SparkNotes: Into Thin Air: Quiz

What was Krakauer's climbing experience prior to Everest?

(A) He was a climber skilled and experienced at high altitudes.

(B) He didn't have much climbing experience at all.

(C) He had climbing experience, but little at high altitudes.

(D) He climbed mountains as a hobby while he was a teenager.

Who was Krakauer's head guide?

(A) Scott Fischer

(B) Rob Hall

(C) Andy Harris

(D) Ang Dorje

Who was Rob Hall's main Sherpa?

(A) Ang Dorje

(B) Lopsang Sherpa

(C) Ngawang Sherpa

(D) Anatoli Boukreev

How long had Rob Hall been guiding at Adventure Consultants?

(A) 1996 was his first year.

(B) Since 1995.

(C) Since he was nineteen years old

(D) Since 1992

How was Rob Hall's track record as a guide?

(A) Mediocre—he had gotten a few clients to the summit, but not many.

(B) Hall suffered a lack of respect from the climbing community when he became a guide.

(C) Sterling—in five years, Hall guided thirty-nine clients to the peak.

(D) Hall had a good reputation, but not as good as Scott Fischer's.

How would you characterize Rob Hall and Scott Fischer's relationship?

(A) The two men were life-long friends.

(B) The men were friends and climbing companions, but competitors for the same business.

(C) The men did not like each other, as they ran competitive businesses.

(D) The men did not know one another before the 1996 climb.

Which of the following people reached the summit by 2:00 pm, the turn-around time?

(A) Rob Hall

(B) Scott Fischer

(C) Doug Hansen

(D) Jon Krakauer

Which of the guides descends the summit long before the clients?

(A) Andy Harris

(B) Anatoli Boukreev

(C) Lopsang Sherpa

(D) Rob Hall

Which of the following clients is not later rescued by Anatoli Boukreev?

(A) Yasuko Namba

(B) Tim Madsen

(C) Charlotte Fox

(D) Sandy Pittman

Who, suffering from hypoxia, tells the climbers that the oxygen canisters at the South Summit are empty?

(A) Rob Hall

(B) Mike Groom

(C) Andy Harris

(D) Doug Hansen

Why does Lopsang Sherpa refuse to deliver oxygen to Hall and Hansen who are stranded on the summit?

(A) As Fischer's Sherpa, he wants to find and assist Fischer.

(B) He is too tired to climb to the top.

(C) He does not want to help Hall because Hall is with another expedition.

(D) The oxygen canisters are all empty.

Why won't Hall leave the summit, even though he knows that staying will probably result in death?

(A) He is too tired to climb down.

(B) He is out of supplemental oxygen.

(C) He will not leave Doug Hansen, who is too incapacitated to climb down on his own.

(D) The ropes on the summit have become unfastened.

Whom does Krakauer mistake for Andy Harris the night they descend from the summit?

(A) Mike Groom

(B) Doug Hansen

(C) Tim Madsen

(D) Martin Adams