Blog #30 More Nature Writing

1. Describe specific connections between the text you read and your experiences in the many aspects of MSB.


With the book Into Thin Air, there wasn't really anyone that had died in our Media Saves the Beach project.. But for the most part we were experiencing the great outdoors just like the story of climbing Everest. Our experiences weren't at all as extreme as that in the story that I read, but for the most part there were similarities. We went out and did our own experimentation and had our own essential question that helped us question a topic that we felt that we could do something about or change something in our environment that would be of help and/or use. Krauker wrote about his experiences and we had to do the same. It wasnt just writing.. but it was writing about the differences that we are all trying to make.

Honors History #4

While taking honors humanities, I really improved my writing skills. I built up on my comprehension of some of the literature that we read and when reading that it really helped with my reading skills. I didnt really understand some of the books that we were reading all that much, but after discussing it with others who were in honors, I understood that there was more than just text to all of these books, but that there was a deeper meaning in every one of the stories. It was difficult to pull that out in each of the books, but after a while it got easier to do. Some of the prompts that we were given were difficult to understand as well and sort of triggered a different way to write and that took a while to get the hang of that. If I were to re-do this honors I probably would have taken more of the writing tips to make sure that my writing was as perfect as it could have been. With some of my essays that I wrote I didnt take all of the tips that we were given and if i had done that i could have made my writing the most that it could have been. Next semester i will do a better job of this. We were given many tips to improve our writing and next semester I will take more time to actually use the tips to improve what I have. If we could add something into our literature section I would probably have to say an essay having to do with Shakespeare or possibly spending some time translating the sonnets. I dont know if we would actually be able to spend some time on that though because we spent time with Shakespeare's writing during our freshman and sophomore year. Maybe we could spend some time reading the classics. I really enjoy some of the classic books and maybe we could do another nature reading also!

Blog #29

2. Following the publication of this book, numerous public battles ensued over specific people's actions and the author's presentation of them. Does Krakauer have the authority to criticize any of the people on Everest that day? If so, who and why?

On the expedition to the summit of Mount Everest, unexpected events occurred and the weather made the specific day on Everest a complete disaster. Of course being a part of the team going to the summit, Krauker is allowed to have his opinions about what had happened. In this case, he took it a little too far. On May 10^th there were different scenarios and situations that led to different fatalities, but saying that it was a specific person’s fault… He has no authority to criticize. The article told the story from that day but ended with the blame of many people that had either died or had tragic experiences at the summit. The reasons could have been the arrogance of Hall, the rivalry between the two guides, clients wandering or experiencing altitude sickness or even the author himself sleeping in the tent as Hutchinson goes looking for the lost group. Being entitled to your own opinion is great but playing the “blame game” is not the way to go.

Krauker was given the job of writing an article for Outside Magazine that gave the story of the summit climb on May 10^th. There were many deaths that day on the mountain, but two of the stories that were excluded from this story that would have been beneficial would have been from the two guides Hall and Fischer. Saying that it was there own fault that they had died on the mountain was uncalled for and was almost disrespectful to them as well. 

“Hall had become so adept at running climbers of varying abilities up and down Everest that he may have become a little cocky. He'd bragged on more than one occasion that he could get almost any reasonably fit person to the summit, and his record seemed to support this. He'd also demonstrated a remarkable ability to manage adversity.” This statement in the original article was unwanted, especially by his wife, and was not needed as a summary of what occurred that day. Of course Hall had the confidence that he could make it to the top of the mountain and that is a trait that was necessary for him to have. Most people would want to feel safe in the hands of their guide, especially when they say that they can help them make it to the top of the summit. After all, that is what each and every client had been paying them thousands of dollars for. Every client that he had would have wanted to know that he had that confidence and would be able to successfully guide him or her to the summit. His “cocky” personality was not the reason for his death and the other deaths that had occurred that day.

Another one of Krauker’s reasoning’s behind the deaths on the summit was the supposed rivalry between Hall and Fischer. “In a certain sense, they may have been playing chicken up there, each guide plowing ahead with one eye on the clock, waiting to see who was going to blink first and turn around.” Hall and Fischer were friends and even though they had some rivalry did not mean that was one of the reasons for their deaths. I guess it would be understandable in a sense that the rivalry could have thrown off their concentration, but being in a professional life or death job, there is no room for that. Krauker obviously thought that and maybe that was the vibe that he got from the two of them and how they treated each other. His statement may have been one of their faults, but once again he had no authority to say that was a reason that there were fatalities.

When three miles above sea level, the altitude was so extreme that some of the clients became delusional and there were health conditions that could not be avoided. At the summit there were some people that could not handle the altitude and when the storm came, the sickness and conditions became unmanageable. Half of the crew was left behind for reasons having to do with people being delirious to not even being able to handle the situation. When this happens, there is absolutely nothing that can be done. Controlling their bodies and what was going on in their minds could not be prevented and there is no room in there to blame. Krauker even suffered from altitude sickness while he was on the mountain. There was nothing he could do about that and because he didn’t go out and look for people was not his fault either when he was at a point where he could not comprehend what was going on.

Truthfully, I believe that there was no one to blame on this expedition. There was no one at fault and no one could have done anything about what had happened. It was either that choice or the fact that everyone made a mistake and everyone was at fault. While on the mountain everyone made at least one mistake but nothing could have been done about it. The accusations that Krauker had made about the people that were at fault behind the event, were completely unfair and he was unright to make those statements. Krauker could have even been at fault if it was in the opinion of the others. The storm caused a situation for everyone to be in it for themselves and to try and get out of there alive. It was a very tragic day because of the fatalities but then again there is always the question of tragedy when in the wilderness.

Blog #28

On the expedition to the summit of Mount Everest, unexpected events occurred and the weather made the specific day on Everest a complete disaster. Of course being a part of the team going to the summit, Krauker is obviously allowed to have his opinions on the tragic day, but he took it a little too far. On May 10^th there were different scenarios and situations that could have led to the different fatalities, but saying that it was one person’s fault is a little out of the question. Being entitled to your own opinion is great but having that authority over other people is definitely out of the question.

Krauker was given the job of writing an article for Outside Magazine that gave the story of the summit climb on May 10^th and of course he is entitled to his opinion, but blaming some of the people for the deaths and also their own deaths was a little extreme. There were many deaths that day on the mountain, but two of the stories that were excluded from this story that would have been beneficial would have been from the two guides Hall and Fischer. Saying that it was there own fault that they had died on the mountain is so uncalled for and in my opinion was unnecessary.

“Hall had become so adept at running climbers of varying abilities up and down Everest that he may have become a little cocky. He'd bragged on more than one occasion that he could get almost any reasonably fit person to the summit, and his record seemed to support this. He'd also demonstrated a remarkable ability to manage adversity.” This statement in the original article was unnecessary and was not needed as a summary of the event that had happened that day. Of course Hall had the confidence that he could make it to the top and most people would want to feel safe in the hands of their guide saying that they can help them make it to the top of the summit. After all, that is what each and every client had been paying them thousands of dollars for. Every client that he had would have wanted to know that he had that confidence and would be able to successfully guide him or her to the summit. His “cocky” personality was not the reason for his death and the other deaths that had occurred that day.

Another one of Krauker’s reasoning’s behind the deaths on the summit was the supposed rivalry between Hall and Fischer. “In a certain sense, they may have been playing chicken up there, each guide plowing ahead with one eye on the clock, waiting to see who was going to blink first and turn around.” Hall and Fischer were friends and even though they had some rivalry did not mean that was one of the reasons for all or some of the deaths on the summit.

Truthfully, I believe that there was no one to blame on this expedition. There was no one at fault and no one could have done anything about what had happened. The accusations that Krauker had made about the people that had made mistakes and were at fault behind the event, were completely unfair and he was unright to make those statements about those people. There were people that had their own struggles and being at an altitude of three miles above sea level caused thought process and decision making to be unstable. 

Blog #27 Nature Writing

1. How do specific mental and emotional qualities (such as confidence, self-control, and more) make a person fit to climb Everest but also possibly lead to disaster?

When climbing Everest, the qualities of confidence is definitely required or all hopes of ever reaching the summit will be lost. While having confidence makes a person fit to make the incredible climb, it’s when a persons confidence turns into arrogance is where room for disaster is made. The guides are the ones that need to have the most confidence out of the entire team because they are the ones whom the entire group confides in to ensure that they make it to the top as well as return safely.

While the guides are supposed to have the confidence to take a team to the summit of Everest, the two guides in this story had a little more arrogance than that of confidence. The guides are obviously supposed to build up the comfort level with the group they are working with, but Fischer and Hall lowered their group’s guards down. While Fischer and Hall were able to tell everyone which step to take and advice on living conditions on the mountain, the natural occurrences is something completely out of their control.

The occurrences of the bad weather and harsh conditions during their expedition to the summit is what led to many disasters. The qualities of arrogance and letting up their guard are what caused this to happen. The unexpected avalanches and storms completely shocked the team and set up down fall for the rest of the trip.

When Krauker meets Fischer he tells him that he has “built a yellow brick road up to the summit.” Of course this statement is supposed to give Krauker the ability to trust that choosing him as a guide would be a good choice because he would be able to get him to the summit. The other guide Hall was just as guilty for having the arrogance of getting to the summit in safe and sound conditions with nothing to go wrong. Hall "bragged on more than one occasion that he could get almost any reasonably fit person to the summit" Of course the two guides didn’t take into accountability that even though they were strong enough and “fit” enough to get to the summit, and have done it multiple times, it was the weather that turned their expedition into a disaster.


2. What is the significance that more guides than clients died on Everest in the events of the story?

The fact that more guides died than clients is significant because that occurrence basically says that no matter how skilled and experienced you are, nature is unknown. Even though the guides had climbed Everest multiple times, there are different situations that are unknown. For example, the dangerous weather conditions that the guides thought would be attainable caused tragedy on their trip. No matter how experienced and fit you are to climb to the summit of Everest, there is still the unknown of the natural events that could happen. When you’re in the wild, you can’t expect everything to go perfectly right because most of the time, that isn’t the case. You cant let your guard down and you have to expect the unexpected. 

Blog #26

We are going to be selling the calendar as our professional exhibition