Base Camp: May 6, 1996 - 17,600 Feet Summary and Analysis

On May 6, the group leaves Base Camp on its attempt for the summit. Krakauer is climbing at the front of the group with Andy Harris. The intense heat again bothers him, and as he reaches Camp Two, he is feeling lightheaded and exhausted.

Coming down the mountain through the camp is Goran Kropp, the solo Swedish climber. Kropp is at the end of his mission to travel under his own power from sea level in Sweden to the top of Everest. He is an experienced climber and has ridden a bicycle across Europe and Southeast Asia and made it to within an hour's climb of the summit, where he decided if he were to continue he would be too tired to make it down safely, and turned around. As he descends through the...