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Show LAU Wasatch Canyon Reporter Krakauer’s Everest Part | by Dave Peck On Friday June 6, Jon Krakauer mesmerized a full house in Salt Lake City. His three-hour slide presentation at the Marriott Library on the University of Utah campus was one stop on his 29-city tour to celebrate his new book Into Thin Air which describes. 1996's tragedy atop Mt. Everest. words, there was more Himalayan storm, Krakauer said he needed to write the complete version “as a form of catharsis.” The public has shown its fascination for the episode with frequent traffic on Everest web sites and tremendous sales of Krakauer’s book; this live presentation was a unique opportunity to delve deeper into the events and emotions that made up this extraordinary tale. The deaths of May 1996, though comprising the greatest climbing casualties to date, were nothing new; Everest is _attempted every year and has claimed more lives than any other mountain. Several factors, however, made this particular trip.so newsworthy and notorious. The first was the issue of unqualified clients paying up to $65,000 to be guided to the summit of the world’s deadliest peak. This recent phenomenon prompted Outside magazine to send Krakauer on the Everest assignment, a climbing trip. which he said “I wish to hell I’d never done.” A highly-skilled technical climber himself, Krakauer had no experience climbing at 8, 000 meters, the so-called Death Zone. Experienced climbers had been questioning the sanity of guides ferrying inexperienced clients up Everest, and Outside wanted to examine this issue up-close. Another ingredient that made the story so poignant worldwide was the in Seattle knew more about what happening on the mountain than I announced and the aisles partially cleared before Krakauer could begin. He minced no words and immediately started the slide As his months. of continued grief reveal, he doesn’t hold himself blameless in the debacle. “While three of my teammates show, which encompassed his own climbing history and the events which led up to were outside freezing to death, I was shiv- ering his arrival on Everest. He humbly stated was did, that his inexperience at high altitude made and I was there.” When the storm moved him unfit for the 29,000 foot ascent, but his in and slides the death toll began to rise, the world heard about it immediately and yearned for more information. Unlike past alpine disasters, the events of May ’96 were something out of “ depicted him on several terrifying first ascents in Canada, Alaska and Patagonia. Even to those in the audience who didn’t know their ice ax from their elbow were impressed by his breathtaking | photographs. Krakauer described his boyhood dream to climb Everest when a family friend, Willi Unsoeld, made a harrowing first ascent of the West ridge. As he grew up and progressed as a technical climber, Krakauer— While three of my teammates were outside freezing to death, I was shivering in my sleeping bag, unable to move” a Shakespearean tragedy, with heroics, betrayal, epiphanies and of course, death. The surreal saga of Dr. Seaborn Beck Weathers, left for dead hours earlier in one hundred-below wind-chill who suddenly lurched to his feet and returned to camp against all possible odds, defied all © sensibility. The heart-wrenching moment when guide Rob Hall, freezing to death - on the South Summit, spoke a dying farewell to his pregnant wife in New Zealand via satellite phone was the pinnacle of drama. A more moving story couldn’t be fabricated. Several movie deals have already been struck with sur- viving climbers from this expedition, and you can bet the Hollywood version will capitalize on such critical moments. Previous to Krakauer’s arrival in Salt Lake, his presentation in Boulder was so began to shun Everest as a “slag heap” with little technical challenge. Krakauer metamorphosed from a carpenter-climber to a writer-climber, and the Everest fantasy aisles were filled with bodies and a to ~ as have other survivors who film rights. In Krakauer’s sold their case, he is proving himself financially virtuous: his best-selling book tour is also a fundraiser for the American Himalayan Foundation, and Krakauer has offered to double any contribution for this group that supports the families of Sherpas who die each year in Nepal, Tibet, India and Pakistan. One point on which Krakauer was adamant was that this tragedy could easily happen again. It is impossible to regulate who climbs Everest and who cannot, and with poverty-stricken Nepal and Tibet making considerable revenue from issuing climbing permits, guided expeditions will continue for fat cats determined enough to attempt Everest. didn’t think twice in accepting. Both Krakauer’s prose in his book and his speaking style are unpretentious and candid. In the past year he has garnered considerable criticism for pointing fingers about the culpable parties in the disaster. Many mistakes were made on the fateful May 10: ropes were not set as planned, guides climbed without the support of supplemental oxygen, pre-arranged turnaround times were ignored. Though the sudden storm that lashed the peak was the chief culprit, these mistakes cost lives. Krakauer spoke with a great deal of sensifamilies, from whom some of the angry backlashes have originated; unable to ignore his truth, however, he continues to tell it as he saw and lived it. Judging by the questions and comments posed by the audience after the slide show, the consensus seemed to sympathize with Krakauer. public safety message about fire codes was unable November and this past May more climbers died on the mountain, and there is no reason to believe an end is in sight. Krakauer and others actually believe that Everest’s lethal messages are what will keep people coming back: these deaths serve to legitimize the risks at stake. Krakauer’s presentation was a captivating chance to examine the Everest story at a deeper, more personal level. Climbers and non-climbers alike showed up in droves, and a huge queue formed to turn away over a thousand people. A lastminute attempt to procure a larger auditori- ' The bag, ment offer came to climb the mountain, he tivity for the victims and their surviving um at the U failed, and subsequently sever- sleeping faded. But when, at age forty, the assign- popular that event coordinators were forced al hundred people crammed into a meager amphitheater with only minimal griping. in my move,” he admits abashedly. He has also been accused of profiting from the catastrophe by writing his book, Page 6 Already the following for the post-show book signing. A twenty-year season ticket holder for the Jazz gave up his playoff tickets in order to attend; it probably had little to do with the $1000 per ticket he procured for his sacrifice. There was nary a dry eye during the poignant parts of the story, and a huge number of books sold that evening. Though he may have written it as a pur_ gation, Krakauer’s book will surely keep the Everest dream alive in many of us. Cope this es during said, “it was strange to know that my wife to his account that needed telling. Having agonized daily since reaching the summit from guilt and the loss of several friends to the fateful communication expedition. Satellite phones and daily website updates allowed the world to follow each day’s progress. As Krakauer RIMM high-tech Anyone trapped in a sensorydeprivation tank for the past 12 months may be oblivious to the story, but the remaining population is probably well-versed due’ to comprehensive and frequent coverage in. magazines such as Outside, Life, Newsweek, Men’s Journal, Time and Vanity Fair, as well as television programs and extensive word-of-mouth. Krakauer’s initial article in Outside was by far the most popular story the magazine has ever published, and though it was incredibly extensive at 17,000 |