: Upon that Mountain Eric Shipton, 2015-08-25 Upon that Mountain is the first autobiography of the mountaineer and explorer Eric Shipton. In it, he describes all his pre-war climbing, including his Everest bids of the 1930s, and his second Karakoram survey in 1939, when he returned to Snow Lake to complete the mapping of the ranges flanking the Hispar and Choktoi glacier systems around the Ogre. Crossing great swathes of the Himalaya, the book, like so many of Shipton's works, is both entertaining and an important addition to the mountain literature genre. It captures an important period in mountaineering history - that just before the Second World War - an ends on an elegiac note as Shipton describes his last evening at the starkly-beautiful snow lake, before he returns to a 'civilisation' about to embark on a cataclysmic war.
  into thin air sherpas: Into Thin Air Instaread, 2016-03-10 Into Thin Air by Jon Krakauer | Summary & Analysis Preview: Into Thin Air was published in 1997 by journalist and outdoorsman Jon Krakauer. The book focuses on the events surrounding the 1996 Mount Everest disaster, of which the author was a survivor. In 1996, New Zealander mountaineering expert Robert Hall led a commercial expedition to climb the mountain. Krakauer joined this expedition while on assignment for Outside magazine. That same climbing season, American, Norwegian, South African, and Taiwanese expeditions also attempted to climb Mount Everest, the world’s highest peak. On May 10, 1996, a rogue storm hit Mount Everest as the members of several climbing expeditions descended from the summit. By the end of May 11, eight people were dead. It was the deadliest single incident in the mountain’s history up to that time… PLEASE NOTE: This is summary and analysis of the book and NOT the original book. Inside this Instaread Summary of Into Thin Air: Overview of the book Important People Key Takeaways Analysis of Key Takeaways About the Author With Instaread, you can get the key takeaways, summary and analysis of a book in 15 minutes. We read every chapter, identify the key takeaways and analyze them for your convenience.
  into thin air sherpas: Under the Banner of Heaven Jon Krakauer, 2003 Traces the 1984 murder of a woman and her child by fundamentalist Mormons, exploring the belief systems and traditions that mark the faith's most extreme factions and what their practices reflect about the nature of religion in America.
  into thin air sherpas: Bridging Worlds Pemba Sherpa, James McVey, 2019-09-30 Born into poverty in Nepal, Pemba Sherpa went on to become an accomplished alpinist and successful businessman living in the United States. Today, he works to improve the lives of Sherpas in the Khumbu region of northeast Nepal, overseeing a number of philanthropic projects. Maintaining a foot in two worlds, Pemba shares his unique perspective on the Everest expedition industry, life in America, and the changing Sherpa culture.
  into thin air sherpas: Everest Thomas F. Hornbein, 1998 Details the author and his partner Willi Unsoeld's ascent of Everest's West Ridge in 1963.
  into thin air sherpas: One Mountain Thousand Summits Freddie Wilkinson, 2011-07-05 The account of one of the deadliest and most mysterious tragedies in mountaineering history-the 2008 K2 disaster. One Mountain Thousand Summits reveals the true story of the K2 tragedy that claimed the lives of eleven men. Based on his numerous trips to Nepal and in-depth interviews he conducted with the survivors, the families of the lost climbers, and the Sherpa guides whose heroic efforts saved the lives of at least four climbers, Freddie Wilkinson's narrative uncovers what actually occurred on the mountain, while delivering a criticism of the mainstream press's incomplete coverage of the event, and an insightful look into the lives of the six Sherpas who were involved.
  into thin air sherpas: Eiger Dreams Jon Krakauer, 2009-02-10 No one writes about mountaineering and its attendant hardships and victories more brilliantly than critically acclaimed author Jon Krakauer. In this collection of his finest work from such magazines as Outside and Smithsonian, he explores the subject from the unique and memorable perspective of one who has battled peaks like K2, Denali, Everest, and, of course, the Eiger. Always with a keen eye, an open heart, and a hunger for the ultimate experience, he gives us unerring portraits of the mountaineering experience. Yet Eiger Dreams is more about people than about rock and ice—people with that odd, sometimes maniacal obsession with mountain summits that sets them apart from other men and women. Here we meet Adrian the Romanian, determined to be the first of his countrymen to solo Denali; John Gill, climber not of great mountains but of house-sized boulders so difficult to surmount that even demanding alpine climbs seem easy; and many more compelling and colorful characters. In the most intimate piece, “The Devils Thumb,” Krakauer recounts his own near-fatal, ultimately triumphant struggle with solo-madness as he scales Alaska’s Devils Thumb. Eiger Dreams is stirring, vivid writing about one of the most compelling and dangerous of all human pursuits.
  into thin air sherpas: Three Cups of Deceit Jon Krakauer, 2018-05-02 Greg Mortenson, the bestselling author of Three Cups of Tea, is a man who has built a global reputation as a selfless humanitarian and children’s crusader, and he’s been nominated for the Nobel Peace Prize. But, as bestselling author Jon Krakauer demonstrates in this extensively researched and penetrating book, he is not all that he appears to be. Based on wide-ranging interviews with former employees, board members, and others who have intimate knowledge of Mortenson and his charity, the Central Asia Institute, Three Cups of Deceit uncovers multiple layers of deception behind Mortenson’s public image. Was his crusade really inspired by a desire to repay the kindness of villagers who nursed him back to health when he became lost on his descent down K2? Was he abducted and held for eight days by the Taliban? Has his charity built all of the schools that he has claimed? This book is a passionately argued plea for the truth, and a tragic tale of good intentions gone very wrong. 100% of Jon Krakauer’s proceeds from the sale of Three Cups of Deceit will be donated to the “Stop Girl Trafficking” project at the American Himalayan Foundation (www.himalayan-foundation.org/live/project/stopgirltrafficking).
  into thin air sherpas: Into Hot Air Chris Elliott, 2007-11-14 Comedian Chris Elliott stumbles upon evidence that Sir Edmund Hillary had not been the first person to reach the peak of Mount Everest, when the diary of his great-uncle Percy Brackett Elliott, an eccentric adventurer, mysteriously appears on his doorstep.
  into thin air sherpas: The Abominable Dan Simmons, 2013-10-22 A thrilling tale of high-altitude death and survival set on the snowy summits of Mount Everest, from the bestselling author of The Terror. It's 1924 and the race to summit the world's highest mountain has been brought to a terrified pause by the shocking disappearance of George Mallory and Sandy Irvine high on the shoulder of Mt. Everest. By the following year, three climbers -- a British poet and veteran of the Great War, a young French Chamonix guide, and an idealistic young American -- find a way to take their shot at the top. They arrange funding from the grieving Lady Bromley, whose son also disappeared on Mt. Everest in 1924. Young Bromley must be dead, but his mother refuses to believe it and pays the trio to bring him home. Deep in Tibet and high on Everest, the three climbers -- joined by the missing boy's female cousin -- find themselves being pursued through the night by someone . . . or something. This nightmare becomes a matter of life and death at 28,000 feet - but what is pursuing them? And what is the truth behind the 1924 disappearances on Everest? As they fight their way to the top of the world, the friends uncover a secret far more abominable than any mythical creature could ever be. A pulse-pounding story of adventure and suspense, The Abominable is Dan Simmons at his spine-chilling best.
  into thin air sherpas: Climb Mount Everest Hilary Koll, Steve Mills, Russell Brice, 2006 Step into the shoes of a world-class mountaineer and join an expedition to climb the world's highest mountain. Plan the climb: how high; how long; equipment needed and timing. Use your maths skills to reach the summit and help your team descend again in safety.
  into thin air sherpas: Blind Descent Brian Dickinson, 2014 Former Navy rescue swimmer Brian Dickinson was roughly 1,000 feet from the summit of Mount Everest ... when his Sherpa became ill and had to turn back, leaving Brian with a difficult decision: should he continue to push for the summit, or head back down the mountain? After carefully weighing the options, Brian decided to continue toward the summit ... Four hours later, Brian solo-summited the highest peak in the world, but the celebration was short-lived ... Suddenly, his vision became blurry, his eyes started to burn, and within seconds, he was rendered almost completely blind--Amazon.com.
  into thin air sherpas: Into the Silence Wade Davis, 2011-09-27 A magnificent work of history, biography and adventure. If the quest for Mount Everest began as a grand imperial gesture, as redemption for an empire of explorers that had lost the race to the Poles, it ended as a mission of regeneration for a country and a people bled white by war. Of the twenty-six British climbers who, on three expedtions (1921-24), walked 400 miles off the map to find and assault the highest mountain on Earth, twenty had seen the worst of the fighting. Six had been severely wounded, two others nearly died of disease at the Front, one was hospitalized twice with shell shock. Three as army surgeons dealt for the duration with the agonies of the dying. Two lost brothers, killed in action. All had endured the slaughter, the coughing of the guns, the bones and barbed wire, the white faces of the dead. In a monumental work of history and adventure, ten years in the writing, Wade Davis asks not whether George Mallory was the first to reach the summit of Everest, but rather why he kept on climbing on that fateful day. His answer lies in a single phrase uttered by one of the survivors as they retreated from the mountain: The price of life is death. Mallory walked on because for him, as for all of his generation, death was but a frail barrier that men crossed, smiling and gallant, every day. As climbers they accepted a degree of risk unimaginable before the war. They were not cavalier, but death was no stranger. They had seen so much of it that it had no hold on them. What mattered was how one lived, the moments of being alive. For all of them Everest had become an exalted radiance, a sentinel in the sky, a symbol of hope in a world gone mad.
  into thin air sherpas: View from the Summit Edmund Hillary, Sir Edmund Hillary, 2000-05 In a memoir by the first man to reach the peak of Everest, Hillary discusses the adventures that shaped his life, from the South Pole to the Ganges River.
  into thin air sherpas: No Way Down Graham Bowley, 2011-03-24 Following the stories of climbers from around the world, 'No Way Down' weaves a tale of human courage, folly, survival and loss at the top of one of the highest and most dangerous mountains in the world.
  into thin air sherpas: The Himalayan Database Elizabeth Hawley, Richard Salisbury, 2004-10-01 The historical archives of Elizabeth Hawley-for more than 40 years the meticulous chronicler of mountaineering expeditions in Nepal-are now available on this searchable CD.
  into thin air sherpas: Ultimate High Göran Kropp, David Lagercrantz, 1999 A personal account of one man's determination to climb Mount Everest alone describes how the Swedish climber accomplished his goal, within days of the 1995 tragedy that took the lives of a number of fellow climbers.
  into thin air sherpas: Sheer Will Michael Groom, 1999 This is an updated and revised edition of the autobiography of extraordinary Australian mountaineer Michael Groom which we published in 1997. Even among the many achievement-against-all-setbacks books on the market, Michael Groom's story stands out. In 1987, he lost a third of both his feet to frostbite while climbing one of the world's highest mountains. He was told to forget about an active, outdoor life but by 1990 he had not only taught himself to walk again, he was back climbing the Himalayas. To increase the challenge, Michael climbs without supplementary oxygen, an extraordinary thing to do in the thin oxygen-deprived air at the top of the world. In 1999 Michael climbed Makalu in the Himalayas. Makalu is the fifth highest mountain in the world and it's generally considered to be a harder climb than Everest, which is why so few people have done it. Michael is now one of the very few people in the world to have climbed all six of the six highest mountains. The book features two stunning 8-page colour photo sections, and has an introduction by respected mountaineer Lincoln Hall. Its appeal will reach far beyond those already interested in mountaineering--it is ideal for anyone with a taste for gripping biography, struggle-against-the-odds stories, inspirational books, or travel in Nepal.
  into thin air sherpas: The World Beneath Their Feet Scott Ellsworth, 2020-02-18 Winner of the 2020 National Outdoor Book Award for Best History/Biography A saga of survival, technological innovation, and breathtaking human physical achievement -- all set against the backdrop of a world headed toward war -- that became one of the most compelling international dramas of the 20th century. As tension steadily rose between European powers in the 1930s, a different kind of battle was already raging across the Himalayas. Teams of mountaineers from Great Britain, Nazi Germany, and the United States were all competing to be the first to climb the world's highest peaks, including Mount Everest and K2. Unlike climbers today, they had few photographs or maps, no properly working oxygen systems, and they wore leather boots and cotton parkas. Amazingly, and against all odds, they soon went farther and higher than anyone could have imagined. And as they did, their story caught the world's attention. The climbers were mobbed at train stations, and were featured in movies and plays. James Hilton created the mythical land of Shangri-La in Lost Horizon, while an English eccentric named Maurice Wilson set out for Tibet in order to climb Mount Everest alone. And in the darkened corridors of the Third Reich, officials soon discovered the propaganda value of planting a Nazi flag on top of the world's highest mountains Set in London, New York, Germany, and in India, China, and Tibet, The World Beneath Their Feet is a story not only of climbing and mountain climbers, but also of passion and ambition, courage and folly, tradition and innovation, tragedy and triumph. Scott Ellsworth tells a rollicking, real-life adventure story that moves seamlessly from the streets of Manhattan to the footlights of the West End, deadly avalanches on Nanga Parbat, rioting in the Kashmir, and the wild mountain dreams of a New Zealand beekeeper named Edmund Hillary and a young Sherpa runaway called Tenzing Norgay. Climbing the Himalayas was the Greatest Generation's moonshot-one that was clouded by the onset of war and then, incredibly, fully accomplished. A gritty, fascinating history that promises to enrapture fans of Hampton Sides, Erik Larson, Jon Krakauer, and Laura Hillenbrand, The World Beneath Their Feet brings this forgotten story back to life.
  into thin air sherpas: Touching the Void Joe Simpson, 2012-12-12 The 25th Anniversary ebook, now with more than 50 images. 'Touching the Void' is the tale of two mountaineer’s harrowing ordeal in the Peruvian Andes. In the summer of 1985, two young, headstrong mountaineers set off to conquer an unclimbed route. They had triumphantly reached the summit, when a horrific accident mid-descent forced one friend to leave another for dead. Ambition, morality, fear and camaraderie are explored in this electronic edition of the mountaineering classic, with never before seen colour photographs taken during the trip itself.
  into thin air sherpas: Welcome to the Goddamn Ice Cube Blair Braverman, 2016-07-05 A rich and revelatory memoir of a young woman reclaiming her courage in the stark landscapes of the north. By the time Blair Braverman was eighteen, she had left her home in California, moved to arctic Norway to learn to drive sled dogs, and found work as a tour guide on a glacier in Alaska. Determined to carve out a life as a “tough girl”—a young woman who confronts danger without apology—she slowly developed the strength and resilience the landscape demanded of her. By turns funny and sobering, bold and tender, Welcome to the Goddamn Ice Cube brilliantly recounts Braverman’s adventures in Norway and Alaska. Settling into her new surroundings, Braverman was often terrified that she would lose control of her dog team and crash her sled, or be attacked by a polar bear, or get lost on the tundra. Above all, she worried that, unlike the other, gutsier people alongside her, she wasn’t cut out for life on the frontier. But no matter how out of place she felt, one thing was clear: she was hooked on the North. On the brink of adulthood, Braverman was determined to prove that her fears did not define her—and so she resolved to embrace the wilderness and make it her own. Assured, honest, and lyrical, Welcome to the Goddamn Ice Cube paints a powerful portrait of self-reliance in the face of extraordinary circumstance. Braverman endures physical exhaustion, survives being buried alive in an ice cave, and drives her dogs through a whiteout blizzard to escape crooked police. Through it all, she grapples with love and violence—navigating a grievous relationship with a fellow musher, and adapting to the expectations of her Norwegian neighbors—as she negotiates the complex demands of being a young woman in a man’s land. Weaving fast-paced adventure writing and ethnographic journalism with elegantly wrought reflections on identity, Welcome to the Goddamn Ice Cube captures the triumphs and the perils of Braverman’s journey to self-discovery and independence in a landscape that is as beautiful as it is unforgiving.
  into thin air sherpas: Surviving Hell Leo Thorsness, 2011-04-19 Capture-to-repatriation memoir of an U.S. Air Force combat pilot who spent six years as a prisoner of war in the infamous Hanoi Hilton during the Vietnam War.
  into thin air sherpas: Sacred Mountain Christine Taylor-Butler, 2009 Mount Everest - a place of mystery, majesty and unparalleled beauty - rises higher into the sky than any other mountain on Earth. Many stories have been told about the dangers and triumphs of climbing the summit - but few have been written about the Sherpa, the people who have lived on the mountain for centuries and consider it sacred. With stunning photographs and engaging text, Sacred Mountain presents a unique picture of Mount Everest - its history, ecology and people - that will captivate readers of all ages.
  into thin air sherpas: Coronation Everest Jan Morris, 2000
  into thin air sherpas: Everest Sir Chris Bonington, Charles Clarke, 2002-05-16 Adrenaline Classics continues to bring to the fore the work of the father of modern mountaineering, the celebrated climber and writer, Sir Chris Bonington. Everest—The Unclimbed Ridge is a genuine classic of Everest literature, a book that series editor Clint Willis calls the real climber's Into Thin Air. Bonington and coauthor Charles Clarke tell the story of Bonington's most tragic expedition—a bold attempt on the fearsome Northeast Ridge of Everest. This is the expedition that killed two of Bonington's closest friends—two young men who were part of mountaineering's greatest generation; Joe Tasker and Peter Boardman set out one morning and never made it back. With 24 black-and-white photos and spectacular, edge-of-your-seat climbing, the book offers some of the most moving and powerful moments in modern mountaineering writing. This was an epic, groundbreaking ascent by one of the most talented teams ever to hit the Himalaya.—Stephen Venables (author of Everest: Alone at the Summit)
  into thin air sherpas: Into Thin Air (SparkNotes Literature Guide) SparkNotes, 2014-08-12 Into Thin Air (SparkNotes Literature Guide) by John Krakauer Making the reading experience fun! Created by Harvard students for students everywhere, SparkNotes is a new breed of study guide: smarter, better, faster. Geared to what today's students need to know, SparkNotes provides: *Chapter-by-chapter analysis *Explanations of key themes, motifs, and symbols *A review quiz and essay topicsLively and accessible, these guides are perfect for late-night studying and writing papers
  into thin air sherpas: The Last Climb David Breashears, Audrey Salkeld, 1999-09-30 An account of the doomed attempt by Mallory and Irvine to be the first to reach the summit of Mount Everest in 1924. The remains of Mallory were found in May 1999, 75 years after his disappearance.
"In To" vs. "Into" – What's The Difference? | Dictionary.com
Aug 9, 2022 · In this article, we’ll go into detail about the difference between into and in to, explain when and how each is used, and provide examples of how they typically appear in sentences. The preposition into …

INTO Definition & Meaning - Merriam-Webster
The meaning of INTO is —used as a function word to indicate entry, introduction, insertion, superposition, or inclusion. How to use into in a sentence.

Into vs In To—Learn the Difference with Examples - Grammarly
Dec 16, 2020 · A common error is to confuse into, spelled as one word, with the two words in to. When deciding which is right for your sentence, remember that into is a preposition that shows what something is within or …

INTO | English meaning - Cambridge Dictionary
INTO definition: 1. to the inside or middle of a place, container, area, etc.: 2. used to show when a person or…. Learn more.

Into vs. In to: Should I Use In to or Into? - The Blue Book ...
Jul 19, 2009 · Whether to use the preposition into or the phrase in to can be a source of confusion. We’ll take a closer look at both to help clarify which is correct in its context. Into. Into Meaning: to the inside of Usage …

"In To" vs. "Into" – What's The Difference? | Dictionary.com
Aug 9, 2022 · In this article, we’ll go into detail about the difference between into and in to, explain when and how each is used, and provide examples of how they typically appear in sentences. …

INTO Definition & Meaning - Merriam-Webster
The meaning of INTO is —used as a function word to indicate entry, introduction, insertion, superposition, or inclusion. How to use into in a sentence.

Into vs In To—Learn the Difference with Examples - Grammarly
Dec 16, 2020 · A common error is to confuse into, spelled as one word, with the two words in to. When deciding which is right for your sentence, remember that into is a preposition that shows …

INTO | English meaning - Cambridge Dictionary
INTO definition: 1. to the inside or middle of a place, container, area, etc.: 2. used to show when a person or…. Learn more.

Into vs. In to: Should I Use In to or Into? - The Blue Book ...
Jul 19, 2009 · Whether to use the preposition into or the phrase in to can be a source of confusion. We’ll take a closer look at both to help clarify which is correct in its context. Into. …

Into vs. In To | Difference, Examples & Quiz - Scribbr
Mar 8, 2023 · Into and in to are pronounced the same, but they have different grammatical functions. Into is a preposition used to indicate entry, insertion, collision, or transformation. It …

Into vs. In To: What’s the Difference? - Two Minute English
Mar 28, 2024 · Simply put, into is a preposition that shows movement towards the inside of a place or thing. For example, “She walked into the room.” In contrast, “in to” is used when “in” is …

In To vs Into - Difference and Comparison | Diffen
Into and "in to" are different. Into indicates movement, action or transformation. "In to" is usually used to mean "in order to". When in and to are used as separate words, they are not a …

Into vs. In To: What’s the Difference? - Writing Explained
Into is a preposition and related to direction and movement, answering the questions, “Where?” In to : when paired with each other, in acts as a part of a verbal phrase and to acts as a …

'Into' vs. 'in to': What’s the difference? – Microsoft 365
Nov 3, 2023 · Here’s a simple guide for determining whether you should use “into” or “in to” in your writing: Into typically answers the question, “where?” In to may be considered a …