He Wrote a Controversial Book About a Deadly Disaster. It Became a Massive Hit. Now He's Afraid He Made Everything Worse.

"Five of them, including both leaders—Rob Hall and Scott Fischer—died after a blizzard swept over the mountain that evening. One of the survivors, journalist Jon Krakauer, who was covering the expedition for Outsidemagazine, wrote a bestselling 1997 book about the disaster, Into Thin Air. A revised anniversary edition of the book, with a new introduction by Krakauer, has just been published."

"For Kraukauer, the 1996 Everest disaster might as well have happened last week. He still broods over the constellation of mistakes that led the deaths of his fellow climbers, from team leader Rob Hall's decision not to send his clients, Doug Hansen and Beck Weathers, back down the mountain when they failed to reach the summit by the agreed-upon deadline, to the events that caused fellow climber Yasuko Namba to perish of exhaustion and exposure only a few hundred meters from camp."

"When I spoke with Krakauer on Friday afternoon about the anniversary, I expected him to stick to generalities about the commercialization and pollution of Everest, rather than return once more to the details of that fatal climb. I couldn't have been more wrong. For Kraukauer, the 1996 Everest disaster might as well have happened last week."

"In the years since Into Thin Air was published, Krakauer's account of the disaster has attracted some harsh critics, including one of the guides present that day and, most recently, an obsessive YouTuber. Krakauer has much to say about all of this, and about the enduring and perilous allure of the world's highest mountain."

Two Everest expeditions in 1996 attempted to summit the mountain, led by rival professional guides. Five climbers died after a blizzard swept over the mountain that evening, including the two leaders Rob Hall and Scott Fischer. Survivor Jon Krakauer later wrote Into Thin Air, which became a bestselling account of the disaster. A revised anniversary edition has been published with a new introduction by Krakauer. In conversation about the anniversary, Krakauer focuses less on broad themes and more on the specific chain of decisions and events that led to deaths, including a leader’s choice not to send clients back down and the exhaustion and exposure of a climber near camp. He also addresses criticism of his account and the mountain’s ongoing allure and danger.

Read at Slate Magazine