Krakauer was born in Brookline, Massachusetts, as the third of five children of Carol Ann (nee Jones) and Lewis Joseph Krakauer. His father was Jewish and his mother was a Unitarian, of Scandinavian descent. He was raised in Corvallis, Oregon, from the age of two. His father introduced the young Krakauer to mountaineering at the age of eight.

In 1997, Krakauer expanded his September 1996 Outside article into what has become his best-known book, Into Thin Air. The book describes the climbing parties' experiences and the general state of Everest mountaineering at the time. Hired as a journalist by the magazine, Krakauer had participated as a client of the 1996 Everest climbing team led by Rob Hall--the team which ended up suffering the greatest casualties in the 1996 Mount Everest disaster.  The book reached the top of The New York Times' non-fiction bestseller list, was honored as "Book of the Year" by Time magazine, and was among three books considered for the General Non-Fiction Pulitzer Prize in 1998. The American Academy of Arts and Letters gave Krakauer an Academy Award in Literature in 1999 for his work, commenting that the writer "combines the tenacity and courage of the finest tradition of investigative journalism with the stylish subtlety and profound insight of the born writer. His account of an ascent of Mount Everest has led to a general reevaluation of climbing and of the commercialization of what was once a romantic, solitary sport."  Krakauer has contributed royalties from this book to the Everest '96 Memorial Fund at the Boulder Community Foundation, which he founded as a tribute to his deceased climbing partners.  In a TV-movie version of the book, Krakauer was played by Christopher McDonald. Everest, a feature film based on the events of the disaster directed by Baltasar Kormakur, was released in 2015. In the film, Krakauer is portrayed by Michael Kelly. Krakauer denounced the movie, saying some of its details were fabricated and defamatory. He also expressed regret regarding Sony's rapid acquisition of the rights to the book. Director Baltasar Kormakur responded, claiming Krakauer's first-person account was not used as source material for the film, and alleged that his version of events conflicted with the plot. Answer this question using a quote from the following article:

What is Into Thin Air
The book describes the climbing parties' experiences and the general state of Everest mountaineering at the time.