1. * Grab your journal and book. * Journal Check: #5-8 * Take out your character chart. * If you did poorly on the chapter 15-16 quiz, you may make up this grade by turning in your character chart on Tuesday, May 10 th. DO NOT turn it in now! You will need it to prepare for your Summative Socratic Seminar.

2. Despite the importance of trusting one's teammates, Krakauer comes to the realization that in fact, each climber is there for him or herself, and that it is possible for one climber to trust another too much. To what extent do you agree or disagree with the quote, “Above 8000 metres is not a place where people can afford morality.” Explain. MORALITY: your personal ideas about the distinction between right and wrong or good and bad behavior.

3. * South Col, 7:30AM, May 11, 1996, 26,000 Feet * It's the morning after the disaster and Krakauer is trying to make sense of what happened. Of course, spending another "night at 26,000 feet without supplemental oxygen" doesn't help either. * Meanwhile, Hutchinson has really stepped up to the plate after the disaster. In fact, he has just organized a search team to locate the bodies of Weathers and Namba. * To his shock, they're both alive—but barely. When Namba and Weathers are both found alive, the climbers' worlds are thrown again into upheaval. Having to essentially write off Weathers and Namba is more difficult than if they had discovered them both dead. The possibility that Hall, Harris and/or Fischer are still alive is haunting, and for the sake of moving on it is easier to believe that they are all gone. Unfortunately, it's clear that they would die on the trip back to Camp Four, so the search party heads back to think of a new plan. * The next morning, Beidleman slowly leads Fischer's clients down to Camp Three. A Sherpa is struck by a falling boulder (and luckily survives), which freaks everyone out. * The folks down at Camp Three heard about the disaster yesterday and have been doing their fair share to help. In particular, David Breashears (the director of the Everest IMAX film) has helped a great deal, shuttling up oxygen and spare batteries to Camp Four.

4. * That morning, they see Beck Weathers approaching Camp Four. * Despite being blind as a bat and "barely alive”, Weathers somehow weathered the storm and made it back to camp. They give him help, but no one honestly expects him to survive the night. Now, the climbers are forced to reckon with the guilt of having left Weathers for dead, and they must decide how best to handle Weathers who is in a rather gruesome condition and cannot descend the mountain. * That's about when the two Sherpas return with Gau in tow. After hearing that Fischer is still up on the mountain, Boukreev rushes to rescue his friend. * Weathers personifies the almost superhuman will that exists in some climbers. Seeing that will and spirit reminds the group of Hall and Fischer, and Boukreev cannot live with his decision to leave the unconscious Fischer on the mountain the same way he had initially left Weathers. Boukreev has to check again, and Fischer is really gone, but it's too late. After grabbing a few mementos to give to Fischer's family, he covers his friend's face and heads back to Camp Four.

6. * That night, a crazy storm tears through Camp Four. Along with their shrinking stores of oxygen, this is the last straw: Hall's remaining crewmembers must leave A.S.A.P. * The next morning, Hutchinson and Krakauer gather Groom, Taske, Fischbeck, and Kaischke, and begin their descent. Ang Dorje is already down, having been convinced to descend by Hutchison after Hutchinson found him "sobbing uncontrollably" over Hall's death. * Krakauer stops by Weathers's tent, expecting him to be dead. He's wrong, though: Weathers is still alive, but his tent collapsed overnight, nearly suffocating him. No one heard his cries over the storm. * After getting assistance for Weathers, Krakauer rushes to join the group for the descent. After all, he might end up in a similar state—or worse—if he waits any longer.

7. * The Geneva Spur, 9:45AM, May 12, 1996, 25,900 Feet * The group is weary as they descend from Camp Four. Hutchinson is so out of it that he almost heads down without securing his safety tether—a mistake that could only end with a fall. * They reach Camp Two after midnight and see Lopsang Jangbu, who is still devastated by Fischer's death, and Gau, who is being rushed into medical care. * Later that afternoon, Krakauer learns from Breashears that Weathers is alive and currently being helped down the mountain. To Krakauer's surprise, he sees Weathers approaching on foot. * A helicopter evacuation is planned for the next morning and Krakauer is given the unenviable task of finding a safe spot for it to land. Breashears, who has a lot of experience in this field, helps him big-time.

8. * Unfortunately, the helicopter is only able to take one person at a time. Given that Gau "could no longer walk or even stand" (20.24), he gets the first ride. The helicopter taking Gau seems cruel—Gau had been unconcerned and unhelpful for most of the expedition, while Beck had been left for dead more than once, and was putting up one hell of a fight. Beck continues to astound everyone and manages to push on. * Thirty minutes later, the helicopter returns and lifts Weathers to safety.

9. Everest Base Camp, May 13, 1996, 17,600 Feet * Krakauer and the remaining members pass the Khumbu Icefall on the morning of May 13, and with that, they've finally made it to safety. * A memorial service is held the following day. Over the next several days, the badly wounded are airlifted to safety while those who are relatively unscathed leave camp on foot. * Krakauer returns to civilization only to be met by a "swarm of print and television reporters.”

10. * He returns to the United States on May 19. Krakauer is absolutely guilt- ridden, constantly questioning whether he could have done more to help his friends. The sad truth is that he probably couldn't. * This chapter demonstrates how Krakauer may never leave the experience of climbing Everest behind. Many of the questions and much of the horror regarding the disaster surface after he is home and has ample time to reflect. * Krakauer tries to analyze the events and come up with reasons they happened. He discusses many hypotheses in this chapter on pgs 284-288, but the frustrating part is that he can never know which actually happened, or how much each factor ultimately contributed to what happened. * Most of his theories involve the basic sport and the basic idea of trying to climb Everest—arrogance, lack of regulation, climbers' lack of experience, and failure to adhere to rules. These are human errors, inherent in the business of climbing Everest. * Krakauer has previously mentioned concerns that dealt with inexperience and not adhering to the turn-around time, but even when expressing concern, no one realized just how deadly those mistakes could be: “On Everest, it is the nature of systems to break down with a vengeance."

11. * Krakauer's entire view on life and death is forever changed: "Mortality had remained a conveniently hypothetical concept, an idea to ponder in the abstract. Sooner or later the divestiture of such a privileged innocence was inevitable…." All of the climbers age during their expedition on Everest, bearing witness to so many aspects of the uglier and more horrifying aspects of life and death. * It is questionable whether the glory of reaching the summit survived what happened. That glory is a product of the danger. Krakauer always knew that climbing mountains was dangerous, but his experience on Everest was beyond dangerous. “Climbing was a magnificent activity, I firmly believed, not in spite of the inherent perils, but precisely because of them.” * Crossing the line between dangerous and deadly is a grotesque transgression, and one Krakauer and the surviving climbers were forced to make.

12. * Krakauer also suffers from survivor's guilt. It is unclear whether or not this is guilty at simply living while others died, or whether this is guilt borne of feeling responsible for another's death. Krakauer describes it as not knowing if he could have done something to help any of the people who died, and thus being unable to make peace with what happened. * Having a unique role on the expedition must also affect the way Krakauer processes the experience. As a journalist, he was sent to the scene of an accident before the accident had happened. What he was actually supposed to be writing about is utterly inconsequential in the face of what happened, although ironically, consumerism on Everest is one of the factors he attributes to the disaster. * His questions and possible answers, intense guilt and his ruminations on life and death demonstrate how indelible this experience is. The fact that we have this book shows that Krakauer is unwilling to forget.

13. * Unfortunately, those who remained on the mountain weren't quite as self-reflective. For example, the IMAX team continues its plans for the summit despite the disaster—and luckily survives unscathed. * Others aren't so lucky. An Australian dies on the north side of the mountain just two days after Krakauer leaves Base Camp, while Bruce Herrod of the South African team dies after reaching the summit on May 24. * Herrod's death marks "the twelfth casualty" of the Everest climbing season.

14. * Seattle, November 29, 1996, 270 Feet * Everyone is readjusting to life in their own way. Lou Kasischke is trying to look on the bright side of things, having been inspired by the example of Beck Weathers. * Weathers' right arm required amputation and his face a great deal of plastic surgery; he doesn't even know if he'll be able to practice medicine again. Still, he seems remarkably optimistic given his ordeal. * Krakauer is still shaken up, though. Much of this has to do with the magazine piece he wrote about the disaster immediately after returning. Although that piece provides the foundation for the book we're now reading, there were many facts that he got wrong— namely, the status of Andy Harris. * He received plenty of angry letters about these mistakes, but none were quite as heartbreaking as the scathing words he received from Lisa Fischer, sister of Scott. * There are plenty of tragedies, too. Sadly, Lopsang Jangbu dies in an avalanche while climbing Everest later that year, and Boukreev gets into a crazy bus accident. * Even Neal Beidleman, who was instrumental in the survival of five people, is haunted by the experience. To this day, he can still vividly remember the feeling of Yasuko grabbing his arm as he left to get help.

15. * This chapter reads more like a journal entry than a chapter of text. Perhaps Krakauer ends so strongly this way not just to release his own sadness and anger, but as a means of catharsis for everyone in his group. In a sense, he purges for them all—he catalogs their sadness, describes their letters, the deterioration of their lives after the disaster. Almost of all of them show up in the end, still grappling with the effects of what happened, and in a sense, Krakauer issues a gigantic apology both to and on behalf of all of them. * Krakauer is fully aware that in order to write this text he has had to draw conclusions about what happened and why, and that sometimes these conclusions do not portray certain people in a positive light. * Krakauer does lead us to certain conclusions with his text. * The South African team is perhaps the most criminal, refusing to help anyone and everyone throughout the entire expedition. * The Taiwanese team is portrayed as fairly incompetent. * Lopsang refuses to help Hansen and Hall at the summit * Boukreev descends too quickly, leaving behind many clients who need his help. * While Krakauer never explicitly accuses, he does suggest that many people made many poor decisions. * He does not exclude himself from blame, however, believing that he contributed directly to Andy Harris's death, and being terribly upset with himself for having mistaken Adams for Harris just outside of camp on the night of May 10.

16. * In the postscript, the author rebuts allegations made by another climber on the hill that day, Boukreev, that questioned the accuracy of Krakauer’s description of the events during the fateful final hours at the summit. * At the center of the controversy was whether Boukreev, as a guide, had abandonded the safety of his paying clients by rushing down the mountain ahead of them once disaster struck. Boukreev strongly denies wrong doing. * Specifically, Boukreev focuses on why he descended ahead of his clients: according to him, Fischer told him to do this. However, Krakauer remembers that conversation differently. * In this section, Krakauer seems reluctant to trash talk Boukreev, but he feels it necessary because of the inconsistencies in Boukreev’s story and how they affect the survivors/families.

17. * Make sure that you’ve signed up for a book for book club. I need to know how many copies of Alas, Babylon and A Separate Peace I will need to get! * If you are getting your own copy of Legend or We Were Liars, you MUST show it to me on Monday, May 9 th. Otherwise, you will be assigned one of the school-provided books.