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Jon Krakauer, one of eight clients on the Adventure Consultants climbing expedition in the spring of 1996, reached the summit of Mt. Everest on May 10, 1996. Surging to the top with parts of two other expeditions, Krakauer was one of the first individuals to reach the mountain top that day. What he did not realize then, a fact which only became apparent in the coming days, is that he was one of the last to reach the summit safely that day. For as he began his descent, a torrential storm ripped across the mountain, killing eight climbers and changing the lives of countless others. Into Thin Air is his tale, as well as theirs, illustrating the mountain's majestic beauty as well as its fearsome might.

Jon Krakauer, an Outside magazine journalist in his early forties, wrote Into Thin Air in late 1996 and early 1997 in order to capture on paper the Mt. Everest ordeal, as well as its impact on the survivors. A happily married man and "reformed" climber, Krakauer was lured to the expedition by Outside magazine, which sponsored his voyage in exchange for a feature article. Placed with Everest legend Rob Hall and his Adventure Consultants outfit, Krakauer was one of eight clients in this expedition shooting for climbing euphoria - the summit of Mt. Everest. Into Thin Air chronicles their journey, from Base Camp in late April to the summit on May 10 to the harrowing nights spent in the midst of a frightening storm. It chronicles a fight for survival, both during the storm and after it.

Jon Krakauer, who also wrote the successful novel Into the Wild, transports the reader to the mountainside, making him feel the excitement and the pain of the journey. He evoked one reader, future mountain climber James DiPasquale, to exclaim: "I want to climb Everest now, or at least Mt. McKinley in Alaska. I think Jon Krakauer is the best non-fiction writer in the world." High praise indeed, but such is Krakauer's power with the written word. His brutal honesty regarding the voyage, including what he believed to be his shortcomings and how he has dealt with them after that fact, help convey the true emotion of this doomed expedition. He takes us into the lives of the men who make a living climbing such peaks, who derive thrills not only from reaching the summits, but from taking others there as well. He tags along with Rob Hall and his friendly rival Scott Fischer, whose Mountain Madness team attempts to summit on the same day. Most importantly, he shows us Mt. Everest as most of us have never seen it before.

Into Thin Air is a riveting adventure that is made all the more compelling because of its origins in fact. Jon Krakauer is an "everyman," forced to deal with extraordinary circumstances with far-reaching repercussions. It is a tale that evokes awe in the reader, from the courage it must have taken to set out on this arduous quest to the strength it takes to carry on afterwards. Everyone should read the story of this odyssey: a triumph of the human spirit, beaten back by unimaginable odds, only to survive and win the day.

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(Reviewed 2/24/99.)