I recently read Into Thin Air by Jon Krakauer, the story of the May 10, 1996 climb of Mt Everest that ended in the death of five people, including two guides who competed with each other for client climbers. Krakauer is a wonderful writer. I really felt that I was there and wanted to say “NO, don’t do that” or “Turn back, turn back, NOW!” As a CI professional, I also noted when competition potentially added to the tragedy.
As the tallest mountain on earth, climbing Mt Everest becomes a goal for many climbers who often go in a group with experienced guides who handle logistics and support them, sometimes physically, during the actual climb. Clients pay up to $70,000 for this assistance.
The inhospitable environment of Mt. Everest becomes slightly less inhospitable each May as winds change course so all climbers converge on this time period.
Many commercial airplanes fly at the same altitude, 27,028 ft, as the high point of Mt Everest. The extremely low level of oxygen at the top incapacitates and kills people so gradual conditioning is used to prepare climbers for the assent. The final climb is so debilitating that it can only be attempted once during an expedition so a climber who abandons the final attempt must keep doing down to start recovering from the high altitude.
Achieving the summit is only half the battle; perhaps less than half, as climbers who have been working hard for 12 hours or more to summit must then descend, exhausted, before they loss sight of the trail in darkness. So the climbing rule of thumb is that the peak must be reached by 2 PM at the latest to safely descend. All but one of the 1996 deaths occurred during descents and the conditions of the other death are not known.
New Zealander Rob Hall was the leader of Adventure Consultants which had an excellent reputation for successfully guiding clients to the top of Mt. Everest, although no clients had reached the summit the previous year. American Scott Fischer, founder of Mountain Madness, was guiding his first Everest expedition. Hall and Fischer were friends as well as competitors and planned to climb another mountain together after their Everest expeditions.
Rob Hall was with Doug Hansen, a client from the previous year who was on his second attempt to reach the summit. Hansen was slow and did not reach the top until after 4 PM. When Hall and Hansen started to descend, Hansen ran out of supplemental oxygen and could not move. Meanwhile an unexpected snow storm arrived with ferocity, cutting visibility to inches. Hall survived the night near the top of Mt. Everest, but his hands and feet were apparently too frostbitten for him to maneuver the dangerous descent and the storm prevented other climbers from reaching him to help. He died during the second night.
Although Scott Fischer was not with a client, he continued up to the summit by himself, told Lopsang Jangbu, his chief Sherpa guide, that he was sick. They began their descent at 3:40 PM. But then he became increasingly incapacitated, possibly from an existing illness combined with high altitude sickness. He paused and told Lopsang to go down and get help, but by the time it arrived the next day, he was dead.
Was the element of competition a factor in the decisions both guides made on Everest? Jon Krakauer believes so although beating the competition was clearly minor compared to the other factors that contributed to the tragedy. From page 355 of the Anchor Books paperback version of Into Thin Air:
“Extending the turn-around times may have been influenced to some degree by the rivalry between Fischer and All. Fischer had never guided Everest before 1996. From a business standpoint, there was tremendous pressure on him to be successful. He was exceeding motivated to get clients to the summit, especially a celebrity client like Sandy Hill Pittman.
“Likewise, since he had failed to get anybody to the top in 1995, it would have been bad for Hall’s business if he failed again in 1996—especially if Fischer succeeded. Scott had a charismatic personality, and that charisma had been aggressively marketed by Jane Bromet. Fischer was trying very hard to eat Hall’s lunch and Rob knew it. Under the circumstances, the prospect of turning his clients around while his rival’s clients were pushing toward the summit may have been sufficiently distasteful to cloud Hall’s judgment.”
Both guides pushed themselves beyond the margin of safety and paid with their lives.
What are the implications for CI?
- Do not let the presence of a competitor cloud your judgment. Perhaps the competitor is too extended also.
- Stick to your plan. While flexibility to take advantage of changed circumstances can be good, sticking to your proven plan is better than hoping that you will luck out this time.
- Pay attention to the details. A failure of one element may seem small at the time, but can add up over time.
- Sheer determination to succeed is a characteristic shared by many very successful people, but sheer determination cannot always overcome obstacles. Know when to retreat and prepare for another campaign.
The 1996 Everest disaster has been analyzed by management consultants for leadership implications, but we and they, must remember that the extreme conditions of Everest impair climbers beyond any acceptable condition for people operating at normal altitudes.
Fortunately, competition rarely ends in death and a failure in business can be a learning experience for the next attempt. Many millionaires fail more than once before achieving their goals.
Recent Comments