"Into Thin Air," Jon Krakauer

Krakauer's account of his part in the ill-fated 1996 Mount Everest expedition. He went as part of a commercial expedition - "you, too, can climb Mount Everest!" His group got to the top - however, not everybody made it back down.

Krakauer seems to have carefully pieced together what actually happened and doesn't gloss over his part in the tragedy. However, there are conflicting accounts - Krakauer and guide Anatoli Boukreev were in disagreement over the suitability of Boukreev's conduct on the mountain (the conflict was never resolved, as Boukreev died attempting to climb Annapurna). I'll have to pick up "The Climb," Boukreev's co-authored book, and see what he had to say on the subject. If there's one thing that's not in doubt it's the sheer insanity of trying to haul yourself up the side of a mountain to what is approximately the cruising height of an airplane.