What question is Krakauer left with at the end of Chapter 16?

What question is Krakauer left with at the end of Chapter 16?

• A. Where is Andy Harris?
• B. How many climbers remain?
• C. What time is it?
• D. What weather will come next?

Answer: (A)

Krakauer’s state in that moment is one of urgent uncertainty about a missing teammate. After the brutal storm and the chaos on the descent, Harris disappears and contact with him is lost. The most pressing concern becomes: where is he, is he safe, and can anyone reach him? That question drives the tension and frames the scene, since the fate of Harris is still unknown and hangs over the others’ decisions and next moves. That’s why the correct focus is on Harris’s whereabouts — it captures the immediate crisis Krakauer is facing. The other options aren’t as fitting because the narrative isn’t centered on tallying survivors, reporting the exact time, or predicting the next weather event in that moment; the immediate hook is the unresolved situation of Andy Harris.

Krakauer’s state in that moment is one of urgent uncertainty about a missing teammate. After the brutal storm and the chaos on the descent, Harris disappears and contact with him is lost. The most pressing concern becomes: where is he, is he safe, and can anyone reach him? That question drives the tension and frames the scene, since the fate of Harris is still unknown and hangs over the others’ decisions and next moves.

That’s why the correct focus is on Harris’s whereabouts — it captures the immediate crisis Krakauer is facing. The other options aren’t as fitting because the narrative isn’t centered on tallying survivors, reporting the exact time, or predicting the next weather event in that moment; the immediate hook is the unresolved situation of Andy Harris.