Week 2 - IR Blog Post 3 (Into Thin Air)

Everyone at one point needs to trust someone else. I have a similar experience in terms of trust. I did not go on a climb or on an adventure. My trust was in my teammates. 2010 Tennis season was a huge step for the Boys Tennis Team in school history. It was a our first year making it to States. But a long the way we had to win many tough matches. One player can't play all the matches. It is a team sport and we all needed to trust in everyone else to win their match in order for the team to advance to the next round. If their was no trust, no faith in each other, there was no way we could have succeeded.
But this is not just for my experience but for anyone who plays on a team sport. Trust is so important for a team to be cohesive and successful.

http://changingminds.org/explanations/trust/what_is_trust.htm
Golden Rule:
‘Do unto others as you would have them do unto you.’
Website all about trust and ways to build them.

One question:
How can you trust your life in the hands of a stranger? (specifically for the climbers who have little experience)
Grant it, the stranger is a a climbing guide/expert but still, your life on someone else's shoulders is pretty scary. Also these climbers are inexperience and they expect to make it to the summit just because they bought a really good guide is beyond me.

Week 2 - IR Blog Post 2 (Into Thin Air)

Mt. Everest - To everyone else in the world, this is the tallest mountain, but to the climbers it is a whole journey. It also represents the fear in the climbers. If 26 people are going for a walk in the park, it is fine, but 26 people on a mountain is anther story.

Each person adds another level of worry. When the climb is now going to be in groups, this lifts a huge burden on the climbers, especially the guides. Safety is number one.

Money - In this case money can buy anything. Even though the climbers are not that experience, they are still going on the trip because they paid a lot of money to the guides.

Trust is still an important theme. You must trust your group members to make sure that they climb on pace and help each other when needed. Also trust in yourself. Every climber needs to believe in themselves, if they are ever going to do this.

http://www.alpineascents.com/everest.asp
Here is a website on basically how to climb the mountain, key factors, what to bring and plan, etc.
Gives a good idea what is going in the minds of the guides (Hall). And also just a good idea of what these climbers are going through.

Week 2 - IR Blog Post 1 (Into Thin Air)

**This is going to be in somewhat of a Diary form from the view point of Jon Krakauer talking about the people place and events.**

As we are making it toward the base of Everest, I see so many types of people. Natives of the country are basically living off the land. But I also see many people that are Westernized, with their American sports team's shirts and American video games. But there is one thing most of these people have in common and that is embracing the fact that Everest is a huge tourist spot. They even have a whole museum (58) about Everest climbs. A huge chunk of the economy is based of this behemoth of a land formation.

I am having doubts about this trip. There are way too many people trying to climb at the same time and I am worried that someone will get lost or even die. I met these two guys, Hall and Harris, that are climbing with me and they are a little worried as well. They stress the fact that there are so many inexperienced climbers going along because they think guides are a free ticket to the summit. Hopefully they don't slow us down or ultimately make us not be able to make it.

Already, things have gotten ugly and we haven't even started climbing. Weather is becoming unbearable, environmental conditions are atrocious and people are already breaking limbs. Just hope our luck gets better.

YES, finally luck comes our way. Base camp is wonderful with heated water, fresh food and plenty of entertainment. This is a good way to start our ascent.
All of this soon disappears. The altitude is getting at me and I am wheezing heavily. (87) AND IT"S ONLY BASE CAMP!

Ok, we have decided a battle plan. We will climb to 4 camps before reaching the summit, each of which are 2000 feet higher than the previous. This way we can a rest and also make the process a little easier on our bodies and minds. Hall is an amazing guide, always on his toes and calculating the future making sure that we do not run into anything unexpected. We are, at least for me, are feeling much more comfortable climbing. Departure: April 13.

Climbing has started and so far it has not been to bad. Some climbers are falling behind so they had to turn back. Luckily my group is making good pace, maybe because Hall is our guide. We made it to Camp One fairly easily and will make our ascent to Camp 2 tomorrow.

I have found 2 dead bodies. That is not a good thing. 1 of them seemed to be Sherpa. Another is unknown. I hope this doesn't foreshadow any events.
Weather conditions have become increasingly hostile. Climbers are going down left and right and every day seems more bleak than the day before. Frostbite is starting to kick in as we climb for Camp three and we must turn back to thaw them out at Camp two. Even though the climb was hard, this day has finally sunk into us that the climb is going to be extremely difficult. "Even without unleashing the worst it could dish out, the mountain had sent us scurrying for safety" (163).

The summit is nearing, May 10 is our date.

R.A.F.T. Chile

**2,5,5,1

Alberto writing in the form of a poem to Che about obstacles and challenges**

My good friend Che, it has been one hell of a day,

My fingers and toes are about to freeze away.

If any part of my body falls off, my feet just may,

My mind is out of this world, can't even think like a lay.

And I reek so much I'm in desperate need of Garnier.

But luckily we find friendly Chilean Natives,

All of which were not at all passive.

Always so welcoming and always so willing to give,

From payment, to BBQs, to keeping us captive.

And without any of this, we would not likely be able to live.

All in all, the Chilean's had great hospitality,

They had an endless amount of generosity.

Completely opposite of other country's animosity,

Luckily our trip didn't end in an atrocity.

Because we happen to found caring Mapuches in every town and city.

R.A.F.T. Australia

**2,4,1,1

Alberto talking to me through a letter about Argentina.**

February? 1952
En route to another lake in Chile

Dear Jon,

It has been a crazy journey through Argentina. We had many ups downs, literally. We trekked all over mountainous regions and through lakeside wildlife. It is so hard to stay on La Ponderosa, our mighty bike. She suffered a lot but she made it through. Che and I are extremely tired. We have to take turns driving and sleeping on the others back while driving. Luckily we are meeting many friendly and generous people that are taking us in and providing us shelter. One day we met a guy named Don Pendon who helped us get jobs as barbecue assistants. He wasn't able to pay us in pesos but he was able to pay us in food, which to us, is a gift from heaven. So far Argentina has been good to us. Not to many bumps in the road, except for the Medanos. There was so much sand everywhere we fell off our bike 7 times in one day. As we drive out of Argentina and near Chile, I can't stop thinking about that dog I shot. I swear it was a puma, but the intense bawling of the owner says otherwise. Hope Chile is just as inviting as Argentina.

Alberto Granado

R.A.F.T. Introduction

5 (Wild Card - Tweet)

learned bout this dude name che and his sounds like a chillin dude. prolly gonna learn about his amazing journey, struggles and feats

TMD Preview

1. I expect this novel to be very personnel. The author will put a lot of emotions into the writing. I feel like it is not going to be a deep reading story like Invisible Man. It will be very simple, entertaining but with a life changing ending. Since it is a dairy, it will have lots of first hand accounts of many different experiences throughout their journey.

2. Maybe they will run into government officials as they are crossing the border and be kept in captivity for a while. We did learn about how many countries were unstable so I expect some kind of issue with the government. 180 south seemed to not have that many problems expect for the mast on the boat and the final climb. That movie seemed very easy, at least from what I can remember. They could run into money problems because they are sort of young and going on a road trip is pretty risky.

3. This book will be extremely different, a total turn around from the first two. It will certainly not be as in depth as Invisible Man and certainly not have many symbols and character conflicts as The Great Gatsby. This book will probably be more of an entertaining read with many exciting experiences.

Week 1 - IR Blog Post 3 (Into Thin Air)

My biggest question is why do people do things like this? This risky life threatening experience seems to much for me but to these people, they live for these moments. Jon studied the mountain and previous climbers. He was very motivated to do something like this and it still doesn't make sense to me. People just like to have that feeling of accomplishment and life threatening thrill, I guess. I certainly cannot connect with this because I have never done anything so extreme or anything close to it. I have always been on safe land and safe waters. I cannot see myself in these guys' shoes, climbing the tallest mountain in the world. It would be great to be on the very top, but it is to unknown for me.

http://outsideonline.com/outside/destinations/199609/199609_into_thin_air_1.html

This website is an article that Jon wrote and it talks about the ascent a little bit. At one point he hasn't slept for 57 hours! Not sleeping for 24 hours is bad enough...at sea level, but 57 hours without sleep where oxygen levels are decreasing is insane. I wonder what made him keep going. And to top the no sleep off, he has only eaten a bowl of Ramen soup and some M&Ms, leading up to the no sleep. This is just insane.

Week 1 - IR Blog Post 2 (Into Thin Air)

I feel that a big theme of this book is trust. There needs to be a lot of trust among all the climbers if they plan to ascend the tallest mountain of the world. But the problem with this is that pretty much the whole team is made up with a bunch of strangers. So trust is even more important than usual.

So far, in the first few chapters, this has only been a trip/maybe a journey. Jon is reporting for the Outside Magazine and is being payed to escort a man to the top. I assume that it will turn into a quest once they fully enter the heart of Mt. Everest. Also, back in the documentary 180 South, there was a quote, I forgot by whom, that said, "when everything goes wrong that's when it is an adventure." I feel like this will be the same thing. I think that something will go terribly wrong and the climbers will have a struggle to even live. We learned that every journey is a quest, and this is going to be one of them.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=njCnl6XTBqk

This video is about the large group of people, just like in this story, going for the summit and reaching. The weather seems great and this is what I think will not happen to Jon and the rest of the climbers. I think it will be the complete opposite and be a huge struggle to get to the top.

Week 1 - IR Blog Post 1 (Into Thin Air)

The book starts off with the main character, Jon Krakauer in the middle of climbing Mt. Everest. It is kind of like what happen in Invisible Man in the fact that it tells you the ending before the story starts. But this doesn't say the discrete ending. During the first chapter he explains how bad the condition he is in while climbing the mountain. "...incapable of feeling much of anything except cold and tired". (4) This quote pretty much sums up the climb in laymen terms. It is just a depressing hopeless journey that he goes through. The next important person, or in this case, group is the Outside Magazine. The publishers wanted a story on Mt. Everest and to do that he must climb it. And of course the most important place of this whole entire story is Mt. Everest. Another man, by the name of Dick Bass, is a millionaire that is paying Jon to guide him to the top. With the opportunity to kill two birds with one stone, he sets forth the journey. Another person he meets is Andy Harris, a guide to help others wanting to scale the tallest mountain in the world. Throughout the first chapters he meets many people that are also going on the trip and Jon fears that such a big group might be trouble.

Symbol - Cold, Tiredness = The agony and despair that the climbers are going through and the little hope that they have to even get out alive.

Each Camp Site - The camp sites are mini destinations all leading up to the final destination of the summit. It gives the climbers an easier goal instead of the one big climb.

Theme #4 Reflection

1. I did pretty well. I got an 85 and I am satisfied with it. Obviously an A would be much better but and 85 is satisfactory. But one thing that I thought I would get more points on was the amount of quotes and book reference I used. But apparently I was redundant and lost points. I felt like they were all useful.

2. Focus and being able to say things in a concise matter. That was my biggest problem with this paper and this is want biggest opportunity areafor my writing. In most of papers, I get 2 or 3 points off just for conventions and being in a honors 12 grade english class, that is unexceptable. I should be getting no points off for conventions so I need to step up my game for that. I need to get in the habit of reading the paper out loud in order to find mistakes more easily.

3. Even though I had really developed points, I only had 2 different people. I had multiple examples for each of these characters but I feel like if I had 3 people, each having multiple examples, then I would have a better grade. Therefore next time I could research a little more and find and write 3 fully developed points.

180' South Reflection

"Growth is inevitable, but can we sustain this pace for long?"

Throughout the documentary, Jeff meets many people that are living off the land and basically "one with nature". But society is trying to industrializing and build more factories, more sky scrapers, etc. Growth was wanted from society in order to make money off these new sites. But for these nature people, society's growth is actually detrimental for them. They like this simple life, they like to live off the land and connect with nature. Growth is usually positive, but in terms of Jeff's Journey and all that he learned, it is not good and should be slowed down. Yvonn and Doug want to conserve land, preserve nature, which is what they learned on their adventure. Jeff came to that conclusion after his journey.
Also, there was another quote saying that if you are at the edge of the cliff, is taking a step of the cliff forward or turning around and taking a step going forward? These two quotes, I feel go hand in hand. At one point of all this growth and advancement, there will be no where to go. So maybe the next step forward, the way to progress is to stop and take a step backwards.

Since I am only in High School, from here on out is forward progress. I have college ahead and then a working life ahead. So at this point in my life, growth is inevitable. Even when I do get a job, growth will still be happening since I would always want to get a better job and a better life. Maybe when I retire when growth will no longer sustain and will eventually end.