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.