Everest

[minky]

I just watched Meru, so I'm primed for this one.

[tanyak]

I loved, loved Into Thin Air. I saw the trailer on TV last week and immediately texted Mr. Tanyak and told him to hire a sitter for opening weekend. We haven't had a sitter since January. Lol I cannot wait!

[Deleted]

I already bought my ticket for the IMAX theater with comfy chairs and reserved seating, got a prime spot in the center towards the back.

[canuckcutie]

Into Thin Air is one of my favourite books. I read it at least once a year. I'm terrified of heights and I hate the cold and yet I was transfixed by this book,

I remember one of the guides (Russian climber?) who got flack for climbing without oxygen and getting far ahead of his assigned climbers.

I think it was definitely a combination of factors - exhaustion, inexperience, shitty weather and so on.

Anyway I'm totally there opening weekend.

[famvir]

I was reading a random article in Outside Magazine, and was suddenly riveted by this story of a guy climbing Everest. It was the precursor to the book, a much abbreviated, " ...and then this happened, then this happened."

I was gobsmacked! I was running around telling everyone they had to read this article, the best article I'd ever read. It's still is the best article I've ever read.

[Neurochick]

Sept 12, 2015 21:35:38 GMT -4 canuckcutie said:

Into Thin Air is one of my favourite books. I read it at least once a year. I'm terrified of heights and I hate the cold and yet I was transfixed by this book,

I remember one of the guides (Russian climber?) who got flack for climbing without oxygen and getting far ahead of his assigned climbers.

I think it was definitely a combination of factors - exhaustion, inexperience, shitty weather and so on.

Anyway I'm totally there opening weekend.

As I read the book again I realize the main issue was the STORM. Had the storm not happened probably no one would have died. The storm fucked everybody over.

The Russian climber didn't use oxygen and did get ahead of everybody, but that wouldn't have been an issue if the storm hadn't come in. Krakauer (who wrote Into Thin Air) himself might have died had he not gotten ahead of everybody, as he was in camp when the storm hit.

My issue with the movie is, I don't think Jake Gyllenhaal was the right choice to play Scott Fischer. I think he's too young and looks younger than the man playing Rob Hall, even though Rob Hall was younger than Scott Fischer.

[lea1977]

Sept 12, 2015 7:49:15 GMT -4 @roisin54 said:

I already bought my ticket for the IMAX theater with comfy chairs and reserved seating, got a prime spot in the center towards the back.

I look forward to reading your review.

[Baby Fish Mouth]

Sept 13, 2015 10:53:50 GMT -4 Neurochick said:

As I read the book again I realize the main issue was the STORM. Had the storm not happened probably no one would have died. The storm fucked everybody over.

But storms are something climbers have to be prepared for on Everest. There's a very short window in May when the storms aren't as bad, but even then the weather can change on a dime. Had they actually enforced that 2pm deadline for getting off the summit, more climbers would have made it back to camp and not been caught in the darkness and plunging temperatures.

[canuckcutie]

I think it's obviously very tricky when you have clients who have paid $100k or more to climb Everest and they are so close to enforce that turn around.

From what I recall Rob Hall was feeling pressure from Scott Fischer's competing climbing group and with Doug Hansen he had a client who was turned around on his last summit attempt. So Rob may have been reluctant to disappoint a client for a second time and have Fischer get more climbers to the top.

[Neurochick]

Sept 13, 2015 17:26:20 GMT -4 Baby Fish Mouth said:

Sept 13, 2015 10:53:50 GMT -4 Neurochick said:

As I read the book again I realize the main issue was the STORM. Had the storm not happened probably no one would have died. The storm fucked everybody over.

But storms are something climbers have to be prepared for on Everest. There's a very short window in May when the storms aren't as bad, but even then the weather can change on a dime. Had they actually enforced that 2pm deadline for getting off the summit, more climbers would have made it back to camp and not been caught in the darkness and plunging temperatures.

But the storm could have come at any time, it could have hit them at 2pm. They had no idea it was coming when it did. It's not like they knew about it and risked it anyway, as Jon Krakauer said, if the storm had come earlier, they all would have been fucked. I mean people died in Hurricane Sandy and they'd been predicting that storm for days. They knew it was going to be bad but no one knew HOW bad. To say they should have turned around at 2pm is like Monday morning quaterbacking, they should have done this or that or whatever.

No one knew how bad that storm was going to be OR when it was going to hit. It could have hit at any time, that's just how nature is; nature is random and impersonal.

At the end of "Into Thin Air," Krakauer makes a lot of good points. He said that accidents could be prevented if they outlawed bottled oxygen, that would mean less inexperienced people would be on Everest. The problem with that is the two countries that "own" Everest are very poor and they need the cash for their economy. To them, the more people climbing and paying those fees, the better. So basically it's a symbiotic relationship.


Bumped up for this bullshit:

Sandy Hill speaks.

Heifer sit down. She's so full of shit the article stinks. First, her skin looks like shit, she looks older than MY mother. Second, in the book Krakauer NEVER implied that SHE was screwing around with anybody, so I don't know why she brought that up.