Jon Krakauer
Narrator and author of Into Thin Air. Has always had a passion for climbing. Joins Rob Hall's expedition as a journalist hired to write an article about Mt. Everest for Outside magazine. Survives, piecing together what happened on the mountain for his book.
Rob Hall
Co-founder and lead guide of the Adventure Consultants expedition. Highly respected climber from New Zealand with an excellent track record of successful Everest expeditions. Very organized and loyal to his clients.
Scott Fischer
Founder and lead guide of the Mountain Madness expedition. Competitive friendship with Rob Hall; strives for greater respect as a climber and guide. Very well-liked and known for his loose and spontaneous approach to climbing.
Andy Harris
Guide on Rob Hall's team, nicknamed Harold. Extremely loyal to Hall. He and Krakauer form a bond over the course of the expedition.
Sandy Pittman
Client on Scott Fischer's team. Wealthy New York socialite who is attempting to climb the Seven Summits. An inexperienced climber, but very determined. She insists on bringing electronics, magazines, and other luxuries on the expedition.
Doug Hansen
Client on Rob Hall's team. He is on his second attempt to climb Mt. Everest with Hall after narrowly missing the summit the year before. He becomes Krakauer's closest friend on the expedition.
Neal Beidleman
Guide on Scott Fischer's team. Takes responsibility over the clients of both Fischer and Hall during the height of the storm on the summit.
Anatoli Boukreev
Guide on Scott Fischer's team from Kazakhstan. Highly accomplished climber, but lacks the social skills to be a good guide. Criticized for not caring enough about his clients.
Beck Weathers
Client on Rob Hall's team from Texas. Inspired by Dick Bass to climb Mt. Everest. Talkative, opinionated, and resilient, with a very strong will to survive.
Lopsang Jangbu Sherpa
Climbing sirdar for Scott Fischer's team. Very young but well-respected climber.
Yasuko Namba
Client on Rob Hall's team from Japan. Small and lacking physical strength, but very ambitious. Joins expedition to become oldest woman to climb Mt. Everest, and only the second Japanese person to compete the Seven Summits.
Mark Bryant
Editor of Outside magazine who gives Krakauer the assignment to write about Mt. Everest. Chooses to put Krakauer on Rob Hall's expedition instead of Scott Fischer's.
Lou Kasischke
Client on Rob Hall's team from Michigan. Athletic and reserved, had climbed 6 of the Seven Summits before the expedition.
Helen Wilton
Base Camp manager for Rob Hall's team; does not climb Mt. Everest on expedition.
Caroline McKenzie
Doctor for Rob Hall's team; does not climb Mt. Everest on expedition.
Stuart Hutchinson
Client on Rob Hall's team from Canada; cardiologist.
John Taske
Client on Rob Hall's team from Australia. Anesthesiologist and formerly in the army. At 56 he is the oldest member of the team.
Frank Fishbeck
Client on Rob Hall's team from Hong Kong. Had attempted Everest three times before with one of Hall's competitors.
Chhongba Sherpa
Sherpa cook on Rob Hall's team. Takes Krakauer to be blessed by the lama at Tengboche Monastery.
Mike Groom
Third and most junior guide on Rob Hall's team. Climber and plumber from Australia, climbed Mt. Everest in 1993 without supplemental oxygen.
Rimpoche
Holy lama at Tengboche Monastery who blesses Krakauer.
Laura Ziemer
American attorney who works at the Himalayan Rescue Association clinic in Pheriche.
Jim Litch
American physician who works at the Himalayan Rescue Association clinic in Pheriche.
Larry Silver
Young American physician who works at the Himalayan Rescue Association clinic in Pheriche.
Fiona McPherson
Andy Harris's girlfriend; lives in New Zealand.
Jan Arnold
Rob Hall's wife. Lives in New Zealand and is 7 months pregnant with their first child.
Tenzing Sherpa
Sherpa on Rob Hall's team who falls into a crevasse in the first few days of the expedition. The team is forced to remain in Lobuje during his rescue operation.
Linda Krakauer
Jon Krakauer's wife; formerly a climber, but gave up the sport due to its riskiness.
Pete and Klev Schoening
Clients on Scott Fischer's team from the US. Pete, now 69 years old, has a legendary résumé of mountaineering in the Himalayas. Pete is Klev's father.
Charlotte Fox
Client on Scott Fischer's team from Colorado.
Veikka Gustafsson
Client on Mal Duff's commercial expedition from Finland. Young, with an impressive Himalayan climbing résumé.
Makalu Gau
Leader of the Taiwanese expedition, also called Gau Ming-Ho. Inexperienced climber known for leading his team into a previous disaster on Mt. McKinley.
Petter Neby
Young solo climber from Norway, attempting to climb Mt. Everest's dangerous Southwest Face despite very limited experience.
Ian Woodall
Leader of the South African expedition. Selfish and uncooperative. Lied about his experience and connection to South Africa in order to get sponsorship for his expedition.
Andy de Klerk
Member of the South African expedition who quits the team after learning about leader Ian Woodall's deception.
Andy Hackland
Member of the South African expedition who quits the team after learning about leader Ian Woodall's deception.
Edmund February
Member of the South African expedition who quits the team after learning about leader Ian Woodall's deception. One of two black members on the original biracial team.
Cathy O'Dowd
Member of the South African expedition with limited mountaineering experience. Does not quit the team.
Deshun Deysel
Member of the South African expedition with limited mountaineering experience. Does not quit the team, but remains at Base Camp. One of two black members on the original biracial team.
Ang Dorje
Climbing sirdar for Rob Hall's team.
Bruce Herrod
Member of the South African expedition and deputy team leader under Ian Woodall. Does not quit the team.
Ingrid Hunt
Doctor for Scott Fischer's team; does not climb Mt. Everest on the expedition.
Ngawang Topche
Sherpa on Scott Fischer's team. Develops serious case of HACE and has to be evacuated from the mountain.
Dale Kruse
Client on Scott Fischer's team.
Tim Madsen
Client on Scott Fischer's team.
Jane Bromet
Media correspondent for Outside Online, reporting on Scott Fischer's expedition. Does not climb the mountain.
Ang Tshering
Head Base Camp Sherpa for Rob Hall's team. Conducts ritual to bless the team each morning.
Göran Kropp
Young but experienced solo climber from Sweden. Rode from Sweden to Mt. Everest on a bicycle.
Chen Yu-Nan
Member of Taiwanese expedition. Falls into a crevasse and dies from his injuries.
Martin Adams
Client on Scott Fischer's team.
Guy Cotter
Climber from New Zealand and friend of Rob Hall. Guides an expedition on the neighboring mountain of Pumori; stays in contact with Hall via radio while he is stranded on the summit.
Tashi Tshering
Sherpa on Scott Fischer's team. Attempts to rescue Fischer and Makalu Gau after the storm.
Ngawang Sya Kya
Sherpa on Scott Fischer's team. Attempts to rescue Fischer and Makalu Gau after the storm.
Tsewang Smanla, Tsewang Paljor, and Dorje Morup
Members of the Indo-Tibetan Border Police expedition from Ladakh, attempting to climb the Tibetan side of Mt. Everest. They never reach the actual summit, and all three die after the storm.
Hiroshi Hanada and Eisuke Shigekawa
Members of a Japanese expedition. They encounter the Ladakhi climbers in desperate need of help and choose to ignore them in order to reach the summit.
Todd Burleson
Leader of the Alpine Ascents International expedition. Assists the surviving members of Hall and Fischer's teams after the storm, along with teammate Pete Athans.
Mal Duff
Leader of an international commercial expedition. Assists the surviving members of Hall and Fischer's teams after the storm.
David Breashears
Leader of the IMAX expedition. Assists the surviving members of Hall and Fischer's teams after the storm, along with teammate Ed Viesturs.
