Jon Krakauer was born in 1954, the third of five children, and grew up in Corvallis, Oregon. His father, Lewis Krakauer, a doctor and weekend climber, introduced him to mountaineering when he was eight. He went to Hampshire College, from which he graduated in 1976, and then divided his time between Colorado, Alaska, and the Pacific Northwest, working as a carpenter and salmon fisherman, traveling around, and mountain climbing as much as possible.
Krakauer’s father was greatly disappointed that Jon didn’t go into medicine, but Jon was passionate about writing and climbing, and has accomplished many great mountain climbing feats. He has written for Outside, Architectural Digest, The New...
