Into Thin Air

Frost bites, hypoxia, summit fever, Man's ego and a series of unfortunate events lead to the deaths of several climbers attempting to reach Mount Everest in 1996. What remains is this extremely suspenseful and harrowing account of the event, transmitted with a certain level of guilt by the author. It reads like a thriller.

My mind is stuck on what those Japanese climbers said, about passing other climbers in clear distress, while on their way to the summit, without administering any help. “We were too tired to help. Above 8,000 meters is not a place where people can afford morality.” And you can't even fault them.

Sadly, what this book didn't accomplish, is to slow down the commercialisation and exploitation of Everest.