Premium Essay

Mount Everest

In:

Submitted By avishjain
Words 333
Pages 2
After understanding and analyzing the tragedy of Mount Everest , May 1996 that took lives of eight climbers during summit attempts, we can conclude that the tragedy may occur due to several root causes whether it is by nature or human error. The major factor that leads to this tragedy is that all the climbers are lack of team work and communication. Even though they are in the same expedition but they have their own individual’s goal, eager to reach at the summit. For example, Jon Krakauer one of the clients of Adventure Consultant said that he felt disconnected from the climbers around him, they were a team in name only. Supposedly, during the acclimatization exercises, the climbers should take time to get to know each other, learn their responsibilities as a team build their confidence and trust to their teammates, instead they were doubting each other whether they could rely own their team member during difficult times. That also might cause this tragedy, which is lack of trust towards team member.
One of the potential causes of the tragedy was overconfidence. Overconfidence occurs when leaders believe that their experience, abilities, skill, or maybe even luck, will allow them to overcome any challenge they face. Research has shown that such overconfidence can lead to poor decision making as leaders substitute their own personal skill for careful analysis of the situation and planning. Hall, in particular, may have been prone to overconfidence. He had reached the summit four times and had guided 39 clients to the top of Everest. Therefore, he taught that he can manage all his clients during the climbing.
Other than that, the pride of each team leader also prone to this tragedy. The competition between Hall and Fischer's guiding companies may have led to Hall's decision not to turn back on May 10 after the pre-decided time for summiting of 2:00 pm; Krakauer

Similar Documents

Free Essay

Mount Everest

...1 1 Mount Everest-1996 2 2 Executive Summary Background The case study describes a team ascending Mount Everest led by Scott Fischer and Rob Hall. The primary concept behind the case study is to distinguish qualities in the team’s plan, action, and most importantly leadership. The clients and the leaders in the report show lack of readiness to ascend the mountain. Fischer along with Hall led many people to their deaths because of bad leadership skills. The report outlines how the two leaders failed to communicate with their team. The expedition team needed a better action plan with clear and concise steps to follow in order to keep everyone alive. The breakdown and analysis of the case is reported here. Results Scott Fischer and Rob Hall were not prepared to be leaders. Their skills were lacking and they were only doing things for themselves. Fischer and Hall were clearly acting in the pre-conventional stage of development. They did not value any objections to ideas or procedures. The two leaders acted in a high power distance setting, neither were comfortable allowing inexperienced individuals have a voice. They failed to keep in mind they were running a business. Their actions were the primary reason many climbers lost their lives. The report outlines the communication errors and expresses potential solutions that could have saved lives. Conclusion Communication is a primary factor in the business environment. Leaders need to communicate their business...

Words: 1615 - Pages: 7

Free Essay

Mount Everest Case

...[pic] Executive Summary: The Mount Everest case can be summed up as inefficient distribution of leadership, skills and resources in the face of imminent natural disaster. Teamwork consist of interdependency, mutual accountability and understanding common goals and working with respect to each other’s complementary skills. Effective team’s consist of understanding perceptions of others and help motivate each other to continually work towards the common goal. Working towards a goal in a team usually does not run a straight course. In order to offset these issues that can come into play one may need to optimistically receive suggestions, abstain from narrow perceptions and outlook and trust on the team. Trust helps to create path for communication, collaboration, competence, commitment and ideas. Problem Statement: The goal was to reach the summit of Mount Everest and return safely. However the teams were unable to accomplish the task and this failure eventually led to human casualties. Causes: In the case Mount Everest -1996, Roberto and Cardioggia, factors that contributed to failure would include 1. Ineffective leadership (overconfidence, ego, and personality issues) 2. Lack of planning, 3. Poor communication 4. Poor teamwork. Precisely in this case, one of the main cause of catastrophe was that both Mountain Madness and Adventure Consultants proved to be a group but not a team. The members of the team did not share...

Words: 1432 - Pages: 6

Free Essay

Mount Everest Simulation

...According to Kreitner and Kinicki, a group is defined as “two or more freely interacting individuals who share collective norms and goals and have a common identity” (Kreitner & Kinicki, 2013, p. 269). A team is defined as “a small number of people with complementary skills who are committed to a common purpose, performance goals, and approach for which they hold themselves mutually accountable” (Kreitner & Kinicki, 2013, p.300). The team exercise was a simulated climb of Mt. Everest, with each member having a unique role during the simulation. According to Psychologist Bruce Tuckman, there are five stages in group development including forming, storming, norming, performing, and a later added adjourning (Kreitner & Kinicki, 2013). Not only was the Harvard Publishing Leadership and Team Simulation: Everest V2  a simulation in climbing Mt Everest, it was a lesson in executing a group challenge. The formation of the team began with the team assignments from the professor. There was some confusion as to who was on what team but after a few days; one after the other was present for the forming processes. It took a few days for everyone to collaborate and get their schedules all to work out to complete this task. Communication between team members was initially challenging trying to figure out the best method of communication between group members. Some members communicated more than others in the discussion board. A slower method of communication was utilized...

Words: 1966 - Pages: 8

Free Essay

The Commercialization of Mount Everest

...popular way for amateur climbers to conquer Mount Everest. Commercial guiding expeditions have led to many deaths and have led to pollution of the mountain. In this essay I will discuss a brief history of Mount Everest, what commercial guiding is, how commercial guiding started and how it is affecting Mount Everest. Sources say that Nepal and China should limit the number of guide companies on Everest and make efforts to clean the mountain and its surrounding ecosystems. Mount Everest is the world’s highest mountain and the fifth tallest mountain from the base to the summit. The altitude of Mount Everest is 8,848 meters or 29,029 feet. Everest is located in the Himalaya Mountain Range, which is located in Nepal, China, India and Pakistan. The Himalayas is the tallest mountain range in the world. Most of its peaks exceed 7,200 meters or 23,600 feet. Mount Everest is located in the Mahalangur section of the Himalayas. The south side of the mountain is in Nepal and the north side is in China. The peaks that neighbor Everest are Lotse (the 4th highest mountain in the world), Nuptse and Changste. There are two main routes that commercial expeditions use to reach the summit of Everest. The first route is called the South Col which is located in Nepal. Some of the challenges that climbers face with this route are dealing with the Khumbu icefall and traffic jams on the Lotse face and on the day when climbers try to reach the summit of Everest. The other route that expeditions use to reach...

Words: 2445 - Pages: 10

Premium Essay

Mount Everest Research Paper

...There aren’t a lot of people in this world who can say “they climbed Mount Everest”, but me and three others: Grace, Anthony, Bob, Lauren are ones who can. It took us eight weeks to complete our mission, in those eight weeks, we experienced some good times and some hard times, but it was worth it. Although it took us weeks to complete our mission, it was so enjoyable it didn’t seem like it at all. It took a lot of self-confidence, time management, and most importantly it required exuberant amounts of strength to climb Mount Everest. One of the most exciting parts about the climb was the preparation; you have to prepare yourself physically. During training each morning we would run three miles and we made sure that we drank plenty of fluids. Mentally we had to commit, remain positive and stay confident. Overall, we had a blast. Preparing for the climb was very tedious, that was my favorite part. It took approximately two to three weeks to gather all our supplies. Even though we were all experienced climbers, except for one of us, we still hired a Sherpa, his name was Bob. We met up with him two days prior to our climb to discuss details. When we first met with...

Words: 1685 - Pages: 7

Premium Essay

Mount Everest Research Paper

...Due to an increasing number of inexperienced climbers crowding Mount Everest’s slope, endangering themselves and fellow climbers, the governments of Tibet and Nepal, as well as private guiding businesses, should distribute permits to only those who meet specific health and experience qualifications. Mount Everest contains many dangers, making the climb extremely hazardous even for the most experienced climbers. The route contains difficult climbing sections that can result in serious injury or death if not maneuvered through correctly. The Sherpa people are extremely skilled climbers and are acclimatized to the high altitudes of the mountain. However, this does not mean that they are invincible to the mountain's toughest climbing areas. Young...

Words: 1427 - Pages: 6

Premium Essay

The Over-Commercialization Of Mount Everest

...In recent years, of over-commercialization of Mount Everest has left the once beautiful and majestic mountain to be overflowing with trash and waste. Nepal has introduced new laws for all impending climbers, "requiring each climber to bring down to the base camp 8 kilograms (18 pounds) of trash — the amount it estimates a climber discards along the route." (Saul, “Independent”) This law promotes the natural aspect of the environment and protects the mountain from becoming further polluted. However, it could be a difficult rule to enforce. The mountain is already dangerous and usually requires climbers all their mental and physical strength to complete, would enforcing this law create distractions for the climbers that could potentially be fatal?...

Words: 296 - Pages: 2

Free Essay

Mount Everest Case Analysis

...Moritz Straube, Mario Pacheco, Alex Rutherford, Haitham Al Najjar Prof. Bresciani P & G Case Study Mount Everest Humans often feel the need to conquer Earth and explore it to the fullest. Among the biggest challenges the planet has for humans, stands the quest to climb Mount Everest. At almost 9,000 meters above sea level, in between Nepal and Tibet, the quest to climb Mount Everest has become the point of no return for some climbers and the ultimate conquest for other climbers. Since May 29, 1953 up to December 1996, 846 persons had conquered successfully Mount Everest Climbing Mount Everest became available to the public through entrepreneurs who were visionary enough to apply their passion to their profits in the year of 1996.  Such is the case of Hall, founder of Adventure Consultants and Fischer, founder of Mountain Madness; each one of them had a passion for climbing and a vision for profit from leading teams to the top of Mount Everest, the summit. Together they both lead the largest commercial expeditions. Their experiences of their journey, which began in May 6, 1996, can be used to discuss different aspects of international organizational behavior. Leadership, communication, organizational structure, and visualization are key aspects of organizational behavior for businesses worldwide which are also related to the quest of conquering Mount Everestf. Hall and Fischer began as leaders of their organizations. Their climbing experiences are closely...

Words: 926 - Pages: 4

Premium Essay

Mount Everest

...The Ngorongoro Crater in Tanzania (East Africa) is a plain that is home to plains zebra and blue wildebeests. The Serengeti plains are almost treeless grassland located in Tanzania in East Africa. There are lots of animals including zebras, gazelles, buffalos, and many others. What is a plain? A plain is a broad area of flat land. Plains cover more than 1/3 of the world’s land area. Plains exist on every continent. MOUNTAIN Mount Everest is part of the Himalaya mountain range along the border of Nepal and Tibet in South Asia. Mount Everest is Earth’s highest mountain. It is 29,029 feet above sea level. Peaks of Mount Kenya What is a mountain? A mountain is a large landform that stretches above the surrounding land. DESERT Sand dunes in...

Words: 419 - Pages: 2

Premium Essay

Book Report Into Thin Air

...Into Thin Air Have you ever read “Into Thin Air”? I am going to talk about a chapter from the book that I have read. The chapter talks about Jon Krakauer’s journey climbing Mount Everest. Along with his journey, it talks about the events that went with his journey. “Into Thin Air” is a good story that I would recommend to anyone because it teaches you to never give up, to help others, and what it is like to climb Mount Everest. My first point of why “Into Thin Air” is a great story to read is that it teaches you to never give up. My reasoning for this is that Jon Krakauer faced many challenges while climbing Mount Everest, but he never gave up. One challenge that he faced was when he reached Hillary Step.(Krakauer,page 358). Jon reached the top of...

Words: 424 - Pages: 2

Premium Essay

The Old By Harryette Muleen Analysis

...The Old and The New When first reading Harryette Mullen’s tanka on page 101, we can see in our mind’s eye climbers hiking beside dead hikers on Mount Everest. Looking further into the tanka, more meanings are excavated. The climbers represent a new generation of people while the dead represent the past generations that they are trying to surpass. The peak of Everest is the goals, ideals, and innovations the new generation are hoping to achieve, while Everest itself is the journey the climbers go through to achieve their goals. The fatigue represents the old ideals that the newer generation is trying to overcome, while the frozen dead indicates the way the old generation are frozen in their antiquated beliefs and ideals. The first three words in the poem are “Climbers on Everest” (Mullen 101), which initially gives the reader a vision of a rough and turbulent journey for the climbers. The groups that the climbers are referring to are the...

Words: 1005 - Pages: 5

Premium Essay

Who Is John Krakauer's Suicide

...Jon Krakauer, author and climber, is employed by Outside Magazine to write down an article about the commercialism on Mt. Everest. Krakauer joins the most fatal Mount Everest expedition in history. Krakauer joins the climbing service referred to as adventure Consultants, guided by Rob Hall. The guide service is meant to speed up the adjustment method and guide the climbers with success to the summit of Mt. Everest. The climb is broken into camps: Base Camp, Camp One, Camp Two, Camp three and Camp Four. After spending weeks at Base Camp preparing for the gruesome climb ahead, the group makes several journeys up to the other camps to hurry up the adjustment method. Then, the group makes a summit push. Throughout the climb, Krakauer describes...

Words: 538 - Pages: 3

Premium Essay

Rob Hall And Macbeth Comparison Essay

...pure ambition was tampered with, and he let it devour his mental state of mind. In contrast, Rob Hall was a New Zealand mountaineer that helped guide people to the top of Mount Everest. His ambition was kind and humble; he denied the summit climb for Hansen due to the harsh climate. This next summit was unfortunately his last. Krakauer stated that, “it would have been hard for him to deny Hansen the summit a second time” (17.10). He was correct, Hall ultimately guided Hansen to the summit of Everest, but they were running low on oxygen and the storm was approaching. Hall tried to urge Hansen to descend down the mountain, but Hansen could not muster up the energy needed and unfortunately passed away on Everest. Rob Hall was also very unstable and oxygen deprived, death came shortly after. Hall foreshadowed this when he stated that, “... it’s pretty unlikely that they’ll get through this season without something bad happening up high” (7.49). He took this chance because his ambition to not only summit Everest, but also help a fellow climber that has been denied the summit due to weather conditions by Hall was determined to summit the second time around. His ambition lead his team to an unintentional death. He fought hard to help the climbers, but in the end the climbers took the risk of climbing Mount Everest. Trying to conquer the world’s highest point will be challenging and dangerous, many months of prepping is required, and even with the best of gears, death will creep up slowly...

Words: 898 - Pages: 4

Free Essay

Human Error and a Mountain's Fury Is a Bad Combination

...Human Error and a Mountain’s Fury is a bad combination When you decide to take on the extremely dangerous journey of climbing Mount Everest, you need to take every precaution to be as safe as possible. Perhaps the most important precaution is to stick to your designated plan or listen to your professional guide. No matter what the weather conditions may have been, human error, including lapses of judgment and simple physical mistakes were the cause of eight people dying up on the summit on that fateful day of May 10th 1996. Of the various mistakes made on the Summit, the most obvious mistake would be that the guides, Rob Hall and Scott Fischer, did not make their clients turn around at the designated time. The last client reached the summit at 4:00 P.M.; this was two hours after the latest turn around time Hall had preached about the month prior. Fischer had passed a few of his clients on his way down the mountain after 3:40 P.M. and still allowed them to continue to climb the summit. Hall waited at the top of the summit for Doug Hansen far past the turn around time to make sure he made it to the top. Jon Krakauer, author of Into Thin Air, stated that Doug Hansen…” had been talked into returning this year by Hall, who felt sorry that Hansen had been denied the summit and had significantly discounted Hansen’s fee to entice him to give it another try.” (72) Rob Hall’s guilt regarding Hansen’s previous attempt and failure of the summit could account for his lapse of judgment...

Words: 995 - Pages: 4

Free Essay

Children's Informational Book Literary Analysis

...Informational Analysis Exploring the Deep By: Savanna Wills For the final literary analysis that was assigned, I went into writing this paper with the notion that this might just be the least exciting analysis of Children’s Literature that we were ever going to have to do. To my surprise, I gained much knowledge from taking the time to read an informational non-fiction children’s book. I realized that if I were to find a concept in a children’s informational book that interested me, I would gain knowledge I didn’t realize I wanted or needed as a sophomore in college. For our final analysis, I chose the book Exploring the Deep by Chloe Rhodes. In all honesty, I didn’t have a lot of choices for books that I really wanted to read, but Exploring the Deep stood out to me because I realized that our oceans are wondrous and full of mystery. This strange and interesting piece is a fantastic non-fictional book for children who want to learn about the planet’s oceans and everything that occurs, lives, and is found within it. As soon as I began reading I found the book very intriguing. It captivated my attention, and taught me things I probably never would have learned in the rest of my years living. This book was filled with interesting facts about our planet’s oceans. It gave significant details of some living creatures that make the Earth’s oceans their home. Along with giving detailed facts, there were very real pictures of the wildlife that lurks beneath the waves, allowing...

Words: 1144 - Pages: 5