How we cite our quotes: (Chapter.Paragraph)
Quote #1
Because the climbing route wove under […] hundreds of these unstable towers, each trip through the Icefall was a little like playing a round of Russian roulette. (6.12)
So why exactly are people paying tens of thousands of dollars for this? Climbing Everest is like being chased through a minefield by a pack of robotic Velociraptors—you'll be lucky if you walk away in one piece. Not that we're writing a novel about robotic Velociraptors in our spare time or anything.
Quote #2
"Saying good-bye to you was one of the saddest things I've ever done. I guess I knew on some level that you might not be coming back, and it seemed like such a waste." (6.40)
That's some heavy stuff, Shmoop-dudes. Although Krakauer is so laser-focused on reaching the summit that he can't see anything else, his wife is able to see the mountain for what it really is: a gigantic deathtrap. Unaffected by the mountain's allure, Linda seems more aware than most of its potential dangers.
Quote #3
"With so many incompetent people on the mountain […] I think it's pretty unlikely that we'll get through this season without something bad happening up high." (7.49)
Yikes. At times, it seems so obvious that a major disaster is going to happen; in fact, the sheer number of people on the mountain makes a few deaths statistically inevitable. You might think that this would make folks hesitant, but the truth is that it only makes them buckle their boots and clip in their crampons even faster.