Into Thin Air By Jon Krakauer

Risk Takers What do you think is the most dangerous sport: White-water rafting Skydiving Something else??? On a piece of paper, choose a sport that is extremely risky and list the dangers involved. Write at least THREE (3) ways the sport is dangerous. As we read “Into Thin Air,” compare those risks with the risks involved in climbing Mount Everest.

Gasping for Breath With an altitude of 29,028 feet, Mount Everest is the highest peak on earth. Mountain climbers call the region above 26,000 feet the Death Zone because the air is too thin for humans. At that altitude, brain cells die, the blood grows thick, the heart speeds up, and the brain can swell – leading to death.

Gasping for Breath In spite of these risks, reaching the top of Everest has become a status symbol. By the 1990s, even people with little experience and poor physical conditioning were climbing Everest.

Jon Krakauer Jon Krakauer was one of those climbers. A journalist, he was hired by Outside magazine to write about the trend of unskilled climbers buying their way onto Everest. The story opens up with Krakauer on top of the mountain and the hardest part still to come. He had been warned that “any idiot can get up this hill. The trick is to get back down alive.”

Words to Know Vocabulary

Cognizant Aware.

Compulsively To do something because of an irresistible impulse.

Critical Determining an outcome; crucial; very important.

Escalate To increase in intensity.

Hindsight A full knowledge of events after they have occurred.

Initiative The will or power to start something.

Meander To follow a winding path.

Obscuring Hiding from view.

Obstinacy Stubbornness

Supplemental Extra; additional.

Word Choice Into Thin Air

Word Choice Writers use language to express their thoughts and feelings. To do this well, they must choose exactly the right words. In one passage, Jon Krakauer describes a delay that occurred as he was climbing down Everest with a low oxygen supply: “I encountered a clot of climbers chuffing up the single strand of rope.” The word clot can also mean a lump that stops blood flow. By choosing this word, Krakauer shows that there’s a major obstacle in the way of him getting down, and that he is feeling that he is in danger.

Determining a Writer’s Motive Into Thin Air

A Writer’s Motives Many different motives, or reasons, make people want to write. Possible motives for writers of eyewitness accounts include: To record the facts for history To analyze mistakes in order to prevent future problems To explain their own behavior To explain the behavior of others

A Writer’s Motives When choosing which events and people to include in their accounts, writers must pick what ideas will best serve the purpose of the story. For example, Krakauer writes about a blinded climber’s response when he offers help: “’Thanks anyway,’ Beck said. ‘I think I’ll just wait for Mike. He’s got a rope.’” Krakauer includes that part to explain why he left Beck alone on the mountain – which was something that left Beck’s life in danger.