Namaste! It’s Hari again, our TripleED climbing researcher. I’ll posting my own personal pictures and stories on my own site at hmix.org, but I’d like to share some of the experiences we’ve had so far. I don’t have time to write as I have quite a bit of work to do writing up today’s field notes (all the researchers have been working long hours typing away!), so instead, I’ll post some photos. On a practical note, we’re all packed up and heading to the airport tomorrow morning, fingers crossed for good weather. We’re hoping to catch a plane or helicopter to Lukla where we’ll begin our trek to Phakding tomorrow.
Candles at Boudhanath stupa, Kathmandu
Well, it feels like I boarded my first of four flights just fifty hours ago and here I am! After living in tube-world for nearly 48 hours, it was nice to finally arrive in dusty, somewhat chaotic Kathmandu. Not so much has changed since I visited here last…a few roads are wider, but not too much on the progress front to report. I’ve been really busy with research tasks, errands and team activities, but things are running quite smoothly. I’m not jetlagged, staying healthy, and I have my fingers crossed to fly to Lukla in the morning.
I woke up to this on my second day of flights…foothills of the Hindu Kush, Afghanistan.
A lama blesses my journey
Markus, our research project leader, taking field notes during a busride
TripleED research team at Boudhanath. L to R: Andrew, Susannah, Markus, Jacob, Hari
Preparing for a cremation along the Bagmati River
Sadhus at Pashupatinath, one of the most important temples of Shiva in Hinduism
Sitting here at the airport in Singapore, in transit for Kathmandu. Earlier I had reports from the initial team (Andrew, Jacob and Susannah) that they made it and are getting settled in. The only problem is that only one out of seven duffels made it with the flight. Well, eventually they should get there and our research tools were anyway in the carry on. Hopefully I am luckier though.
So far the trip have been going alright. No big problems. I met the first mountaineer here in front of the gate. I nice guy from Perth, Australia that has set his goal to go to camp 4 on Everest as a preparation for a “real” summit attempt. Had a interesting conversation with him, what strikes me is that he could not say why he is climbing Everest, and that when he have done so he will go for easier and lower climbs in Europe.
Hey, I’m Hari, the climbing researcher for the TripleED Everest expedition. I’ll be shadowing a commercial Everest team and conducting interviews, recording conversations, and much more from the upper mountain. If all goes well, I’ll make an attempt on Lhotse, Everest’s slightly shorter neighbor, without supplemental oxygen. Here’s what it looks like to get dressed for summit day…
In 1 hour, TripleED researchers Andrew, Jacob, and Susannah will board their flights headed west across the Pacific. Markus and Hari will follow in a couple days, and the entire team will meet in Kathmandu, the capital of Nepal.
In the last couple days the team has been madly preparing for departure, double-checking gear and making sure everything can fit in our expedition duffels. Check out this timelapse video of Andrew and Jacob’s packing process!
PRESS RELEASE: MARCH 20, 2013. STANFORD, CALIFORNIA
Researchers go to Mount Everest to study decision-making
On March 25th, researchers from Extreme Environments – Everyday Decisions (Triple ED), a project based at the Umeå School of Business and Economics in Sweden, will depart from Stanford University on an American Alpine Club endorsed research expedition into the Himalayas to track the mountaineers attempting to summit the highest mountains in the world: Mount Everest (29,029 ft). TripleED will study how clients, guides, organizers, and local staff work together to ascend to the summit as safely as possible. The purpose is to document the decisions that determine the paths of these expeditions.
TripleED project leader Markus Hällgren, PhD., is an Associate Professor at the Umeå School of Business and Economics in Sweden, and a visiting researcher in the Department of Sociology at Stanford University. “Over the past two decades, climbing the world’s highest mountain has become more and more commercialized. Each season you can read in the media how climbers get killed or left to their fate. Unlike media attention, and most of the research, we will not focus on the accidents, but on how everyday life is organized and how decisions are made,” says Dr. Hällgren.
The research team will be trekking through Nepal to the South Base Camp of Mount Everest, where Hällgren and Andrew Peterman, (Stanford University), and Virpi Turkulainen (Aalto University in Finland) will observe the initial phase of operations of climbing expeditions in April. Researchers Jacob Gomez and Susannah Poland (both graduates of Stanford University) will remain at base camp until early June to continue conducting participant observation and ethnographic interviews with expedition team members. Hari Mix, (Stanford University) doctoral student in the Department of Environmental Earth System Science, will collect similar data from the upper parts of Mount Everest and its neighbor, Lhotse.
The data from this unprecedented research will be used by TripleED to develop theories about how teamwork, decision-making and leadership in temporary organizations function under dangerous and volatile conditions. “Hazardous environments are ideal to get an understanding of how groups and individuals make decisions and organize themselves. Making the wrong decision during an expedition may eventually lead to someone’s injury or even death,” says Markus Hällgren.“In a dangerous environment, decisions and options must therefore be considered carefully. In this consideration process, everyday worries are reduced and behaviors reinforced. Based on this, we can for example understand behavior concerning time and goals in common projects in a different, clearer way.”
To learn more about this project or follow its progress, please visit https://tripleed.com/everest/ or email Markus Hällgren at markus.hallgren@usbe.umu.se .
Press contact: Markus Hällgren, 650-451-8602 (cell), markus.hallgren@usbe.umu.se
Researchers meet at Stanford University (From left to right: Markus, Susannah, Jacob, and Hari)
With less than one week until our departure for Kathmandu, the TripleED research team is busy with expedition preparations!
At our base of operations at Stanford University, Markus, the project manager, and researchers Hari, Andrew, Jacob, and Susannah, are readying themselves for the challenging endeavor ahead. Virpi, a fellow researcher in Finland, is likewise preparing to join the group in Nepal.
Markus Hällgren, EEED project manager
Markus is finalizing arrangements with our Nepali expedition company, Rolwaling Excusion, and overseeing the preparation of research materials and equipment. Markus is also assembling personal gear to climb Lobuche East (6,145 meters, or 20,161 ft) en route to Everest’s South Base Camp. He will trek to Base Camp, oversee the initial month of ethnographic research, then return to Stanford University to process data from the “home base”.
Andrew is overseeing the design of research methodology, and making final adjustments to interview protocols. He is helping to conduct Skype interviews with experienced mountaineers around the world, to build contextual data and for the case study on Everest. Like Markus, he is also preparing gear to climb Lobuche East en route to Base Camp, and will return to Stanford University after one month.
Jacob Gomez, base camp researcher
Jacob will be staying at Everest’s Base Camp for the duration of the climbing season, through early June. He will climb Lobuche East en route to Base Camp, then in addition to conducting ethnographic interviews and participant observation, he will managing the research equipment and data storage. In the last few weeks, Jacob has also been conducting interviews with mountaineers to build contextual data.
Hari Mix, climber and researcher
Hari, a researcher and climber, is preparing for his ascent of Lhotse – 27,940 ft, the fourth-highest peak in the world – which he will attempt without the aid of supplemental oxygen. On the mountain, Hari will be documenting his ascent with a Contour video camera attached to the top of his helmet, and will keep an audio diary.
With his extensive experience in high-altitude mountaineering, Hari has been helping Markus, Andrew, and Jacob prepare to climb Lobuche East. Last week, they practiced climbing and belay techniques they will use on the ascent.
Jacob, Hari, and Markus practice climbing at Castle Rock, Santa Cruz Mountains
Susannah, a researcher, will be staying at Everest’s Base Camp for the duration of the climbing season with Jacob. She has been helping to design the ethnographic interview protocols, and has been interviewing mountaineers for contextual data with Jacob and Andrew. At Base Camp, she will conduct interviews and participant observation, and monitor radio communications from expeditions teams further up the mountain.
Virpi, a researcher in Aalto University in Finland, is preparing to join the team in Katmandu! She has been helping to prepare interview protocols, and will conduct interviews and participant observation with the team for the first month of fieldwork, like Markus and Andrew.
The entire team is eager to begin this adventure together, and we can’t wait to start seeing the results of this unprecedented study. We will keep you updated as prepare for takeoff!
Markus, Hari, Andrew, Susannah, and Jacob meet over dinner in Palo Alto, California
TripleED is now officially endorsed by the American Alpine Club. AAC is based in North America and is a “charitable organization that provides knowledge and inspiration, conservation and advocacy, and logistical support for the climbing community.” In practice AAC are one of the largest climbing communities in the world and advocates of responsible climbing. They also provide funding for the conservation of the environment and other altitude related research. Through the endorsement TripleED have great access to a large network and an amazing channel for distribution of scientific results. Naturally TripleED is excited about the endorsement and the upcoming collaboration! http://americanalpineclub.org
150313 The other day we started our study of everyday activities at the Emergency room at Stanford University Hospital. Excited to see what will come out of this amazingly interesting and dynamic environment!
111212 Markus Hällgren and Mattias Jacobsson presented their paper “Commodification in a risky business” at the Society for Risk Analysis (SRA) annual conference. The presentation investigated how Mount Everest have been commodified and how this contribute to potentially highly dangerous tightly coupled complex endeavour. Elmar Kutsch also presented his poster that dealt with organizational attention, an argument based on what happened on K2 in 2008 and Germany´s attack on France during WWII.
