Jon Krakauer

Acting

Jon Krakauer

Born 1954-04-12 · Brookline, Massachusetts, USA

Jon Krakauer (born April 12, 1954, in Brookline, Massachusetts) is an American writer and mountaineer employed by Outside magazine and currently living in Seattle. Jon Krakauer has published numerous articles in major monthly publications such as National Geographic and Rolling Stone. His fame stems in particular from his account, Into Thin Air, which recounts, from his perspective, the tragic events that occurred during his ascent of Everest in May 1996. This expedition ended with the deaths of eight of its participants. A heated controversy erupted with guide Anatoli Boukreev, whose account of the Everest expedition differs significantly from Krakauer's in many respects. Into Thin Air was adapted into the 1997 television film Into Thin Air: Death on Everest. This film, directed by Robert Markowitz, stars Peter Horton as Scott Fischer and Christopher McDonald as Jon Krakauer. It retains Jon Krakauer's perspective on these events, although details regarding responsibility differ significantly from the book. He is also the author of The End of Solitude, about the fate of Christopher McCandless, a young American adventurer who dies of exhaustion after plant poisoning in Alaska. In 2007, Sean Penn adapted the book for the screen, Into the Wild. Tragedy on Everest was once again adapted into Baltasar Kormákur's Everest, released in 2015. Michael Kelly plays Krakauer. Jon Krakauer is critical of certain scenes in the film, which allegedly did not take place, and states that he has not met Michael Kelly. On the other hand, he acknowledges one of the film's suggestions: his presence as a journalist certainly pushed the expedition leaders to take additional risks. He indicates that he regrets having participated in this expedition. By God's Command, published in 2003, tells the story of an American news story: in 1984, near Salt Lake City, two dissident Mormon brothers murdered their sister-in-law and her fifteen-month-old daughter. In 2022, the book was adapted by Dustin Lance Black into a seven-episode television miniseries, By God's Command.

Acting credits

Metanoia poster
10.0

This documentary follows the life and climbs of legendary alpinist Jeff Lowe, through his visionary ascents around the world up to his final dance with a terminal disease. Centered around Jeff’s most daring climb, Metanoia – solo, in winter, up the North Face of the Eiger in Switzerland — which changed his life and prepared him for the greatest adventure of all: facing his own mortality. It is a mind-bending adventure through time and space that gives physical form to Jeff's unique philosophies and inspiring creative genius.

Metanoia

2014

Meru poster
7.4

Meru is the electrifying story of three elite American climbers—Conrad Anker, Jimmy Chin, and Renan Ozturk—bent on achieving the impossible.

Meru

2015

An American Ascent poster
10.0

An American Ascent documents the first African American expedition to tackle Denali, North America's highest peak and explores the complex relationship many African-Americans have with the outdoors. As the United States transitions to a 'minority majority' nation, a staggering number of people of color do not identify with America's wild places. By embarking on the grueling multi-week climb of the 20,327ft Denali, nine African-American climbers set out to bridge this 'adventure gap' - challenging outdated notions of what adventure looks like by changing the face of America's biggest and baddest mountain on the 100th anniversary of its first summit.

An American Ascent

2014

The Dark Side of Everest poster
9.0

May 25, 1996 - Bruce Herrod, a South African mountaineer reached the summit of Everest at 5 p.m. On the radio, we urge him to come down as soon as possible because the descent is dangerous in the middle of the night. A few hours later, no news from him. From this South African expedition which turned into a fiasco and another expedition carried out in parallel, the testimonies of the members of these expeditions show to what extent the thirst for climbing to the top of certain mountaineers, combined with the lack of oxygen , can alter the lucidity of climbers to the point of changing their relationship to death and thus lead them to neglect other expedition members in order to ensure their victory or save their own life.

The Dark Side of Everest

2003

High and Hallowed: Everest 1963 poster
10.0

High and Hallowed: Everest 1963 is the deepest story of the greatest Himalayan climb in American mountaineering history. Showcasing the daring and visionary efforts of the 1963 American Mount Everest Expedition, the film examines the sheer commitment, step-by-step struggle and lasting impact of America's first ascent of Mount Everest and the pioneering first ascent of West Ridge by Tom Hornbein and Willi Unsoeld. Five decades later, High and Hallowed returns to Everest to find out if the essence of risk, adventure and the unknown that drew the first Americans to the summit still exists on Everest today.

High and Hallowed: Everest 1963

2013

Mountain of Ice poster
NR

Join an extreme expedition to the top of Antarcticaís highest peak- Vinson Massif. In this high-altitude adventure, Jon Krakauer, author of Into Thin Air, world-class mountaineer Conrad Anker, and their team of climbers, scientists, and filmmakers take a trailblazing expedition to the top of Antarcticaís tallest peak, Vinson Massif. Along the way, their experiences are contrasted with those of Norwegian adventurer Roald Amundsen and British explorer Robert Falcon Scott who in 1911 raced to be first to reach the South Pole.Krakauerís insightful narration takes you to the driest and coldest continent on earth where the team embarks on an extreme mission to not only to summit Vinson by traversing the unclimbed east face, but also to determine its exact height and to take snow measurements that will help scientists study weather patterns.

Mountain of Ice

2003