Blog Post 5 Clever Title

  Throughout Into Thin Air, Krakauer focuses on the other people on the mountain while he was climbing Everest.  There is a certain personality that is drawn to Everest.  It requires a certain amount of overconfidence and recklessness to even attempt a mountain such as Everest.  The characters that are on Everest with Krakauer have a wide variety of personalities.  Some are experienced and humble climbers, while others are less so.
 
  While Krakauer was on the mountain, a South African team was attempting to summit Everest for the first time ever.  This team was led by Ian Woodall, a 39 year-old ex-militant with a somewhat limited amount of actual climbing experience.  He was given a personal blessing by South African President Nelson Mandela, for this expedition.  There were high hopes for this team, with their entire nation cheering for their success.  Unfortunately, Woodall proved to be a letdown.  He had the authority to pick and choose members of his team.  To create a feeling of diversity in the team, Woodall invited some females onto to the team.  Little did they know, Woodall had no intention of actually bringing them up the mountain.  He did not include any of the females on the permit to climb Everest.  On top of this, Woodall proved to be an arrogant and self-absorbed leader.  The teams of Camp Two met together to decide what date they would summit.  Weather forecasts predicted May 10 to be the best day in the near future.  All the other groups came to agree on what day each of their teams would summit.  There would be serious danger in having multiple groups reaching the top of the mountain at the same time.  Woodall decided to disobey the other teams and go for the summit on May 10, completely disregarding the safety everyone else high up on the mountain.  Many of the climbers on Woodall's team argued against their leader, but Woodall could not be convinced to change his views.

  In my life, I have encountered few (if any) people as arrogant as Ian Woodall.  However, I have met some individuals who are extremely set in their ways.  I work for a family of Greek immigrants who own a pizza restaurant in Shelburne Falls.  The oldest of the family, the father and mother, have worked practically their entire life, starting from a very young age.  To them, work is everything.  Working for somebody like this-who also has difficulty with the English language-can be very frustrating.  Very much like Woodall, they have one way they want to do things, and you cannot stray from that direction-even if your method ends with the same result.