Into Thin Air

Into Thin Air

It seems like there is a frenzy of people queuing up to the summit of Everest. This season alone hundreds of people have ascended through the thin air of the summit. This includes many foreigners and many Nepalese as well.

Now climbing Everest is not something that everyone would consider as their dream vacation. I would not even compare it as an adventure sport, although the huge number of people climbing makes you wonder if its really that easy. And then there are people like Appa Sherpa, who climbs the Everest for 17th time and makes climbing the top of the world look like a piece of cake.

Few years back I had read this book titled "Into Thin Air" by an American Journalist Jon Krakauer about his personal experience on climbing Everest and the disasters that followed when several members of his team died. It was one of the best adventure novels that I've read. I think there was also a movie made on that disaster climbing. Even this season, several people have died climbing Everest.

I was also wondering at the same time that stories and heroic of climbing Everest are portrayed so beautifully by the foreign climbers. While Nepalese have climbed the peak more than anyone else, they don't seem to tell their stories. And even the journalists don't seem to bother telling their stories.

I personally have no intentions of climbing Everest or any of those big mountains. But hats off to all the climbers! Or caps off rather - because we generally wear caps here instead of hats ;-)

I do want to trek the Annapurna base camp trekking though.