Into Thin Air – Jon Krakauer

Hot on the heels of Seven Years in Tibet, I stayed in the Himalaya to read Jon Krakauer’s personal account of the 1996 Everest disaster. Timely, given that until April’s avalanche, the 1996 deaths were the highest in any single event on the mountain.

A gripping read, albeit slightly ghoulish, and one that has generated its own controversy.

I’ve since read more online – Beck Weathers’ miraculous survival and Ken Kamler’s TED Talk about it Medical miracle on Everest, what happened next to Sandy Hill Pittman, an obituary of Anatoli Boukreev who died 18 months later in an avalanche on Annapurna, Neal Beidleman‘s thoughts on his return to Everest 15 years after surviving the disaster, and revisiting David Breashears’s GlacierWorks website.

And, finally, watched all of the Endeavour: Everest series shown on BBC4 last winter – a series of stunning documentary films by Leo Dickinson: Everest By Canoe, Without Oxygen, By Balloon.

Publisher page: Into Thin Air – Jon Krakauer