Factual Errors and Journalistic Lapses in Into Thin Air by Jon Krakauer
Note: Page numbers are from the Kindle edition.
| Error | Quote from Into Thin Air (Page #) | Response Status |
|---|---|---|
| Claiming they waited at South Summit for ropes to be fixed when Groom’s book says it was because Rob Hall told them to wait there for his final approval. | “Around 11:40, Beidleman eventually asked, ‘Hey, Ang Dorje, are you going to fix the ropes, or what?’ Ang Dorje’s reply was a quick, unequivocal ‘No’—perhaps because none of Fischer’s Sherpas were there to share the work.” (p. 228). While ignoring Groom on page 278: ‘" fought an internal battle, should I ignore Rob’s instructions not to fix ropes and for the team to regroup at the South Summit by heading for the summit now?" | Not acknowledged yet. |
| Fischbeck’s Everest Attempts (4 attempts, not 3; incorrect age given) | “Frank Fischbeck…had attempted Everest three times.” (p. 44) | Not acknowledged yet. |
| Oldest Team Member (Taske was 55, not 56; Fischbeck was actually the oldest member) | “John Taske, at fifty-six, the oldest member of our group.” (p. 44) | Not acknowledged yet. |
| Michael Groom’s Age (36, not 33) | “A thirty-three-year-old Australian… Mike Groom.” (p. 47) | Not acknowledged yet. |
| Rob Hall’s Summits Count (Inaccurate in the total count and misleading as it appears to count Sherpa, his guides, himself, and the co-founder of Adventure Consultants) | “Between 1990 and 1995, Hall was responsible for putting thirty-nine climbers on the summit of Everest—three more ascents than had been made in the first twenty years after Sir Edmund Hillary’s inaugural climb.” (p. 41) | Not acknowledged yet. |
| Lou Kasischke and the 1PM Turn-Around Time (Kasischke says the 1PM turn-around was pre-set, not undecided as Krakauer claims) | “By midmorning on May 10, Hall still hadn’t announced what our turn-around time would actually be. Hutchison, conservative by nature, was operating on the assumption that it would be 1:00 P.M. Around 11:00,” (p. 225) | Not acknowledged yet. |
| Hillary Step Timing (Krakauer was past it before 1 PM, not at the base at 1 PM) | “At 1:00 P.M., I reached the base of the Hillary Step.” (p. 230) | Acknowledged and corrected. |
| South Summit Descent Timing Error (Krakauer left South Summit closer to 3:50 PM, not 3:30 PM as claimed) | “Around 3:30 P.M. I left the South Summit ahead of Mike, Yasuko, and Andy, and almost immediately descended into a dense layer of clouds.” (p. 237) | Not acknowledged yet. |
| Pittman’s Descent Timing (She left the summit before Beidleman, not with him at 3:10 PM) | “At 3:10 Friday afternoon Fischer still hadn’t arrived on top, says Beidleman, adding, ‘I decided it was time to get the hell out of there, even though Scott hadn’t showed up yet.’ He gathered up Pittman, Gammelgaard, Fox, and Madsen and started leading them down the summit ridge.” (p. 255) | Not acknowledged yet. |
| Misrepresenting Oxygen Checking Method (Weight difference, not just regulator gauge) | “The only way to know how much gas is in a canister is to attach it to your regulator and read the gauge.” (p. 236) | Not acknowledged yet. |
| Inconsistent Oxygen Usage Statements (Contradicts himself about final bottle use) | “I grabbed a new oxygen canister.” (p. 237) vs. “My third and last canister was only half full.” (p. 243) | Acknowledged and correction planned for future editions. |
| Sherpa Summit Count (Only 2 reached summit, not 4) | “And the other four Sherpas on our team were too cold and debilitated from having gone to the summit.” (p. 269) | Not acknowledged yet. |
| Lhakpa’s Climb (He did not summit, contradicts earlier statement) | “Both Ang Dorje and Lhakpa were cold and wasted from climbing to the summit and back.” (p. 296) | Acknowledged and corrected. |
| Ladakhis’ Turnaround (Stopped at 28,840 ft, not 28,550 ft; Krakauer overstates time to summit) | “The Ladakhis were at 28,550 feet when they turned around.” (p. 302) | Not acknowledged yet. |
| Delays at South Summit Were Due to Rob Hall’s Orders, Not Missing Ropes | “The delays resulted from the combination of slow climbers and the failure to fix ropes in advance.” (p. 16) | Not acknowledged yet. |
| Beidleman’s Oxygen Adjustment (He set it to 3–3.5L/min, not full flow at 4L/min) | “Beidleman…made sure her regulator was turned to full flow.” (p. 256-257) | Not acknowledged yet. |
| Montenegrins “Used All Their Rope” (No evidence to support claim) | “The Montenegrins had used all their rope on the lower sections of the climb.” (p. 221) | Acknowledged and corrected. |
| Misreporting Pittman’s Descent Location (Beidleman grabbed her below South Summit, not above Hillary Step) | “Beidleman grabbed Pittman by her harness and started dragging her down the steep snow of the Southeast Ridge.” (p. 256-257) | Acknowledged and corrected. |
| Oxygen Theft/Omission (Krakauer later admitted it, but did not mention it in the book) | (No mention in Into Thin Air of missing/stolen oxygen at South Summit.) | Acknowledged and correction planned for future editions. |
| Short-Roping Definition (Incorrectly describes it as only for weak/injured climbers) | “A technique for assisting a weak or injured climber known as short-roping.” (p. 213) | Not acknowledged yet. |
| Beidleman’s Oxygen Flow (4L/min omitted, misleading readers about Mountain Madness oxygen strategy) | (Omitted from Into Thin Air.) | Not acknowledged yet (Journalistic Lapse). |
| Oxygen Disparity Between Expeditions (Did not mention Mountain Madness planned to provide more oxygen than Adventure Consultants) | (No mention in Into Thin Air of the different oxygen provisions between teams.) | Acknowledged and correction planned for future editions. |
| Makalu Gau’s Summit Time (Gau reported 3:00 PM, but Krakauer only reports 3:45 PM without telling the reader he rejected Gau’s time) | “Around this time two Sherpas on the Taiwanese team arrived, followed soon thereafter by Makalu Gau.” (p. 282) | Acknowledged and disputed. |
| Charlotte Fox’s Statement Omitted (American Alpine Journal) (She stated she wanted to descend, but Beidleman kept group together) | (Omitted from Into Thin Air.) | Not acknowledged yet. |
| Planned Stunt on the Summit (Krakauer admitted a stunt was planned but claims it was irrelevant) | (Omitted from Into Thin Air.) | Acknowledged and disputed. |
| Mallory’s Age (37, not 38) | “In 1924 Mallory was thirty-eight, a married schoolmaster with three young children.” (p. 15) | Acknowledged and corrected. |
| Altered Quote – Turnaround Time (Removed “dictated by Rob”) | “Around 11:00, Hall told Hutchison and Taske that the top was still three hours away, and then he sprinted to try and get past the Taiwanese. ‘It seemed increasingly unlikely that we would have any chance of summitting before the one P.M. turn-around time,’ says Hutchison.” (p. 225) Original: “It seemed increasingly unlikely that we would have any chance of summiting before the 1 P.M. turn-around time dictated by Rob.” | Not acknowledged yet. |
| Kasischke’s Turnaround Decision (Misrepresents sequence of events) | “A brief discussion ensued. Kasischke was initially reluctant to concede defeat, but Taske and Hutchison were persuasive. At 11:30, the three men turned their backs on the summit and headed down, and Hall sent Sherpas Kami and Lhakpa Chhiri down with them.” (pp. 225-226) Kasischke turned around after Taske and Hutchison based on his own decision, not due to persuasion. No evidence Hall sent Sherpas down at that time; they were delivering oxygen to South Summit. | Not acknowledged yet. |
Why the Journalistic Lapse About Groom’s Account of South Summit is Important
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Krakauer presents the delay at the South Summit as a result of missing fixed ropes, reinforcing his argument that Lopsang short-roping Pittman contributed to the disaster.
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Groom’s account contradicts this, showing that the team was waiting on Hall’s explicit orders—not for ropes to be fixed.
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Charlotte Fox’s published account in American Alpine Journal further confirms that the team was waiting for oxygen bottles, not due to missing ropes.
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Fox stated:
“It turns out I had plenty of time to contemplate our next move. We waited again while more people arrived at our small sheltered nook under the South Summit. All were due for a last bottle of oxygen at this point (which we would use to summit and descend to the South Col) to be delivered by Sherpa staff. I recall some discussion there about the possibility of more rope to fix the narrow ridge and the Hillary Step. After waiting for more than an hour the oxygen bottles finally arrived and someone produced just enough rope for Anatoli to fix the Step; the ridge up to it had some old exposed lines that would have to suffice. One mis-step here and it was a one-way ticket into either Nepal or Tibet.”
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Boukreev’s account in The Climb further supports that Mountain Madness was waiting for their oxygen to arrive:
“Adams followed, and as they resettled, according to Adams, Beidleman asked him, ‘How much oxygen do you have?’ Adams took off his pack, because his pressure gauge, like all the climbers’, was affixed to the top of his canister. ‘I read five pounds on my gauge,’ and then I asked him, ‘How much have you got?’ and he said, ‘Me, too, five pounds, but I got a full bottìe from Toli, too.’ Adams’s impatience with the progress of the climb began to chafe against his natural inclination to take action. He was not the type to sit around. Even in his mildly hypoxic state he understood clearly that he was sucking the last of his oxygen from his second canister. ‘So, I knew it would have been pushing my luck, but I said to Neal, “Let’s go! Give me the full bottle of oxygen and let’s go.” But, he said, “No, I’m not giving you this bottle.” So, I said, “Okay, I’ve got five pounds, give me your five and let’s get out of here.” And he agreed to that, but then we never went anywhere.’” (The Climb, pp. 143-144)
“More than an hour after he had reached the South Summit, Adams recognized the first of the Mountain Madness Sherpas to arrive and went to him to get his third and last bottle. Discarding his almost empty canister and the one Beidleman had given him, Adams screwed his hose onto the full one and began to breathe a little more easily.” (The Climb, p. 144)
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By ignoring both Groom and Fox’s statements, as well as Boukreev’s account, Krakauer distorts the sequence of events and unfairly links delays to Pittman instead of Rob Hall’s leadership decisions.
This misrepresentation is significant because it supports a false causal link between Pittman and the disaster, when in reality, the team was waiting for Hall’s decision and the arrival of oxygen bottles, independent of any fixed rope issues.
Why Makalu Gau’s Summit Time is Important to the Oxygen Theft Issue
- Makalu Gau reported summiting at 3:00 PM, while Krakauer states he arrived at 3:45 PM.
- Gau was moving slowly all day, yet between the South Summit and the true summit, his pace dramatically increased—if he summited at 3:00 PM.
- If Gau actually reached the summit at 3:00 PM, it suggests he obtained additional oxygen at the South Summit, likely at least two bottles.
- This raises serious questions about where those bottles came from—whether they were his own or belonged to someone else.
- Given Krakauer’s later acknowledgment of oxygen theft at the South Summit (which he omitted from Into Thin Air), this adds another potential connection to the missing oxygen.
Why the Charlotte Fox Omission and Summit Stunt Matter
- Charlotte Fox stated she wanted to descend earlier, but Neal Beidleman kept the group together.
- This suggests the group was told to wait at the summit longer than necessary, possibly for a photo or publicity event.
- Krakauer acknowledges a stunt was planned but claims it was irrelevant. However, delaying descent may have contributed to later problems on the mountain.
- By omitting Fox’s statement, Into Thin Air makes the delay appear natural, when in reality, it may have been a conscious decision that put climbers at greater risk.
For discussion about the errors and omissions in Into Thin Air
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