Over Northern India: March 29, 1996 - 30,000 Feet Summary and Analysis

Krakauer is in an airliner, flying over the Himalayas to Katmandu, Nepal. He looks through the small plane window at the high peaks, including the summit of Everest. It seems absurd, he thinks, to be planning to climb to the height of a cruising airplane, nearly 30,000 feet.

He is greeted at the airport by Andy Harris, a tall man from New Zealand. Harris is one of the guides of the group Krakauer will climb with. As they wait for another member of the group to come through customs, the two men talk. Krakauer learns that Harris has not climbed Everest before.

At the hotel where the group is booked to stay, Krakauer meets Rob Hall, their leader. Hall is a very tall man from New Zealand with a full beard. He...