(From left to right) Standing: John Taske, Stuart Hutchison, Helen Wilton, Beck Weathers, Lou Kasischke, Michael Groom. Seated: Doug Hansen, Susan Allen, Jon Krakauer, Andy Harris, Rob Hall, Frank Fischbeck, Yasuko Namba.
Jon Krakauer
The narrator of the story and author of the book. He took the offer from Outside Magazine to climb the mountain as a journalist to writer a report on the commercialization of Everest. Although he had given up climbing for a while by that time, he didn't only take the trip offer but also extended the trip destination from base camp to the summit. As a journalist on the mountain, he added a lot of pressure on people around him as anything they did could be recorded. This is considered as the cause of some poor decision making on the mountain.
As one of the survivor of the deadly expedition, he blames 2 person's death on himself and can't get over it.
Rob Hall
The leader of the Adventure Consultants Guided Expedition, which is the one Jon was in. Rob was a successful climber, he reached the top of the highest mountain in each continent in seven months. He was also one of the first people to start the Everest guide business together with Scott Fischer. He took care of his clients more than obeying his principals. He ignored the turn-around time out of pity to help Doug to reach the summit, but the extra time spent on the summit led to his own death. His loyalty to his clients was unbreakable as he died with his client because he wouldn't leave without him.
Andy Harris
The junior guide on Rob's team. Rob hired him despite the fact that he had never been to the top of Everest before. He was the first person Jon met on the team and they became close on the mountain. Jon blames himself on Andy's death for not paying attention to his anoxic symptoms on the mountain, However, Andy's position, time and reason of death still remains unknown since he was isolated on the mountain when the storm hit.
Doug Hansen
Another client on Rob's team who was a postal worker back home. He also became friends with Jon on the mountain. He was turned around by Rob on his first attempt of Everest, as a result, Rob disobeyed his turn-around time and waited for Doug to summit. Doug ended up spending all of his energy on the ascent and was immobile on the way down. He froze to death on the way down with Rob. Doug was technically one of the direct caused of Rob's death.
Scott Fischer
The leader of the Mountain Madness Guided Expedition, an experienced climber. He and Rob met on the mountains when they were young and became friends. Their friendship was complicated as they were each other's biggest competitor on their guiding businesses. Scott had met Jon before the trip . Scott is known by Jon before the trip for his survival of several high falls he had. He was exhausted before the summit ascent because of several accidents he had to take care of, resulted in his slow process on the way down. Despite the attempt to rescue him, he was unresponsive and left dead on the mountain.
Sandy Pittman
A client as well as a journalist on Scott's team who had a unique style of climbing. She asked the Sherpas to bring up her heavy equipment for her to send out information about her trip to NBC, together with TV and magazines for her entertainment on the mountain. This "rich" style surprised Jon as he had never seen anyone else climbing in a similar style. Sandy had already been rich and famous before her climb, she climbed Everest for the attention of the media.
Mike Groom
A guide from Australia on Rob's team. His position was between Andy and Boukreev on Rob's team. He got lost with his group on the descent but found help and was rescued. However, the heavy frostbite made him unable to function properly on the way down, Stuart had to fill in to lead the group.
Yasuko Namba
A businesswoman from Japan, she summited Everest in 1996 to become the second Japanese woman to climb the highest peak on all seven continents. However, she was a typical client of commercial climbs: she didn't have much mountaineering skills and was impatient during the ascent. She would have been left behind if the guides were not patient enough to help her. She was lost with her group on their way down. The group leader Beidleman and Mike found their way to Camp 4 and asked Boukreev for help. But by the time Boukreev went back to rescue Yasuko was dead already.
Lopsang Jangbu
Scott Fischer's leading sherpa. He had been an accomplished climber since he was young: he first summitted Everest at age 20, and he did it again a year later then again another year later, all without supplemental oxygen. His climbing skill together with three others' was described by Jon as "in a league of their own".
Anatoli Boukreev
He was one of the guides Scott hired on his team with a very high salary. Anatoli was one of the three "in a league of their own"s. Although he was a very accomplished climber, he was not a team player: he either stayed far back or far ahead of everyone else, which in the role of a guide, was very irresponsible. However, when a group of climbers were lost near camp 4, Anatoli went out and rescued them all.
Stuart Hutchison
A Canadian climber on Rob's team. He turned back before reaching the summit thus became one of the only "functional" climbers after the disaster stroke. He stepped in as the leader of the group when two guides were dead and one injured. He led the group down from camp 4 to base camp.
Beck Weathers
He was one of the clients on Rob's team. Although Jon had a very bad first impression on him, Jon changed his opinion on he mountain when he saw Beck's optimism--- he bore great pain without complaining; and had no ill will toward anybody. He was left behind assume dead on the way down, but somehow managed to make it back to camp alive.
John Taske
He was one of the clients on Rob's team, who was a retired ex special force commander from Australia. He climbed because he couldn't get used to the civilian life after retirement, climbing gave him challenge and the sense of mission. He turned around on the way to the Summit thus avoided the disaster.
Ang Dorje
Rob Hall's lead climbing sherpa. Loyalty plays a big part in his personality. After noticing Rob's exhaustion, he slowed down his pace to help Rob but was then trapped in the storm with an exhausted Doug. He wouldn't leave Rob alone but was eventually convinced to go down and get help. He then tried to go back up to rescue but was forced to give up due to the weather.
Ian Woodall
The leader of the South African expedition. Known to be cocky and disrespectful. The trip which was supposed to be the first South African biracial Everest expedition, but Ian destroyed it by forcing the only two black person quit and lying about his own backgrounds. The major sabotages he had on Everst were not following the date arrangement Rob and Scott proposed for the summit ascent, making a traffic jam up on the mountain; also refused to lend out his radio for rescue purposes.
"Makalu" Gau Ming-Ho
The Taiwanese expedition leader, known for his lack of skill and no sense of responsibility. He replied "OK, thank you for the information" when he got the news that one of his clients died. He led a team known to the other climbers as unskilled and dangerous. He also didn't obey the date agreement with Scott and Rob, ascended to the summit at the same time as Rob's, Fischer's and the South African team.
Guy Cotter
A friend of Rob's who was leading another expedition on an nearby mountain when the storm hit. He walked to Everest base camp and coordinated the rescue through radio. One major contribution he had was calling in a helicopter to land at camp one, the immobile Gau and Beck were thus able to be evacuated, eliminating the danger for them to fall down the crevices on the Khumbu Ice Falls.
The narrator of the story and author of the book. He took the offer from Outside Magazine to climb the mountain as a journalist to writer a report on the commercialization of Everest. Although he had given up climbing for a while by that time, he didn't only take the trip offer but also extended the trip destination from base camp to the summit. As a journalist on the mountain, he added a lot of pressure on people around him as anything they did could be recorded. This is considered as the cause of some poor decision making on the mountain.
As one of the survivor of the deadly expedition, he blames 2 person's death on himself and can't get over it.
Rob Hall
The leader of the Adventure Consultants Guided Expedition, which is the one Jon was in. Rob was a successful climber, he reached the top of the highest mountain in each continent in seven months. He was also one of the first people to start the Everest guide business together with Scott Fischer. He took care of his clients more than obeying his principals. He ignored the turn-around time out of pity to help Doug to reach the summit, but the extra time spent on the summit led to his own death. His loyalty to his clients was unbreakable as he died with his client because he wouldn't leave without him.
Andy Harris
The junior guide on Rob's team. Rob hired him despite the fact that he had never been to the top of Everest before. He was the first person Jon met on the team and they became close on the mountain. Jon blames himself on Andy's death for not paying attention to his anoxic symptoms on the mountain, However, Andy's position, time and reason of death still remains unknown since he was isolated on the mountain when the storm hit.
Doug Hansen
Another client on Rob's team who was a postal worker back home. He also became friends with Jon on the mountain. He was turned around by Rob on his first attempt of Everest, as a result, Rob disobeyed his turn-around time and waited for Doug to summit. Doug ended up spending all of his energy on the ascent and was immobile on the way down. He froze to death on the way down with Rob. Doug was technically one of the direct caused of Rob's death.
Scott Fischer
The leader of the Mountain Madness Guided Expedition, an experienced climber. He and Rob met on the mountains when they were young and became friends. Their friendship was complicated as they were each other's biggest competitor on their guiding businesses. Scott had met Jon before the trip . Scott is known by Jon before the trip for his survival of several high falls he had. He was exhausted before the summit ascent because of several accidents he had to take care of, resulted in his slow process on the way down. Despite the attempt to rescue him, he was unresponsive and left dead on the mountain.
Sandy Pittman
A client as well as a journalist on Scott's team who had a unique style of climbing. She asked the Sherpas to bring up her heavy equipment for her to send out information about her trip to NBC, together with TV and magazines for her entertainment on the mountain. This "rich" style surprised Jon as he had never seen anyone else climbing in a similar style. Sandy had already been rich and famous before her climb, she climbed Everest for the attention of the media.
Mike Groom
A guide from Australia on Rob's team. His position was between Andy and Boukreev on Rob's team. He got lost with his group on the descent but found help and was rescued. However, the heavy frostbite made him unable to function properly on the way down, Stuart had to fill in to lead the group.
Yasuko Namba
A businesswoman from Japan, she summited Everest in 1996 to become the second Japanese woman to climb the highest peak on all seven continents. However, she was a typical client of commercial climbs: she didn't have much mountaineering skills and was impatient during the ascent. She would have been left behind if the guides were not patient enough to help her. She was lost with her group on their way down. The group leader Beidleman and Mike found their way to Camp 4 and asked Boukreev for help. But by the time Boukreev went back to rescue Yasuko was dead already.
Lopsang Jangbu
Scott Fischer's leading sherpa. He had been an accomplished climber since he was young: he first summitted Everest at age 20, and he did it again a year later then again another year later, all without supplemental oxygen. His climbing skill together with three others' was described by Jon as "in a league of their own".
Anatoli Boukreev
He was one of the guides Scott hired on his team with a very high salary. Anatoli was one of the three "in a league of their own"s. Although he was a very accomplished climber, he was not a team player: he either stayed far back or far ahead of everyone else, which in the role of a guide, was very irresponsible. However, when a group of climbers were lost near camp 4, Anatoli went out and rescued them all.
Stuart Hutchison
A Canadian climber on Rob's team. He turned back before reaching the summit thus became one of the only "functional" climbers after the disaster stroke. He stepped in as the leader of the group when two guides were dead and one injured. He led the group down from camp 4 to base camp.
Beck Weathers
He was one of the clients on Rob's team. Although Jon had a very bad first impression on him, Jon changed his opinion on he mountain when he saw Beck's optimism--- he bore great pain without complaining; and had no ill will toward anybody. He was left behind assume dead on the way down, but somehow managed to make it back to camp alive.
John Taske
He was one of the clients on Rob's team, who was a retired ex special force commander from Australia. He climbed because he couldn't get used to the civilian life after retirement, climbing gave him challenge and the sense of mission. He turned around on the way to the Summit thus avoided the disaster.
Ang Dorje
Rob Hall's lead climbing sherpa. Loyalty plays a big part in his personality. After noticing Rob's exhaustion, he slowed down his pace to help Rob but was then trapped in the storm with an exhausted Doug. He wouldn't leave Rob alone but was eventually convinced to go down and get help. He then tried to go back up to rescue but was forced to give up due to the weather.
Ian Woodall
The leader of the South African expedition. Known to be cocky and disrespectful. The trip which was supposed to be the first South African biracial Everest expedition, but Ian destroyed it by forcing the only two black person quit and lying about his own backgrounds. The major sabotages he had on Everst were not following the date arrangement Rob and Scott proposed for the summit ascent, making a traffic jam up on the mountain; also refused to lend out his radio for rescue purposes.
"Makalu" Gau Ming-Ho
The Taiwanese expedition leader, known for his lack of skill and no sense of responsibility. He replied "OK, thank you for the information" when he got the news that one of his clients died. He led a team known to the other climbers as unskilled and dangerous. He also didn't obey the date agreement with Scott and Rob, ascended to the summit at the same time as Rob's, Fischer's and the South African team.
Guy Cotter
A friend of Rob's who was leading another expedition on an nearby mountain when the storm hit. He walked to Everest base camp and coordinated the rescue through radio. One major contribution he had was calling in a helicopter to land at camp one, the immobile Gau and Beck were thus able to be evacuated, eliminating the danger for them to fall down the crevices on the Khumbu Ice Falls.