Jon Krakauer

At one point in his life, Krakauer was an avid climber however in recent years, he has given up the hobby. When Outside magazine asks him to write an article about the commercialism on Everest, Krakauer knows immediately that he had to climb.

His expedition turns out to be the most deadly in Everest history. He successfully summits and leaves the mountain alive, but takes with him the story, and questions.

Krakauer attempts to figure out what went wrong and what happened to whom. He does extensive research and painstakingly traces the actions of every climber on the mountain. He theorizes about the breakdowns of the expedition, and attributes the disaster to a series of small mistakes.

Rob Hall

The lead guide of Adventure Consultants, the Everest climbing service that guides Krakauer up the mountain. Hall began climbing in the Himalayas at age nineteen, and successfully climbed the highest mountain in each of the seven continents within a period of seven months. During the ascent he comes to the assistance of a number of climbers. Hall does not adhere to his own turn-around time for the summit. Hall, hours behind the turn-around time, waits for Doug Hansen, a current and former client. Hall had convinced Hansen to make another go at the summit, and despite running behind, Hall attempts to help him realize his dream. Hall and Hansen become stranded at the top of the mountain. Hansen runs out of oxygen, and Hall refuses to leave him. Hall’s loyalty is fierce, and he tries to protect his client until the very end.

Andy Harris

A guide in Rob Hall’s expedition. He grows close to Krakauer during the climb. Krakauer holds himself accountable for Harris’s death. He comes to the assistance of anyone and everyone without hesitation, and eventually that same sense of loyalty turns out to be his downfall.

Harris’s death is one of the single biggest tragedies to unfold during the expedition. Harris and his girlfriend had just begun building a house, but he couldn’t resist the lure of the mountain. Always among the first to volunteer to do work or assist clients, Harris is one of the people Krakauer trusts throughout.

Beck Weathers

Weathers is a doctor who is obsessed with climbing. One of the more gut-wrenching aspects of the story is Weathers’ blindness that sets in at higher altitude. Weathers persuades Hall to let him attempt the summit, and promises that if he cannot sit he will wait for the next guide. After waiting hours for a guide, Weathers finally gets help down the mountain and joins the group that gets lost. During the rescue attempt, Weathers is left for dead with Namba. In a series of astounding feats of strength and spirit, Weathers stays alive. After being written off he eventually finds camp, ill and frostbitten. At camp, he is stripped of his sleeping bags in a fierce storm but lasts through the night. He also survives being brought down the mountain, finally seeing doctors at Base Camp who call his frostbite the worst they’ve ever seen.

Yasuko Namba

About 100 pounds in weight, no more, she was twice that weight in determination. She was considered the most mentally focused and tough individual on the team. Though she was an enjoyable individual to be around she was also very quiet and reserved. Namba was a Japanese woman whose attempt to climb Everest gained much notoriety in Japan. Left for dead with Beck Weathers when their group gets lost on the way down the mountain. Unlike Weathers she cannot summon the strength to return to camp, and unfortunately dies. She didn’t have the body power to carry the same weight as easily as others on the team because of her small size. Also because of her small body mass, she got desperately cold much more quickly than the average climber.

Doug Hansen

A postal worker from Washington state who had been climbing for 12 years. Hansen turned back just 300 feet short of Everest’s summit the year prior to this expedition, in 1995. Hansen worked two jobs to afford his Everest expeditions. Hansen was easygoing, supportive, encouraging and a solid member of the team. He and Krakauer become close friends, as they had more in common with each other than with the other members on the team. Hansen is at the summit with Hall when the storm hits on May 10, 1996. Having ran out of supplemental oxygen and too exhausted to continue the descent, Hansen dies.