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Most of the people who live in this rugged country seem to have no desire to be severed from the modern world or the untidy flow of human progress.

In Chapter Four, Krakauer and the group are in "Sherpa Country." He describes the Sherpa lifestyle and dispels many of the myths involving Sherpas. Krakauer discusses the ways in which the business of guiding people up Everest has changed the Sherpa culture. The economies of Nepal and Tibet as well as the well being of the Sherpa communities depend on Everest-related tourism. Sherpas now own teahouses and lodges, and hire themselves to bring food, water and supplies to climbers. There is intense competition between Sherpas to assist guides during climbing expeditions, and a Sherpa is paid at least ten times the average Sherpa's year income for assisting a guide. Krakauer expresses some disappointment in the modernization of the Sherpa community, but notes with some surprise that the Sherpas fully embrace Western culture. They wear baseball caps and America paraphernalia, and use the Everest revenue to build roads and schools. Whereas Krakauer and the reader might, in some respects, see the changing Sherpa culture as ruinous, this quote points out that the Sherpas themselves are surprisingly open and happy about the resulting changes.

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