ENGLISH 11
Reach for the Summit:
An Internet Workshop based on the book
Into Thin Air by Jon Krakauer
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It is not remarkable that Everest did not yield to the first few attempts; indeed, it would have been very surprising and not a little sad if it had, for that is not the way of great mountains. Perhaps we had become a little arrogant with our fine new technique of ice-claw and rubber slipper, our age of easy mechanical conquest. We had forgotten that the mountain still holds the master card, that it will grant success only in its own good time. Why else does mountaineering retain its deep fascination?
Eric Shipton, Upon That Mountain, 1938
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You are currently reading Jon Krakauer’s Into Thin Air. This compelling book offers one “summiter’s” perspective on the fateful and much-debated 1996 expeditions to the summit of Mount Everest in the Himalayas. Some of the debate, of course, surrounds Krakauer’s own role in the unfolding tragedy.
Those who climb Everest have more than a deep fascination and a burning ambition and a dream. They are most often team players, aware of the community of climbers and of their need for a culture of ascent characterized by intense competition and the prestige of having reached aspired-to summits. They are finely conditioned people who have trained and built up endurance. They are enterprising souls who have earned enough money or gained enough sponsors to pay for both passage and guided ascent (more than $65 000 US). They are students of the mountains, of the weather and terrain, the peoples who live and work there, and of the individual and group protocols and dynamics which ensure that their dreams of distant heights will approach reality. Everest is not climbed on a whim but on months of preparation.
In this Internet Workshop, you and your group will be challenged to qualify for a student climb of Everest. You will therefore have to prepare to play the “Reach for the Summit” challenge, a reality-type survival game involving knowledge about climbing and Everest. The winning team will be those who answer the most questions correctly and therefore the most likely to survive an attempt to reach the summit. To play the game, you will need information, luck, teamwork, training, and the right winning attitude. You will:
ü Work collaboratively in groups to plan and to find information effectively
ü Locate information from a variety of sources, including print and electronic
ü Evaluate websites as information resources
ü Cite sources of information, demonstrating that you understand the ethical use of information
ü Organize the information, using several note-taking or graphic formats
ü Report on information you have found
You will be using The Research Quest Model. You will engage in self- and peer-evaluation activities at each level (Reflect). You will be required to complete Group Activities A, B, and C to prepare for the Reach for the Summit Challenge (Communicate, Reflect).
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Activity |
Type |
Time |
Research Quest Stages |
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A |
Summit Meetings |
2 classes |
Focus; Find and Filter; Reflect |
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B |
Summit Conference |
2 classes |
Work with the Information; Reflect |
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C |
Team-Building Time |
2 classes |
Communicate; Reflect |
Five Summit Groups will gather to develop particular areas of expertise. You have been assigned to attend one set of Summit meetings for two days (classes). When all the Summit sessions (Activities A and B) are over, you will be assigned to an Activity C, the Team-building sessions, with your Ascent Team consisting of one member from each of the 5 Summit (expert) groups. Your expertise will be shared to help prepare the team members to face the youth Everest challenge, Reach for the Summit.
Summit Group 1: Geographers
Summit Group 2: Anthropologists
Summit Group 3: Medical and Fitness Experts
Summit Group 4: Ascent Organizers
Summit Group 5: “Social Climbers”
Activity A: Summit Meetings (40 marks)
Activity B: Summit Conference (45 marks)
Activity C: Team-building Sessions (50 marks)
RESOURCES
There are many print resources you can use to research, including books and encyclopedias. A really valuable search tool is INFOTRAC. This tool allows electronic access to many very current print resources. You can also access INFOTRAC from the Gladstone Library webpage. The user name and password is the same word: vancouversb Try going to the Student’s Edition where you can search current periodicals for articles about Everest and mountain climbing. The Gladstone MLA Style Sheet shows you how to properly cite any information you find using INFOTRAC in a bibliography.
In addition to print resources, take a look at the following internet sites as examples of the kinds of information that the web can provide. Check them for:
As a geographer, you are interested in place. You are a keen observer of details in the world around you and have a finely developed need to understand the world. You will need to find out about details (terms, descriptions) of the mountain landscape that the climbers will expect to encounter, the weather and conditions for climbing, the location of Everest in relation to other places, routes to be traveled both to Base Camp and to the top, and so on.
You are a health, medical and fitness consultant. You have been invited on the climb because you are both physically fit and medically prominent. You will need to provide information about the effects of climbing on the body, like high-altitude sickness, treatments or remedies for climbing-related conditions, the training climbers need to prepare themselves for the climb, including the recommended diet before and during the climb, the processes that climbers need to undergo in order to become acclimatized, and so on.
As a Guide and Organizer, you are in effect the Climb Manager. You are noted for your efficiency, thoroughness, and safety-consciousness . You are responsible for recommending the best clothing, emergency items, equipment and supplies. You are also responsible for preparing the team “rules” and various climbing strategies, as well as researching various team-building activities.
As a social climber, you will engage in the activities of both a journalist and a socialite. You will prepare to document the experience and gain general knowledge by assisting and facilitating the work of others on the team as they get on with their research. You will also investigate high-tech toys, research Who’s Who in the world of climbing, when, how and where they climbed, and any other important things you may find in your busy whirlwind life.
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Research and Assessment Tools |
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