The role of commercialism play in the disaster of 1996 In Jon Krakauer’s Into Thin Air, climbers and guides of varying skill levels attempt to summit Everest in the disaster of 1996. The Everest guides fight not only to get to the top, but to get popularity for more customers to climb with them. The only way to get people to pay to get up to the top of the world’s highest mountain was to have a good reputation. Rob Hall the guide for Adventure Consultants, Scott Fisher the leader of Mountain Madness, and Ian Woodall are examples of leaders who made commercialism their highest priority. Rob Hall is a very respected guide on Everest and on this climb he struggles to live up to that reputation. On the summit day there is always a strict 2:00 turnaround time for his team, Adventure
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This expedition was nationally recognized, but it was only to obtain the sponsorship of the Johannesburg, a reporting company that sent up two climbers on Woodall's expedition to record the experience. After the reporters found out that his climbing and military credentials were falsified, and facing international scandal, Woodall banished the two reporters, Ken Vernon and Richard Shorey. Ian had a “blood chilling exchange with Ken Owen”(114) which ended the sponsorship for the expedition. In an attempt to be on the summit before anyone else, Ian Woodall decided not to let the other teams on the mountain to use their electronic equipment. This slowed the pace of other teams, as it was harder to communicate to base camp. Near the day of summit when teams were organizing summit dates, and the South African team was asked when they were going to summit the only response was “[the South African team] will summit whenever they damn well please and anyone who does not like it can bugger off”(248). This not only shows the ignorance of the team but also that the South Africans will summit whenever the weather was good
This expedition was nationally recognized, but it was only to obtain the sponsorship of the Johannesburg, a reporting company that sent up two climbers on Woodall's expedition to record the experience. After the reporters found out that his climbing and military credentials were falsified, and facing international scandal, Woodall banished the two reporters, Ken Vernon and Richard Shorey. Ian had a “blood chilling exchange with Ken Owen”(114) which ended the sponsorship for the expedition. In an attempt to be on the summit before anyone else, Ian Woodall decided not to let the other teams on the mountain to use their electronic equipment. This slowed the pace of other teams, as it was harder to communicate to base camp. Near the day of summit when teams were organizing summit dates, and the South African team was asked when they were going to summit the only response was “[the South African team] will summit whenever they damn well please and anyone who does not like it can bugger off”(248). This not only shows the ignorance of the team but also that the South Africans will summit whenever the weather was good