Rob Dufour Into Thin Air

Into Thin Air is a movie about a group mixed with experienced and inexperienced climbers attempting to climb the highest and most dangerous mountain in the world; Everest. This movie is a film adaptation of the book written by renowned author Jon Krakauer and there are many other stories about the same incident which is referred to as the Everest disaster in 1996. This movie interested me before I even watched it because of interest in hiking and simply enjoying the outdoors. It is one of my goals to eventually climb Mount Rainier and possibly even Mount McKinley, so I watched this movie with a lot of interest and expectation. It's hard to believe that people can and do lose their lives while attempting something like Everest, yet people still climb. I guess some people welcome the risk of death, because through such a dangerous climb I would think one would feel almost more alive than ever by seeing death right in front of them. People seem to climb mountains for tons of reasons, but for me there are two main reasons for why I hike: religious and because it is aesthetically pleasing. When I climb or hike I often find myself lost in thought about the beauty of our world and often give thanks to the Lord for blessing me with the opportunity to see it and live in it. Many times throughout the movie the climbers are seen to be in a state of awe. At the beginning of the movie they are entranced by the beauty surrounding them, but as disaster strikes they can be seen to be in awe of nature’s wrath. Nature and the wilderness can at times be unforgiving, but I feel that is part of it’s draw on people. When someone goes to climb Everest, Rainier, or even just to go camp in the woods, there is that looming danger throughout the wilderness that reminds one that they are alive.