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Mt. Everest's Success

Decent Essays

Mt. Everest, standing 8,850 meters above sea level is taller than any other mountain in the world. Since 1922, hundreds of climbers have attempted to climb this treacherous mountain located in the Himalayan Ridge, whose summit ridge separates Nepal and Tibet. By 1996, the number of successful ascents totaled 846, with more than half occurring between 1992 – 1996. Sadly, this achievement did not come without loss of life, as 148 have perished while trying to complete this achievement.
In 1996, a total of 30 expeditions would attempt to reach the Summit of Mt. Everest. Two of the largest commercial expeditions would be attempted in May of that year, under the leadership of Rob Hall, co-founder of Adventure Consultants, and Scott Fischer, …show more content…

I do not believe they adequately considered how weather changes combined with the already harsh location of Mt. Everest would impact the challenge they were undertaking. It is likely that their drive, determination and confidence contributed to their dismissal of important factors they could not control, as well as certain other factors that they certainly could have led for a better eventual outcome. Importantly, depending upon the weather conditions to be perfect for their expedition and for it to align perfectly with their personal and organizational goals may have been their first …show more content…

Both teams had members with a wide range of experience. There is no evidence that either expedition leader spent any time on evaluating the teams created to understand the ability of team members or how they would perform within the context of the task they were undertaking. Further complicating this was the fact that the teams did not make the best use of their expert Sherpas. Sherpas are the locals of Khumbu, a region of Nepal. They live in the mountains and are intimately aware of the conditions the teams would be facing, and arguably have more expertise than any other members of the

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