So, now that I want to get into some serious mountaineering activities, I started with reading books on mountains. When you check for top few books on mountains the one that comes up is "Into Thin Air by Jon Krakauer" followed by “ The Climb by Anatoli Boukreev"; both based on the 1996 Everest disaster which was made quite controversial.
I started with "Into Thin Air' and while I was reading, I was continuously in conflict with Jon's views. Mind you, my memory is pretty weak when it comes to remembering details of any story - whether its books or movies. I had watched few documentaries and the Everest movie based on this topic; but that was a while ago. when I started reading this book 2 weeks back, I had no background; you can say I was totally new to this story. And yet, it was difficult for me to understand some of Jon's accusations or feelings.
But nevertheless, Jon's style of writing was amazing; he knew how to keep reader's hooked to the book. He had continuity at right pace and pauses at correct time. I was done reading it in a day - whole of Saturday. I took entire Sunday to digest all the information that I had fed myself in last 10 hours. It was too much.
Then I picked up "The Climb" on Monday. I took a week to finish this one; primarily because I could read only before going to bed. Climb was more of a diary or event log, filled with lot of facts and details. It did not feel like reading a novel- the feeling that Into Thin Air gave. But for me, it made me feel better and all my confusions with Into Thin Air were put to rest. And my respect for Anatoli Boukreev just skyrocketed.
Well these 2 books are best example of ‘perspective is everything’. Into Thin Air, feels more like a novel, where characters are built with lot of biased perceptions of the author Jon Krakauer. The Climb, is a book for people who understand mountains and climbing as a passion and not business, it did not have any stories ,just mere answers to all the allegations made by Jon.
But unfortunately if you repeat a lie 100 times, it feels like truth eventually; which is also one of the reason why thanks to Into Thin Air, a set of people still hold Anatoli accountable for 1996 disaster.
I still have few unanswered questions.
Why did Jon put Toli in midst of all this at all? What was his motive behind this?
Was it because Toli was the best of all the climbers out there in the group; and Jon felt that every soul up there was Toli's responsibility?
Did he think Anatoli to be some sort of super hero or super human?
Anatoli not climbing with oxygen, how did it become so relevant to this disaster?
Was Jon's pre-notion about Anatoli's personality so strong that he went out of the way to put the entire blame on Toli's shoulders?
You could blame Scott Fischer or Rob Hall for pushing their folks till late in the afternoon instead of turning them around; but couldn’t the clients raise their hands to say no, that they are done and would like to turnaround?
Hall and Fischer, both accomplished mountaineers, lost their lives trying to get the clients back down; and of course both had their reasons for what they did that day. They had a good heart, but it came with a price they both had to pay.
1996 disaster per me was the best example of compounding errors and nature's way of mocking at men. Toli was the least of all to be blamed.
To Weston DeWalt's point, not a single client from Mountain Madness group lost their life that day. And I don’t want to get into that line of debate at all. Like Anatoli said - it was nobody’s fault.
I fail to understand how did this even become a such a fucking controversy. It felt like Jon wanted someone to be blamed for all the lives lost up there, which wasn't right. Every one was equally innocent and equally responsible.
Today climbing Everest has become an activity like riding some dangerous ride in universal studio - open to everyone who wants to take the risk, no prior experience needed. People come in there assuming that they have paid the guide and Sherpa to take them up there. What they forget is, guides can just guide you, you have to take yourself up there.
You have to train yourself before you hit the airport to Kathmandu. And despite of all the training you do, a true mountaineer always believes that mountain always has the right of way. You can plan and train all you want and but still be prepared to turn back 100m from the summit or be ready to give yourself into the nature’s disaster.
Anatoli Boukreev- May your soul Rest In Peace; you in my eyes are a true friend, a real mountaineer with the right human spirit, compassionate enough to go back to give true burials for co-climbers up there, a simple man with less to say and more to offer, a knight who did not have a shining armour. I am glad the world got to hear your side of the story, before we lost you to the mountains.
My Favorite excerpt from The Climb -
"..Indeed it was in the mountains that Anatoli was most at home, most himself. A few months prior to the Annapurna expedition he had responded to a Kazakh reporter who asked if he was ever afraid in the mountains, “Honestly, I do not experience fear in the mountains. On the contrary...I feel my shoulders straightening, squaring, like the birds as they straighten their wings. I enjoy the freedom and the altitude. It is only when I return to life below that I feel the worlds weight on my shoulders.”..”
I started with "Into Thin Air' and while I was reading, I was continuously in conflict with Jon's views. Mind you, my memory is pretty weak when it comes to remembering details of any story - whether its books or movies. I had watched few documentaries and the Everest movie based on this topic; but that was a while ago. when I started reading this book 2 weeks back, I had no background; you can say I was totally new to this story. And yet, it was difficult for me to understand some of Jon's accusations or feelings.
But nevertheless, Jon's style of writing was amazing; he knew how to keep reader's hooked to the book. He had continuity at right pace and pauses at correct time. I was done reading it in a day - whole of Saturday. I took entire Sunday to digest all the information that I had fed myself in last 10 hours. It was too much.
Then I picked up "The Climb" on Monday. I took a week to finish this one; primarily because I could read only before going to bed. Climb was more of a diary or event log, filled with lot of facts and details. It did not feel like reading a novel- the feeling that Into Thin Air gave. But for me, it made me feel better and all my confusions with Into Thin Air were put to rest. And my respect for Anatoli Boukreev just skyrocketed.
Well these 2 books are best example of ‘perspective is everything’. Into Thin Air, feels more like a novel, where characters are built with lot of biased perceptions of the author Jon Krakauer. The Climb, is a book for people who understand mountains and climbing as a passion and not business, it did not have any stories ,just mere answers to all the allegations made by Jon.
But unfortunately if you repeat a lie 100 times, it feels like truth eventually; which is also one of the reason why thanks to Into Thin Air, a set of people still hold Anatoli accountable for 1996 disaster.
I still have few unanswered questions.
Why did Jon put Toli in midst of all this at all? What was his motive behind this?
Was it because Toli was the best of all the climbers out there in the group; and Jon felt that every soul up there was Toli's responsibility?
Did he think Anatoli to be some sort of super hero or super human?
Anatoli not climbing with oxygen, how did it become so relevant to this disaster?
Was Jon's pre-notion about Anatoli's personality so strong that he went out of the way to put the entire blame on Toli's shoulders?
You could blame Scott Fischer or Rob Hall for pushing their folks till late in the afternoon instead of turning them around; but couldn’t the clients raise their hands to say no, that they are done and would like to turnaround?
Hall and Fischer, both accomplished mountaineers, lost their lives trying to get the clients back down; and of course both had their reasons for what they did that day. They had a good heart, but it came with a price they both had to pay.
1996 disaster per me was the best example of compounding errors and nature's way of mocking at men. Toli was the least of all to be blamed.
To Weston DeWalt's point, not a single client from Mountain Madness group lost their life that day. And I don’t want to get into that line of debate at all. Like Anatoli said - it was nobody’s fault.
I fail to understand how did this even become a such a fucking controversy. It felt like Jon wanted someone to be blamed for all the lives lost up there, which wasn't right. Every one was equally innocent and equally responsible.
Today climbing Everest has become an activity like riding some dangerous ride in universal studio - open to everyone who wants to take the risk, no prior experience needed. People come in there assuming that they have paid the guide and Sherpa to take them up there. What they forget is, guides can just guide you, you have to take yourself up there.
You have to train yourself before you hit the airport to Kathmandu. And despite of all the training you do, a true mountaineer always believes that mountain always has the right of way. You can plan and train all you want and but still be prepared to turn back 100m from the summit or be ready to give yourself into the nature’s disaster.
Anatoli Boukreev- May your soul Rest In Peace; you in my eyes are a true friend, a real mountaineer with the right human spirit, compassionate enough to go back to give true burials for co-climbers up there, a simple man with less to say and more to offer, a knight who did not have a shining armour. I am glad the world got to hear your side of the story, before we lost you to the mountains.
My Favorite excerpt from The Climb -
"..Indeed it was in the mountains that Anatoli was most at home, most himself. A few months prior to the Annapurna expedition he had responded to a Kazakh reporter who asked if he was ever afraid in the mountains, “Honestly, I do not experience fear in the mountains. On the contrary...I feel my shoulders straightening, squaring, like the birds as they straighten their wings. I enjoy the freedom and the altitude. It is only when I return to life below that I feel the worlds weight on my shoulders.”..”
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