52 pages • 1-hour read
One Wrong Step
A modern alternative to SparkNotes and CliffsNotes, SuperSummary offers high-quality Study Guides with detailed chapter summaries and analysis of major themes, characters, and more.
Chapters 1-9Chapter Summaries & Analyses
Content Warning: This section of the guide includes discussion of illness, death, and religious discrimination.
Chapter 1 Summary: “Kings Peak, USA: 13,528 Feet, July 1936”
Atlas was 12 years old when he reached his first summit. He and his parents moved to Utah from Britain for the sake of his mother’s health, which continued to deteriorate. Although Atlas’s mother used to climb with him and his father, she no longer had the strength, and she cried as she waved goodbye to her husband and son, who headed for Kings Peak and spent several days climbing to the summit. During the journey, Atlas wore a scarf that his mother knitted for him. Atlas was surprised at the increasing difficulty of the ascent, but he reached the summit with his father’s encouragement. Gazing in all directions, Atlas found the view breathtaking.
Suddenly, a storm brewed overhead, so Atlas and his father had to race down the mountain more quickly than planned. At one point, Atlas ended up sliding down on his feet and felt as though he could conquer the world. However, when he and his father returned home, Atlas’s grandfather told them that Atlas’s mother had died. Atlas ran off to a private place and cried alone.
Now, three years later, Atlas and his father continue to go climbing together. To date, they have climbed several mountains, and Atlas feels ready to climb to the summit of Mount Everest alongside his father, although his father does not agree.
Chapter 2 Summary: “Rongbuk Glacier: 16,434 Feet, August 13, 1939”
Atlas is nearly 15 when he and his father attempt to reach the summit of Mount Everest. Nobody has yet achieved this feat, and Atlas is overconfident. He and his father meet Chodak Sherpa, their main guide, and several other Sherpas who will help lead them up the mountain. They are taken to Rongbuk Monastery, the highest elevated place of worship on Earth. A ritual is performed for protection and to express gratitude to Chomolungma (Mount Everest’s Tibetan name, which means Goddess Mother of the World).
Atlas notices that the monks remain silent, and one passes a note to Chodak. Atlas asks about the note, and Chodak says that the monk is worried about Atlas climbing the mountain. The monk told Chodak that Atlas was not looking in the right direction and that he would eventually have to make a choice between his own life and the lives of those he cares about.
Chapter 3 Summary: “East Rongbuk Glacier: 17,388 Feet, August 14, 1939”
Atlas tries to forget the monk’s warning, but ominous thoughts continue to fill his mind. His father notices his odd mood, but Atlas refuses to explain.
The other members of the expedition include the expedition leader, Mr. Thomley, and two additional mountaineers, Mr. Blake and Mr. Levinsky. Mr. Thomley insists on going straight through Base Camp to Interim Base Camp, disregarding Chodak Sherpa’s warning that it is better to proceed more cautiously.
The group ascends and reaches an area between two massive glaciers that make Atlas’s father nervous. Mr. Blake comments more than once that Atlas is too young to be there. By the time the group reaches Interim Base Camp, this harping frustrates Atlas’s father, who defends Atlas and states that the teenager is as ready as anyone to climb. However, he also reveals that he has no intention of bringing Atlas beyond Advanced Base Camp. Atlas, however, yearns to reach the summit and tries to think of a way to convince his father. He finds Interim Base Camp much less thrilling than he expected, but he appreciates knowing that the famous mountaineer George Mallory created this camp years ago.
Chapter 4 Summary: “Interim Base Camp: 20,300 Feet, August 14, 1939”
Everyone at the camp seems irritable, and Mr. Blake complains about having to sleep on a slope. Atlas tries to argue with his father, stating that he wants to come to the summit to place a flag for his mother. However, his father refuses to discuss it, upsetting Atlas. The two volunteer to find a water source together and head toward the two glaciers, which are decorated with massive seracs (huge formations of highly sensitive ice).
As they hike, Atlas’s father says that Atlas must soon return to regular school and go on to university, but all Atlas wants to do is climb mountains. More frustrated than ever, Atlas walks off toward a section of seracs, reflecting on the idea that his father must have known that his mother was about to die. He feels that he should never have been taken to Kings Peak while his mother was so sick.
Now, Atlas and his father shift their focus back to the task of finding water. Suddenly, Atlas’s father slips, and his foot strikes a serac, which shifts and begins to fall. Atlas is standing underneath it and freezes in fear, unable to move.
Chapter 5 Summary: “Interim Base Camp: 20,300 Feet, August 14, 1939”
Atlas’s father lunges toward him and rolls him out of the path of the serac before it falls and shatters. Chodak Sherpa and Mr. Thomley hurry to the scene, but Atlas and his father are miraculously unharmed. On the way back to camp, Atlas’s father scolds Atlas for freezing in a moment of crisis, citing the incident as evidence that Atlas isn’t ready to climb to the summit. The comment puts Atlas in a bad mood for the rest of the day.
That night, the group listens to Mr. Thomley’s wife broadcast the news and weather over the radio. She mentions clear skies for the next several days, but she also states that war is likely imminent in Germany and that Jewish people are no longer safe. Many countries are rejecting Jewish people as refugees. Mr. Levinsky becomes visibly upset and comments that nobody is helping his people; Mr. Blake does not understand why Mr. Levinsky is so upset. Later, Atlas overhears the two men talking, and Mr. Levinsky threatens to reveal what is written in Mr. Blake’s journal if Mr. Blake insults his people again. Later, Atlas hears Mr. Levinsky coughing and offers him some tea. Mr. Levinsky refuses to admit that he is sick, but Atlas knows better.
Chapter 6 Summary: “East Rongbuk Glacier: 20,892 Feet, August 15, 1939”
Chodak leads the group toward Advanced Base Camp, telling them to follow the yaks. They approach a rift (a gap in the glacier) about half a mile wide, and Atlas is intimidated by its size. Mr. Blake comments that “assaulting” the mountain reminds him of assaulting enemy trenches in the Great War (World War I). Suddenly, one of the yaks falls through the ice into a river inside the glacier. While most of the men attempt to pull it out, Atlas notices the other animals panicking and breaking the chain that is holding them. Atlas dives and pins his ice axe into the chain, and then he wraps himself around it. He is only strong enough to hold the animals for a moment, but the others successfully save the yak and come to help.
Atlas is lectured about the rules of safety on the mountain and asked to repeat them. The rules entail saving oneself first, saving others second, and always obeying the leader of the expedition. Atlas feels humiliated. Later, he asks his father if he would save him first, and his father admits that he would always save Atlas first. Atlas considers the possibility that this might have been the moment to which the monk’s warning pertained, but because nobody died, he is certain that his fateful, mysterious moment of choice is yet to come.
Chapter 7 Summary: “Advanced Base Camp: 21,300 Feet, August 15, 1939”
As the group approaches Advanced Base Camp, they hear voices in the distance. They arrive at the camp, which they expect to be deserted, and are surprised to find an American man, Mr. Pierson, and his daughter, Maddie. Atlas’s father recognizes Mr. Pierson from a past excursion on a mountain in Austria, and Maddie tries to befriend Atlas despite his reluctance to get to know her. Mr. Blake mentions that his notebook is missing and eyes Atlas suspiciously, but nobody admits to knowing where it is.
Chapter 8 Summary: “North Col: 22,000 Feet, August 18, 1939”
The North Col is a saddle-like area between Mount Everest and Mount Changtse, and this is where the group goes to make their practice climb and test their strength and skill. Everyone takes part except Maddie, and although Atlas is eager to prove that he can handle the challenge, he feels instantly intimidated by the steep, 1,000-foot mountainside. Maddie discovers a boot print that nobody in the group made, and people begin to speculate that the print may have been made by the Nazis who were sent to nearby Lhasa.
On the way up the mountain, Atlas tries again to convince his father to let him climb to the summit, but his father says that Atlas needs better focus and judgment. At one point, Mr. Thomley slips and crashes into Mr. Levinsky, who then bumps into Mr. Blake. Mr. Blake steps backward onto Chodak Sherpa’s hand with his crampon, piercing it. Chodak insists that he will be fine, but Mr. Thomley is already convinced that Chodak will need to stay behind and that the expedition’s safety is compromised. On the way down the mountain, Mr. Blake keeps blaming Mr. Levinsky for the accident, but the reality is that Mr. Blake failed to have his ice axe at the ready, violating one of the most important safety rules of climbing.
Chapter 9 Summary: “Advanced Base Camp: 21,300 Feet, August 21, 1939”
On the day that the group sets out for the summit, Atlas, Maddie, and Chodak Sherpa stay behind. Atlas’s eyes well up with tears. Maddie cries too but hides her tears and pretends to be casual as she says goodbye to her father. Atlas is given the task of using the radio to relay news and other information from Mrs. Thomley to the group that is climbing to the summit. The next two weeks pass uneventfully, until something happens that changes everything.
Chapters 1-9 Analysis
Atlas, a 12-year-old boy named after the Titan in Greek mythology who carried the world on his shoulders, feels destined for responsibility and adventure. However, from the very beginning of the novel, it is clear that Atlas’s interest in climbing mountains has more to do with escaping the negative moments of his life than with making positive new memories. The anonymous monk’s statement that Atlas is “looking in the wrong direction” hints at this internal conflict (17), and as the retrospective chapters indicate, his first true summit in Utah was inextricably linked with the untimely death of his mother. Thus, for every mountain that he climbs after this fateful moment, Atlas is essentially looking backward in time as he engages in a complex emotional battle, barely able to discern the difference between seeking the summit for its own sake and using the challenge to distract himself from his unresolved grief and anger. As Atlas admits to himself, “I hoped that by reaching the summit, I might find peace—because it was the furthest away from everything bad that had happened” (147). To honor his mother, he carries a flag to plant at Mount Everest’s summit and wears a scarf that she knitted for him, using these gestures in a desperate attempt to keep her in his memory and find peace. However, in the process of Learning to Move Forward After Loss, Atlas discovers that the peace he seeks is not on the mountain at all but within himself.
Ironically, although Atlas repeatedly claims that he is ready to climb to Everest’s summit, his behavior contradicts his words, proving that he is only midway through the process of Navigating the Road to Maturity. For example, he often becomes easily upset and frustrated, and his pride is bruised by the slightest show of adult supervision or disapproval. Acting to protect his ego rather than his physical safety, he is highly reluctant to express his feelings or seek help when he needs it. A prime example of this dynamic occurs when he freezes in fear as a deadly serac falls toward him. Similarly, he later puts his own life at risk when he tries to restrain the yaks—a feat far beyond his own strength. His father’s criticism that he lacks focus and good judgment emphasizes Atlas’s dire need for growth and foreshadows the later development of a crisis that will force the boy to confront his fears, communicate more openly, and make better decisions for the sake of himself and others.
While the majority of the novel focuses on Atlas’s inner turmoil, the most important character in the entire narrative is Mount Everest itself. The world’s tallest mountain and its smaller cousins, which Atlas and his father have summitted in years past, collectively serve as a multifaceted symbol in the narrative. For example, Atlas’s first summit remains a memory of transcendental discovery for the boy. As he recalls, “In every direction I looked were the peaks of rugged, brown-topped mountains with small patches of snow that probably never melted” (4). His awe in this early moment illustrates the vastness of the wild lands that he and his father attempt to conquer, and it is clear that the two would have many challenges in the years ahead. Later, when the two finally behold Mount Everest itself, they are keenly aware that the sacred presence of the mountain is honored by its Tibetan name, Chomolungma, which means “Goddess Mother of the World” (14). The rituals performed for protection and gratitude only reinforce this idea, and as the expedition makes its dangerous ascent, the narrative suggests that the mountain possesses an ominous form of sentience and actively hampers their progress. Walking among the seracs, Atlas barely avoids being crushed, and the narrow escape emphasizes the mountain’s innate power.
Against this stark backdrop, Nielsen introduces various literary devices to enhance the tone and rhythm of her storytelling. Most notably, each chapter begins with a definition of an important term that is designed to foreshadow imminent dangers and add realism to the story. Vivid mountain imagery paints a clear picture of the setting’s treacherous beauty, and Atlas’s dire commentary also contributes to the author’s heavy use of foreshadowing, as when the boy states, “I’d thought I was ready to climb Mount Everest. I was wrong” (9). With these techniques, the author conveys the constant sense of tension that the characters feel, hinting at the climactic events to come as the mountain looms over the group’s increasingly fraught dynamics.
The simmering conflict between Atlas and his father takes center stage throughout the narrative, stemming from Atlas’s belief that his father knowingly deprived him of the chance to bid his dying mother farewell. However, equally treacherous and subtle undercurrents run throughout the rest of the expedition as well, creating a microcosm of the uneasy social landscape that historically preceded the outbreak of World War II. The group’s anxiety about the possible proximity of Nazis reflects this dynamic, as does the conflict between Mr. Levinsky (a Jewish man who is concerned about the Nazis’ actions) and the cruelly indifferent Mr. Blake (a potential Nazi sympathizer). These divisions add tension to the group’s interactions, and the early evidence of Mr. Blake’s lack of interest in Overcoming Challenges as a Team foreshadows his refusal to follow safety protocols or look after the well-being of his companions.
Unlock all 52 pages of this Study Guide
Get in-depth, chapter-by-chapter summaries and analysis from our literary experts.
- Grasp challenging concepts with clear, comprehensive explanations
- Revisit key plot points and ideas without rereading the book
- Share impressive insights in classes and book clubs