In the 16 years since Into Thin Air, Mount Everest has become safer in many ways, with better storm forecasting and amazing high-altitude rescue helicopters. So why did 10 people die in 2012?

Because they're crazy. Climbing Everest is just plain crazy.

There's a very good Discovery channel series that followed people through their Everest climb and I sat through the entire thing thinking "Why the hell would anyone do this?"

Tangent: "Into Thin Air" is a hell of a fun read. And if you haven't seen the documentary "Touching the Void", definitely correct that. It's absolutely amazing.

That it's crazy makes it more appealing to some people.

I haven't read "Into Thin Air" or seen "Touching the Void" so I will look for those.