Andy Harris Character Analysis in Into Thin Air

A young, very likeable guide who works for Rob Hall, and quickly becomes a good friend to Jon Krakauer. Harris has never been to Mount Everest before he embarks on the expedition with Krakauer; however, he proves himself to be an excellent guide, and takes good care of his clients. Harris’s life comes to a tragic end when, on the afternoon of May 10, he begins to run dangerously low on supplemental oxygen. Delirious, Harris blunders off in the wrong direction, eventually freezing to death. It’s not entirely clear who the last person to see Harris alive was, since Krakauer cannot decide whether he ran into Harris, or another mountaineer.

Andy Harris Quotes in Into Thin Air

The Into Thin Air quotes below are all either spoken by Andy Harris or refer to Andy Harris. For each quote, you can also see the other characters and themes related to it (each theme is indicated by its own dot and icon, like this one:

). Note: all page numbers and citation info for the quotes below refer to the Anchor Books edition of Into Thin Air published in 1999.

Was I really so debilitated that I had stared into the face of a near stranger and mistaken him for a friend with whom I'd spent the previous six weeks? And if Andy had never arrived at Camp Four after reaching the summit, what in the name of God had happened to him?

Related Characters: (speaker), ,

Page Number and Citation: 231

Explanation and Analysis:

Two full bottles were waiting for them at the South Summit; if Hall had known this he could have retrieved the gas fairly quickly and then climbed back up to give Hansen a fresh tank, But Andy Harris, still at the oxygen cache, in the throes of his hypoxic dementia, overheard these radio calls and broke in to tell Hall—incorrectly, just as he'd told Mike Groom and me—that all the bottles at the South Summit were empty,

Related Characters: (speaker), ,

Page Number and Citation: 238

Explanation and Analysis:

Andy Harris Character Timeline in Into Thin Air

The timeline below shows where the character Andy Harris appears in Into Thin Air. The colored dots and icons indicate which themes are associated with that appearance.

...at the summit of Mount Everest with Anatoli Boukreev, a Russian climbing guide, and Andy Harris, a guide on the New Zealand team to which Krakauer belongs. He takes some photographs... (full context)

Later on, Krakauer notes, people will wonder why he, Boukreev, and Harris continued to climb down from Everest and ignored the signs of bad weather. Krakauer had... (full context)

Krakauer asks Harris to turn off the valve in his regulator, allowing him to conserve oxygen while waiting... (full context)

...on a plane, flying into Kathmandu. His plane lands and he meets up with Andy Harris, one of the guides working for Rob Hall, the leader of the expedition. Harris and... (full context)

...Krakauer feels that he’s in a dream. Krakauer enjoys talking to Doug Hansen and Andy Harris. Andy explains that, while he’d never been to Everest before, he’s climbed other Himalayan peaks.... (full context)

...alive. Meanwhile, some of the people on the expedition are suffering from nausea and indigestion—Andy Harris has a horrible attack of diarrhea that leaves him very weak. Nevertheless, he proceeds with... (full context)

...amateurish—they didn’t know how to use their crampons (traction devices attached to boots). However, Andy Harris proved to be a good guide, and helped Weathers and Namba proceed safely. (full context)

On April 22, the group marches back down to Base Camp. There, Krakauer and Andy Harris go to visit the South African team. Harris and Krakauer meet Ian Woodall’s girlfriend, Alexandrine... (full context)

...and Fischer’s teams leave Camp Two. During the climb, a boulder falls and hits Andy Harris in the chest. Luckily, Harris doesn’t suffer anything more serious than a bruise—but had the... (full context)

Around 11 am, Krakauer is with three guides, Andy Harris, Neal Beidleman (working for Scott Fischer), and Anatoli Boukreev (also working for Fischer), approaching the... (full context)

At this point, Krakauer is on the verge of blacking out. He shouts for Andy Harris to run ahead and bring him a fresh bottle of oxygen from the South Summit;... (full context)

Around 3:30 pm, Krakauer leaves the South Summit, without either Harris or Boukreev (who are helping other clients). He asks Mike Groom, one of Hall’s guides,... (full context)

A short time after Krakauer reaches the bottom of the Balcony, “Andy Harris suddenly appeared out of the gloom beside me.” His face is red and his eyes... (full context)

Krakauer proceeds toward Camp Four at a slow pace, confused about why Harris didn’t wait for him. He eventually reaches Camp Four. As he draws closer, he realizes... (full context)

...reaches the summit around 1:25 pm with his client, Martin Adams. There, they find Andy Harris and Anatoli Boukreev (Krakauer departed eight minutes previously). Beidleman is an aerospace engineer, as well... (full context)

...he crosses paths with Martin Adams and Anatoli Boukreev, as well as Krakauer and Andy Harris. Although Fischer is visibly exhausted and sickly-looking, nobody thinks that he’s in trouble. (full context)

...on May 11, Stuart Hutchinson wakes Krakauer from a deep sleep. Hutchinson explains that Andy Harris isn’t in his tent, and probably never made it back. Krakauer begins to weep. He... (full context)

...immediately. As he interviews Adams, Krakauer realizes something: previously, he thought he’d run into Andy Harris outside of Camp Four, and watched Harris slip on the ice. It occurs to Krakauer... (full context)

...their descent. Soon afterwards, however, Hansen begins to run low on oxygen. Hall radios Andy Harris to ask if there’s fresh oxygen below. Harris wrongly tells Hall that there are no... (full context)

...afternoon of May 10, a climber named Guy Cotter, a lifelong friend of Hall and Harris, is stationed at the Base Camp. Over the radio, he hears Hall desperately calling out... (full context)

On Saturday morning, May 11, Krakauer and some other clients look for Andy Harris, but can’t find him. The events of the last 48 hours make Krakauer feel almost... (full context)

...existence. Several weeks later, Krakauer gets calls from Rob Hall’s wife, Jan Arnold, and Andy Harris’s partner, Fiona McPherson. Though Krakauer believes it’s his duty to comfort Fiona and Jan, they... (full context)

...of Everest and survived. His inaction played a decisive role in the deaths of Andy Harris and Yasuko Namba—a fact that Krakauer will never, ever forget. Krakauer tries to tell Klev... (full context)