1. Journal #5
Why is the hierarchy of giving orders so important at this stage of the ascent?
In your opinion, list the characters in the order they would appear on the hierarchy. Who did you choose as 1? Why is this the order?
*A hierarchy is a system in which people are ranked one above the other according to status or authority.

2. Summit
South Col
Camp Four

3. Traffic jam at the Hilary Step

4. Chapter 12 (starts on pg. 167)
What factors had caused Lopsang Jangbu Sherpa to push himself to exhaustion both below and above Camp Four?
As Krakauer waited in the night at Camp Four for his summit bid, what were his thoughts about his relationship both to other members of his own expedition, as well to others who would make summit bids the next day?
What does Krakauer write is being done about the approximately 1,000 discarded oxygen canisters that littered Camp Four?
Chapter 13 (starts on pg. 181)
What were some of the factors that lead to the bottlenecks between Camp 4 and the summit?
Why was Krakauer critical of Boukreev in this section of the climb?
Describe Krakauer's feelings about his climb both before and at the moment of his summit.
Chapter 14 (starts on pg. 193)
What transpired at the South Summit amongst Krakauer, Andy Harris, and Mike Groom that Krakauer later feels guilty for?
What mistakes did Beck Weathers make that he would later regret?
What mistake did Krakauer make with Beck Weathers that he too would later regret?

5. Chapter 12 Summary Everyone is headed to Camp Four.
It is a crowded on the mountain—at least fifty people are behind Krakauer. Not wanting to get stuck in a pack of people, Krakauer climbs as quickly as he can, trying to pass climbers on the single rope leading up the Lhotse Face.
Krakauer is getting used to breathing the supplemental oxygen and makes good time up the Lhotse Face.
He notices four climbers on the South Summit of the mountain and guesses that they are from the Montenegrin expedition. They are struggling with the wind and snow Krakauer can see swirling around the peak.
An area called the South Col, a rectangular plateau, is their launching point for the summit attempt. It is littered with more than one thousand empty oxygen canisters. The ridge creates a wind tunnel, funneling winds that faster and stronger than those at the summit.
The weather gets worse throughout the afternoon.
Lopsang, Fischer's Sherpa, shows up carrying an 80-pound load, largely due to Sandy Pittman's satellite telephone and hardware. Pittman intends to send the last group of Internet files from 26,000 feet.
By 4:30, all of Hall's team is there, and the last of Fischer's team arrives even later, during what has become a nasty storm.
The Montenegrins arrive, saying that they were unable to reach the summit.
Hall and Fischer's groups are discouraged by the weather and the Montenegrins' unsuccessful attempt.

6. Chapter 12 Summary
Bruce Herrod, a member of the South African team, appears outside of Krakauer's tent. He is suffering from hypothermia and disorientation.
Doug Hansen also struggles with serious health problems, not having eaten in days and rapidly losing strength and stamina.
Around 7:30 that night, the weather improves. Hall confirms that they will press on to the summit in the morning. At 11:35 pm, Hall's team leaves. Fischer's team leaves one half hour later, and just after Fischer's group, the Taiwanese team leaves for the summit, totaling thirty-three climbers.
A few hours later, Frank decides to turn back—something inexplicably "doesn't feel right."
Doug Hansen also steps out of line, but after a conversation with Rob Hall steps back in and continues.
Before they left for the summit, Hall made them all promise to listen and obey him on the mountain, and most importantly, to stay within 100 meters of each other so he could more readily keep track of them. This means that the faster climbers must wait for the rest of the group to catch up.
Krakauer sees Lopsang pulling Pittman up the mountain on a tether.
At around 5:30 in the morning, Krakauer reaches the Southeast Ridge where he stops and waits for the rest of the group. Fischer and the Taiwanese group both pass him.
Nearly two hours later, Rob gives Krakauer the go ahead to continue.
Further up the mountain, Krakauer sees Lopsang on his knees in the snow, vomiting. After hauling eighty pounds of equipment and Pittman herself, he is exhausted.

7. Chapter 13 Summary
After they pass the South Col, they reach an area called the Death Zone. There, one has to proceed quickly in order to summit before his or her oxygen runs out.
In Krakauer's group, the climbers all have two canisters of oxygen, each of which is supposed to last for five to six hours. Spending long amounts of time, particularly without oxygen, above the South Col is deadly.
As a way to minimize danger, Hall typically relies on fixed rope lines through the Death Zone. But this time there are no ropes are in place.
Hall and Fischer decide to send two Sherpas each ahead of the rest of the climbers to take care of the ropes. However, the night before the summit attempt, no Sherpas left to fasten the ropes.
Ang Dorje, Hall's Sherpa, reveals that during a vision he had at Base Camp, he saw ghosts. Dorje plans on fixing the ropes, but because Lopsang is late, they don't finish in time.
The lack of ropes slows the climbers and causes a traffic jam at around 28,000 feet. The slow pace worries Hall, who is not sure they will be able to reach the summit by the turn around time.
There is some dispute about the turn around time—Hall says he is trying to decide between 1:00 pm and 2:00 pm, but never announces his decision.
Knowing that there is no way they would reach the summit by either of those times, climbers Taske and Hutchinson turn back.

8. Chapter 13 Summary
Krakauer reflects on how difficult it would be to turn around that close to the top, after having endured all the "misery" to get that far and after paying sums of around $70,000.
He also thinks about the fact that the climbers who continue climbing despite safety, logic and ill health are dangerous, which poses a huge dilemma for Everest climbers.
As they approach the Hillary Step, the infamous vertical ridge, Krakauer notices that Boukreev is not carrying any additional oxygen or a backpack. It is the first time he has seen a guide elect not to carry gas or any other equipment.
Krakauer and two of Hall's Sherpas wait just below the Hillary Step, and when asked if they are going to fasten the ropes, Hall's Sherpas say no, presumably because no other Sherpas are there to help.
Beidleman, Andy Harris and Boukreev finally decide to install the ropes themselves, but by then there is a line of people waiting.
They begin ascending the Step, with Boukreev in front.
Krakauer worries that his oxygen will run out—he had ditched his second canister thinking he'd have enough time to retrieve another one on the descent, but now was only about an hour away from running out.
Krakauer pushes ahead to the summit and makes it. By the time he is there, though, feels not elation but fear at the thought of the descent that lay ahead.

9. Chapter 14 Summary
Krakauer, worried about the oxygen supply, does not stay at the top long enough to string up banners or flags or pose for pictures. While he is up there, he notices some thin clouds, but does not recognize them as thunderheads.
At Hillary Step he encounters a traffic jam and must wait for the other climbers to ascend. He asks Andy Harris to turn down his oxygen so as to preserve it until he can get another one, but Harris mistakenly opens the valve even farther and after ten minutes, Krakauer is out of oxygen.
Krakauer passes Hall who is disappointed that five of the team members turned back before reaching the summit.
After the traffic jam passes, Krakauer slowly descends to the South Summit, where extra canisters of oxygen await. He asks Andy Harris to get him one, but Harris responds that all of the canisters are empty. Harris gives Krakauer his bottle, and Krakauer stops to examine the canisters. He finds that most of them are in fact full. Krakauer leaves Andy there, and continues to descend—something he says he will regret forever.
At this point, all of the climbers except one have begun the descent, and most are accompanied by guides.
Krakauer keeps going until he sees teammate Beck Weathers, who had decided to turn back hours before. Weathers is suffering the effects of an eye surgery he underwent some years before. He cannot see anything.
Weathers had convinced Hall to let him have another go, hoping that perhaps his eyesight would improve once he neared the top. Hall gave Weathers thirty minutes—if his eyesight was better he could continue, but if it wasn't he had to promise to sit and wait for a guide.

10. The weather is beginning to look ominous, and Krakauer offers to accompany Weathers down the mountain.
Weathers declines, though, because Krakauer mentions that more climbers were just behind him. Weathers decides to wait for that group.
Krakauer has trouble on the descent and is not sure he is following the correct route. He tries his best to remember landmarks and guide himself down the correct path when he hears thunder. By the time he descends that stretch of mountain it is 6:00 pm, and he is caught in the middle of a blizzard.
Again, he realizes that he is running out of oxygen. Krakauer begins to hallucinate, his mind retreating to the place it goes when it starves for oxygen.
Just 600 feet from the tents, Krakauer pauses to conserve his energy.
While resting, Andy Harris catches up to him. Harris's cheeks are covered in frost and an eye is frozen shut. Krakauer points in the direction of the tents and Harris slips over a lip of ice, scooting down the mountain on his rear end. At one point Harris tumbles over, but is okay and runs off toward the tents.
Krakauer summons the energy and will to continue, and descends the final face to the camp. He dives into his tent, confident that he, Harris and his teammates are all okay.

11. Journal #6
Avalanches and storms strike without warning, and no matter how competent a guide is, he or she cannot avoid these pitfalls. Believing that one has all aspects of summating Everest under control is detrimental to any climb; one cannot afford to lose any acuity or sense of the enormity of the risk.
Explain at least 4 events/decisions that could have an impact on the descent.