In the wake of the 1996 disasters, a doctor decided to perform an experiment that required him to follow a team of hikers to measure for the first time, the toll high-altitude climbing takes on the heart, lungs, blood, and brain. I thought it appropriate to incorporate some of the evidence acquired from the studies done by the group, seeing as the interest for this experiment was triggered by the tragic events that had materialized on Mount Everest May of 1996. The program is a first scientific study I have seen on what occurs in human body when it is steadily experiencing this type of stress. The program shows what happens to the awareness and physical ability in low oxygen pressure. While superficially seeming to be normal, under intense testing done by the researchers, it is clear that there stands weakening in the hiker’s brain capacity to process information. …show more content…
Since this program I now have renewed admiration for the mountaineers, especially for Edmund Hillary, and Tenzing Norgay who was the first to climb Mt. Everest. When they climbed they did not have the lightweight equipment, or ropes to help them make their climb helpful. They did not even have the established safety route to the summit like there is today. It was fascinating to watch this show, to see how people react to altitude, to watch what is actually happening to them physiologically. It was like having a first-hand experience without the danger of actually
In the editorial, Into Thin Air, Jon Krakauer discusses the topic of the disaster that occurred that day at Mount Everest. He states many of the events that happened in detail and how it changed his life completely. Throughout that day, Jon Krakauer joined a team in which their goal was to reach the summit of Mount Everest with several different guides. They were leaded by guides to help along the way to help reach the summit successfully. As the day went on , many of the team members were left behind in which it gave a bad sign.
Discussion on the physiological responses to extreme high stress are a key component of Dave Grossman’s book. Many parts of the body experience change during situations of high stress. Some of of these elements include, increased heart rate, lungs struggling to pull in air, and impaired motor skills, and tunnel vision. As the heart rate increases and remains elevated many of these issues persist and worsen. In chapter four, Grossman introduces the reader to a diagram that explains his system for understanding the effects of increased heart rate. This color coded coordination system describes the physical and cognitive experiences that accompany different heart rates. This spectrum ranges from a resting heart rare of 80 beats per minute, and maxes out at 220
Have you ever wanted to prove to everyone that you are a hard worker that is willing to give up everything to go on an adventure? If this is you than Everest is the perfect place for you. In the story, “ Into Thin Air,” by Jon Krakauer a true story is told of a dangerous voyage up and down Everest. The climb up was arduous and long according to Jon, but the climbers sacrificed everything to get to the top, which most of the climbers achieved. However, emotions shifted when a storm swooped in and killed many of the climbers that were stuck on the summit, around 12-19 in total.
Before reading this book, I had already been aware of the countless dangers of Mt. Everest. Last summer I read a book about Mt. Everest much like this one in the state that both were spoken through personal accounts, and both used constant detail to express the horrible and painful experiences that both authors had to go through. This prior knowledge helped better my understanding of this book because I was aware of the common occurrences that can take place while climbing Mt. Everest, and the gruesome circumstances that go with it. During the eighth chapter, readers become aware of a horrible condition that a character is dealing with. “By the time he arrived at the tents late that afternoon Ngawang was delirious, stumbling like a drunk, and coughing up pink, blood-laced froth” (Krakauer 113).
When the offer of a lifetime came up John had to make a decision. The company would cover the 65,000 dollar fee and give him a chance at his lifelong dream, “Standing on top of the world.” He had arrived at base camp and was already higher than he had ever been before. “The deep rasping cough i'd developed in Lobuje worsened day by day,” ( Jon Krakauer 67.) These conditions a common symptom of minor altitude sickness tested jon strength as they only got worse. The thin air never helped with the cough and the higher he went the worse it got. The skills John accumulated over the years had not seen anything like this. “Hall assured climbing 2,000 feet higher on the mountain each time, our bodies would adapt,” ( John 70.) These skills and techniques would add and improve on his ability to climb.
In order to continue climbing Everest, many aspects of climbing need to be improved before more people endanger their lives to try and reach the roof of the world. The guides have some areas that need the most reform. During the ascension of Everest the guides made a plethora mistakes that seemed insignificant but only aided in disaster. The guides first mistake is allowing “any bloody idiot [with enough determination] up” Everest (Krakauer 153). By allowing “any bloody idiot” with no climbing experience to try and climb the most challenging mountain in the world, the guides are almost inviting trouble. Having inexperienced climbers decreases the trust a climbing team has in one another, causing an individual approach to climbing the mountain and more reliance on the guides. While this approach appears fine, this fault is seen in addition to another in Scott Fischer’s expedition Mountain Madness. Due to the carefree manner in which the expedition was run, “clients [moved] up and down the mountain independently during the acclimation period, [Fischer] had to make a number of hurried, unplanned excursions between Base Camp and the upper camps when several clients experienced problems and needed to be escorted down,” (154). Two problems present in the Mountain Madness expedition were seen before the summit push: the allowance of inexperienced climbers and an unplanned climbing regime. A third problem that aided disaster was the difference in opinion in regards to the responsibilities of a guide on Everest. One guide “went down alone many hours ahead of the clients” and went “without supplemental oxygen” (318). These three major issues: allowing anyone up the mountain, not having a plan to climb Everest and differences in opinion. All contributed to the disaster on Everest in
In the book “Into thin air” by Jon Krakauer, Krakauer sought to report and write about his climb up mount everest. He knew it wouldn't be easy, but he did not and could not have predicted the barriers and conflicts that were inflicted upon him, by the mountain and it’s atmosphere. Due to these barriers and conflicts, it would be naive to say that the main conflict wasn’t man vs nature. Nevertheless, Krakauer had the worst experience of his life, climbing and fighting against the physical and mental effects of Mount Everest.
John Paul Stevens served as associate justice of the Supreme Court from 1975 until his retirement in 2010. Throughout his judicial career, Stevens exercised a liberal view in the courtroom and often displayed judicial restraint to the United States Congress. Justice Stevens was appointed by President Ford in 1975 because of his judicial experience and personal confidence. While serving as Associate Justice, Stevens provided opinions on many subjects including the death penalty and affirmative action. Before serving as Justice of the Supreme Court, Stevens founded his own law firm and gained an expertise in anti- trust laws. Due to his successful legal career, Stevens was able to gain recognition allowing him to be nominated as Associate Justice of the Supreme Court.
Have you ever wondered what kind of hardships come with climbing the tallest mountain in the world before? Expectantly, the book Peak by Roland Smith and the movie Everest have a lot of similarities with some exceptionally prominent differences. From personal conflict and character conflict to the general aspect of climbing Mt. Everest, the book and the movie explore all different types of similarities and differences. Being similar, in both the movie and the book, the mountain always decides. The morals were constant and everyone experiences the same deal in similar ways. One significant difference came between Peak, the main character in the book, and Rob(5th summit attempt), the main character in the movie.
Instead of risking their lives for their own glory, they do it to help others reach the summit and for the benefits that follow. Besides a natural love for climbing mountains, finances push them to attempt these expeditions over and over. There are reasons guides like Andy Hall feel high pressure to succeed and as Krakauer explains,, “he was savvy enough to understand that the more attention he got from the news media, the easier it would be to coax corporations to open their checkbooks” (32). Hall uses his media attention to fund trips to Mt. Everest and would do whatever it took to help an important climber reach the top and which is essentially where he finds his sense of accomplishment and media attention. Guides like Scott Fischer have to make a name for themselves first, and initially might do so unsafely. Don Peterson speaks of Fischer with awe, proclaiming, “It didn’t matter how much pain he was in- he would ignore it and keep going,” referring to Scott Fischers six months of traveling with “an open suppurating wound” (63). It is possible that with such desperation to succeed and be well known as a climber, guides would risk their lives by ignoring injuries and health. Its evident that even the most skilled still face challenges but continue to pursue a dangerous lifestyle for
There is an ongoing problem in our society regarding punishment and responsibility. We, as a society, tend to look away when it comes to how criminals are being punished and maybe we should be paying more attention. Violence seems to be an integral part of our society, some raise their children with violence, we watch it on television, read it in newspapers and books and now we are even playing violent video games. When it comes to the judicial system the majority of citizens do not even know how individuals are being punished or if the punishment is too harsh, not severe enough or if the individual even needs punishment because what they may need is psychiatric help.
We as employers are facing problems retaining key employees and keeping employee morale at a positive working level. This phenomenon is a new challenge seeking an affordable and implementable solution.
On May 10, 1996 six people died trying to reach the summit of Mt. Everest. These people were parts of two expeditions that were in the Himalayas, preparing to ascend the summit for six weeks. The first group was under the direction of Rob Hall, who had put 39 paying clients on the summit in five years. Hall was considered the leader of the mountain and the man to see no matter what the discrepancy. Group two, headed by Fisher, who like Hall, was trying to start a profitable business in providing the experience of climbing Mt. Everest to all for the price of 60 to 70 thousand dollars. Unfortunatly, neither man would live to tell the tale of this expedition.
Individual reflection on the Mt. Everest Simulation exercise carried out on 5th October and the subsequent debriefing on 12th October
Lack of psychological safety within the team members failed to fix cognitive bias of irrationality. If members developed trust within the team, cognitive bias could have been prevented or at least minimized. The truth that climbers might make irrational decisions and find it hard to turn back when they are so closed to the summit was obvious, but teammates seeing this problem did not speak up since they did not feel that their thoughts were welcome and felt uneasy. More cognitive biases could also been prevented to lessen the complex system of the expedition. Since climbing Mt. Everest is already a high risk venture, any additional problems such as irrational decisions can cause a crisis. Using the early sign of issues with Hall’s team’s progress, it was obvious that the probability of failing the expedition was high before the team even started. Hall could have used the issues as a sign of the complex systems that exist, and could have used this knowledge to prevent any irrational decisions. The complex systems and the lack of psychological safety also contributed to the tragedy. The team members failed to communicate and trust each other, which then added more problems to the complex systems. For instance, Boukreev’s could have spoken up to his team leader, Fischer, about his concerns regarding his team members lacking experience to begin with. By speaking up, he could have prevented more chain reaction due to lack of communications and feedback within the