Monthly Archives: March 2016

Into Thin Air

We have discussed John Krakauer before, yet, this is the first book we have read by him and the first few chapters give us some insight on what kind of person Krakauer is. It shows that he was natural born climber, working for NOALS, along with climbing multiple peaks throughout North America. His insight shows…

Reading Response 11

Into Thin Air brings to mind a number of different aspects of mountaineering that must be addressed. For one thing, Into Thin Air is notably different than other mountaineering accounts, like Annapurna and The White Spider because it is much more modern and more recent account. Because of that, the dynamics of mountaineering are completely different than they were in these…

Reading Response

Chapter nine of Fallen Giants was a very interesting chapter and one that I found very easy to follow and it also caught my attention. The shift from a “pure” and isolated experience free from real world scenarios and stressors such as politics and the possibility of war did not seem exist within the high…

Into Thin Air

I found this reading particularly interesting, I don’t know if it was Krakauer’s honest and a little bit condescending tone, or the story itself, but both made this Everest disaster an intriguing read, but also sort of frustrating in a couple ways. To begin with Krakauer gives the contents of the brochure to the reader,…

Week 11

Fallen Giants and Into Thin Air have both displayed a common theme – the “golden age” of Himalaya mountaineering is dead. The counterculture movements of the 1960s influenced not just the western views on the Himalaya region but have extended up to that mountaineering itself. A new generation of climbers is shaking things up and…

Into Thin Air

I tried to shake myself from the pessimistic feelings that had recently developed since reading Shit Happens, but it had primed me for this weeks reading. I tried to see the clients as genuine enthusiasts and lovers of the sport of Mountaineering, yet my disdain persisted. I do not think these climbers deserved to be…

“Beyond the Edge” in Review

            Beyond the Edge is a 2013 documentary film that recounts the first successful summiting expedition of Everest in 1953. What makes this film stand out is that there is no single voiceover that drives the film but it is narrated in sound clips from interviews given by Sir Edmund Hillary, the expedition leader Colonel…

K2: The Savage Mountain & Shit Happens

Instead of “Drama of the Summit” could the week be renamed “Depressing Stories of Mountaineering”? The account of the 1953 attempt of K2 led by Dr. Charles S. Houston is not of conquest, rather it is an account of defeat. Even the authors justify the value of their trip as “a venture made for sport…

Maoist’s and Terrorist in the Himalya

My proposal for my term paper will focus on the radical Maoist, and radical Islamic groups in the Greater Ranges. From attempting to overthrow the Nepalese Monarchy, to kidnapping westerners, even British soldiers, all happening in the last 20 years. I will also be exploring the political ramifications of this, such as the British training…

Neat GoPro Footage of Himalayan Climb

One more link from Red Bull. Awesome 60 second GoPro point of view footage from a climber attempting to climb Lunag Ri (on the border between Nepal and Tibet). Worth the watch! Incredible view! http://www.redbull.com/en/adventure/stories/1331778297605/60-seconds-to-make-you-feel-on-top-of-the-world