Monthly Archives: March 2016

Life and Death on Mt. Everest

Sherry Ortner’s account of the climbing on Mount Everest is the first book we have read that is specifically concerning the Sherpa’s point of view of mountaineering in the Himalaya. Although Ortner is not a Sherpa herself, she is seen in the Western world as the absolute authority on their culture. This simple fact makes…

Week 12

Life and Death on Mt. Everest was probably my most favorite book of all the books we have read in class and I think the reasoning behind it has a lot to do with my capstone class this semester. We discuss the components that help shape or re-shape a national or cultural identity and how…

Life and Death on Mt. Everset

            Life and Death on Mt. Everest: Sherpas and Himalayan Mountaineering is an interesting account of the relationships that are created through mountaineering. While this book is an enjoyable read, I do not have as big of a reaction towards this book as I have had with the others. I learned many things and though…

Week 12

It is truly difficult to know exactly to begin when discussing Life and Death on Mt.Everest. Sherry Ortner is definitely an anthropological monarch and this work is far more than Sherpas tragically dying on Everest (which I had pictured it out to be). Particularly what is striking is the vastly different lens that this is…

Life and Death on Mt. Everest

Sherry Ortner discusses just about all the generalizations and subjects about mountaineering we have talked about in class. Throughout the book you can tell she is being extremely cautious but honest with her arguments. Doing so she does a great job of examining and making clear the root of how Sherpas are portrayed. I like how she…

Into Thin Air

John Krakauer’s Into Thin Air has throughout the years become a staple in classic mountaineering novels. When I began reading this book I was curious on how this book would compare to some of the other books that we have read in class. Ultimately I decided that Krakauer was a highly opinionated individual and this attitude is portrayed…

Krakauer’s Wrath!

In my opinion Krakauer did make an honest attempt to accurately depict the events of the ’96 disaster. However, it is unsettling that many of his interviews with fellow climbers from the trip took place well after the expedition, and followed backlash toward Krakauer’s original article that was published in Outside Magazine (for whom Krakauer was…

Reading Response Into Thin Air

This weeks texts from Into Thin Air and Fallen Giants were very interesting readings that intrigued me on a few differing levels.  Never mind that John Krakauer lives in Bozeman which is pretty neat in my opinion he is the modern climber as far as I can tell from what others have said.  He is also…

Into Thin Air

At first I was wondering how Into Thin Air would have been different if Krakauer took peoples advice to wait a few years after the accident and then write the book, but after reading it, I doubt it would have been much different. I enjoyed Krakauer’s writing on the history of Everest in the beginning of the…

Into Thin Air – Week 11

Reading Response – Week 11 Bryant Lymburn For this week’s reading the assignment of Into Thin Air is a text that follows Jon Krakauer’s account of his expedition to climb Mount Everest and the events that occurred during that season. Jon Krakauer is a renowned climber in the United States and has summitted many technical…