Into Thin Air Chapter 8 & 9

Chapter 8 beings with the group heading off for their second acclimatization climb from Base Camp to Base One.  Krakauer is starting to feel that is body is becoming more comfortable with the high altitude.  Hall plans for the group to spend two nights  at Camp One, and then spend three nights and Camp Two before making their way back down to Base Camp.  Krakauer makes it to Camp One before the majority of the group does so he helps a Sherpa, Ang Dorje, set up the camp.  Krakauer looks up to Ang Dorje because he has climbed Everest three times.  I feel that Krakauer finds Ang to be a source of inspiration.  I would too if I were struggling to climb the mountain once and the man next to me had climbed it three times before.  In the morning they begin to climb again.  At 21,000 feet Krakauer sees a dead body.  Hall assumes it was a Sherpa that died a number of years ago. I cannot imagine what was going through the groups head when they saw the dead body.  I feel that it would not only make me extremely scared for my own life, but also question what I was doing and if the expedition was worth it. The next two days of climbing were extremely difficult due to the altitude.  Ngawang begins to have trouble walking and becomes very sick.  He also becomes delirious and is coughing up blood.  Caroline Mackenzie, the doctor, and Scott Fischer say he is suffering from high altitude Pulmonary Edema.  Ngawang denies treatment and keeps climbing and eventually is sent to a hospital.

In chapter 9, the group leaves camp two extremely early in the  morning in brutal weather conditions.  They begin to climb in a wind child that goes down to forty degrees below zero.  I would never be able to make it through the cold.  Understandably, Krakauer becomes too cold to climb.  His body becomes numbs and he stops to wait for a guide.  Almost all of the group members have frost bite.  Everyones spirits at the camp are low.  Can you blame them? They are stuck in terrible conditions and have no wear to turn.  No source of heat and barely any source of energy.  Low spirits must have made the trip so much more exhausting.   This also causes them to get in an argument.  Their relationship as a team is starting to crumble.  I feel that this is detrimental to their trip.  To be successful and to live through this they must work together and support each other.  I know this must be so much easier said than done.  Do you think you could go through a trip like this without getting aggravated at the people you were traveling with? (especially in these hard conditions)