Camp One: April 16, 1996 - 19,500 Feet Summary and Analysis

The group rests in Base Camp for two days before starting on its second acclimatization climb. Krakauer notices that he is breathing more easily than on the previous climb. Krakauer reaches Camp One, where the group will stay for two nights before climbing again to Camp Two for three nights, then back to Base Camp.

At Camp One, Krakauer helps Ang Dorje, one of the Sherpas helping the group, to dig out platforms for their tents. The work exhausts him, and Ang Dorje teases him while he continues to work, joking that at 6,000 meters the air is still "thick." Ang Dorje is the "climbing sirdar" of the group, the head Sherpa while they are on the mountain. He has worked his way up from a cook's helper on Himalayan treks by virtue of...