Jon Krakauer
Author of Into the Wild
Early
Life
• Born in 1954
• Grew up in Corvallis, Oregon
• Father introduced him to mountaineering as
an 8-year-old
 So he was very passionate about the outdoors from a
very young age.
• Graduated from Hampshire College in 1976
Krakauer:
Post-College
• After college he traveled
around Colorado, Alaska,
& the Pacific Northwest
• Worked primarily as a
carpenter and commercial
salmon fisherman
• Spent all his free time
outdoors
ADVENTURES
• 1977  Traveled alone
to the remote Stikine
Icecap in Southeast
Alaska
 Went three weeks without
encountering another person
 Climbed a new route on an
intimidating peak called the
Devil’s Thumb
ADVENTURES (cont.)
• 1992  Climbed the West
Face of Cerro Torre in the
Patagonian Andes
 A mile-high spike of granite, Cerro
Torre was once considered the most
difficult mountain on earth
• May 1996  Climbed Mt.
Everest
 A snow storm hit during his team’s
descent from the summit, killing 4 of his 5
teammates
 Wrote Into Thin Air about his experience
Krakauer quotation regarding the
Everest tragedy of 1996:
“Short form media is reductionist by nature.
Television especially, but magazines, too,
including mine, distilled it down to "Here's the
good guys, here's the bad guys." And TV tried
to say, "Here's this tragedy that didn't have to
happen," and "Who's to blame?" It's so much
more complicated than that” (Weissman).
Other Publications
• Has been published in:
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Outside
Rolling Stone
TIME
The New York Times
National Geographic
Many others…
• #1 New York Times
Bestseller
• 1998 Pulitzer Prize
Other Honors and Awards
• 1996 - New York Times bestseller
• 1997 - National Magazine Award
• 1997 - Walter Sullivan Award for Excellence
in Science Journalism from the American
Geophysical Union
• 1999 - Academy Award in Literature from
the American Academy of Arts and Letters
Charity
Involvement
• 1998 - Everest '96 Memorial Fund at the
Boulder Community Foundation
• Board member of the American Himalayan
Foundation
• Board member of the Alex Lowe Charitable
Foundation
Into the Wild
• National Bestseller
• About the adventures of 23-year old
Chris McCandless.
• Many of Krakauer’s own stories are
interweaved throughout the book.
• Interview with Krakauer
• Interview with Oprah
Krakauer states, “To
spend a year or two and
tell a story right is really
satisfying and after doing
that it’s hard to go back
and write magazine
articles.”