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. Weston De Walt, who coauthored The Climb, Boukreev's version of events. 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. 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. 'What disturbs me, though, was Boukreev's refusal to acknowledge the possibility that he made even a single poor decision. 'I have no doubt that Boukreev's intentions were good on summit day,' writes Krakauer in the postscript, dated August 1999.

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.

In the end, despite his evenhanded and even generous assessment of others' actions, he reserves a full measure of vitriol for himself. 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. 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. Krakauer's highly personal inquiry into the catastrophe provides a great deal of insight into what went wrong. He also avoids blasting easy targets such as Sandy Pittman, the wealthy socialite who brought an espresso maker along on the expedition. 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. Everest, saw nothing that 'suggested that a murderous storm was bearing down.' He was wrong.īy 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. 'A harrowing tale of the perils of high-altitude climbing, a story of bad luck and worse judgment and of heartbreaking heroism.' - PEOPLEĪ bank of clouds was assembling on the not-so-distant horizon, but journalist-mountaineer Jon Krakauer, standing on the summit of Mt. Everest that claimed five lives and left countless more-including Krakauer's-in guilt-ridden disarray.

The epic account of the storm on the summit of Mt.

Krakauer into thin air