Commercial Everest in Thin Air, a national bestselling novel written by Jon Krakauer, told of the 1996 journey to the summit of Mount Everest and of the catastrophic events on that day which resulted in the deaths of eight people. Jon, an accomplished mountaineer and journalist, was sent by Outside Magazine to climb Everest in 1996 and write an article about his experience. Rob Hall, a famous New Zealand mountaineer, led Krakauer and his teammates in one of the deadliest Everest climbs ever. The additional teams, including Scott Fischers and Antoli Bourkeevs, were also trying to reach the summit when an unexpected storm hit. This is the story of the 1996 Mount Everest tragedy. The novel shed light on the many ways money played a role in the commercialization of the world's tallest mountain. Commercialism has become entrenched in climbing in multiple ways, including: the cost of climbing the mountain, the fight over which guide service could attract the most media attention, and the pressure on guides to reach the summit. Say no to plagiarism. Get a tailor-made essay on "Why Violent Video Games Shouldn't Be Banned"? Get an Original Essay The cost of climbing the world's highest peak was clearly a key component of the commercialization theme. The fee suddenly rose from “$2,300 for a permit allowing access to a team of any size” (25) in 1991 to “$10,000 for a team of up to nine climbers, with another $1,200 to be paid for each climber in more” (25) in 1991. only the following year. The price increased so much because Nepalese ministers increased the price of climbing permits. By increasing the cost of climbing permits they hoped to limit crowds and still increase cash flow. In 1993 the price rose to “$50,000 for up to five climbers, plus $10,000 for each additional climber, up to a maximum of seven” (25). However, the Nepalese authorities had no idea that China was offering additional tours at a much lower cost. The more the price increased, the more people learned about Everest and developed a thirst to climb it and learn more. In addition to the cost of the expedition itself, there was an additional cost to pay for personal Sherpas. Sherpas, Himalayan people who lived on the borders of Nepal and Tibet, were guides who led people up the mountain and carried their belongings. The struggle for media attention was also about the issue of mercantilism. Sandy Pittman, a self-proclaimed expert climber, was the person most teams wanted because of her connection to NBC Interactive Media (123). All the teams were looking for a way to get media attention. Since Sandy had such a close relationship with NBC, she became a necessity for the teams and an effective part of Scott Fischer's team. Who would come to the top first? was the main question running through the minds of everyone keeping track of the teams. Because they were such a cohesive team, they even reached the top first at 1:07 (274). The Mountain Madness team most likely had the most media attention possible. There was a lot of pressure on the team leaders to see who would get to the top first. The guides knew this and therefore often made bad decisions, blinded by the possibility that his team might end up in the headlines somewhere. When Antoli Bourkeev pushed his team to the top, he should have stopped for safety reasons (263). Many other bad decisions were made due to the fact that they were so close, yet so.