{"id":20526,"date":"2025-05-19T14:30:01","date_gmt":"2025-05-19T14:30:01","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.bergundsteigen.com\/?post_type=artikel&#038;p=20526"},"modified":"2025-12-15T07:27:08","modified_gmt":"2025-12-15T07:27:08","slug":"guiding-and-risk-management-we-really-need-to-do-better","status":"publish","type":"artikel","link":"https:\/\/www.bergundsteigen.com\/en\/artikel\/guiding-and-risk-management-we-really-need-to-do-better\/","title":{"rendered":"Guiding and risk management: We really need to do better"},"content":{"rendered":"\n<p><em>Dear colleagues,<\/em><\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>This is not going to be a nice article about our beloved playground. The point of my argument is that <strong>we as mountain professionals are simply not good enough<\/strong> when it comes to risk management. There are many ways in which we can improve. And must improve. We need to try harder. When it comes to accidents in the mountains involving trained guides, the numbers are horrendous. To quote an article from 2023 written by avalanche consultant Mike Austin:<\/p>\n\n\n\n<blockquote class=\"wp-block-quote is-layout-flow wp-block-quote-is-layout-flow\">\n<p>Between 1995 and 2018, a total of 121 French guides died in mountain incidents.<\/p>\n<\/blockquote>\n\n\n\n<p>&#8220;To give context, expressed as a percentage this is almost identical to that of US soldiers serving in the <strong>Vietnam War<\/strong> <em>(see comments section \/ footnotes on stats)<\/em>. If we examine <strong>the avalanche incident rate<\/strong> of mountain professionals more closely, we begin to understand the scale of the issue. As early as 2002, a meeting of the <a href=\"https:\/\/ifmga.net\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noreferrer noopener\">International Federation of Mountain Guides (IFMGA)<\/a> indicated that more people died when travelling with a mountain guide than without one. In Switzerland over a five-year period, 18 % of avalanche victims were traveling with a guide at the time of their accident. This figure has remained steady over a 20-year period. In France over a 20-year period, 14 % of avalanche deaths occurred despite the presence of a mountain professional in the group. In North America, figures are similar. Canada\u2019s rate exceeds 21 %.&#8221;<\/p>\n\n\n\n<figure class=\"wp-block-image size-full is-resized\"><img loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" width=\"795\" height=\"573\" src=\"https:\/\/assets.bergundsteigen.com\/2024\/12\/bergundsteigen-lawinenlagebericht_teil2_lawinengroese3_lawinen.report.jpg\" alt=\"Lawinengr\u00f6\u00dfe 3. Quelle: Lawinen.report\" class=\"wp-image-13963\" style=\"width:710px;height:auto\" srcset=\"https:\/\/assets.bergundsteigen.com\/2024\/12\/bergundsteigen-lawinenlagebericht_teil2_lawinengroese3_lawinen.report.jpg 795w, https:\/\/assets.bergundsteigen.com\/2024\/12\/bergundsteigen-lawinenlagebericht_teil2_lawinengroese3_lawinen.report-300x216.jpg 300w, https:\/\/assets.bergundsteigen.com\/2024\/12\/bergundsteigen-lawinenlagebericht_teil2_lawinengroese3_lawinen.report-768x554.jpg 768w, https:\/\/assets.bergundsteigen.com\/2024\/12\/bergundsteigen-lawinenlagebericht_teil2_lawinengroese3_lawinen.report-280x202.jpg 280w, https:\/\/assets.bergundsteigen.com\/2024\/12\/bergundsteigen-lawinenlagebericht_teil2_lawinengroese3_lawinen.report-400x288.jpg 400w, https:\/\/assets.bergundsteigen.com\/2024\/12\/bergundsteigen-lawinenlagebericht_teil2_lawinengroese3_lawinen.report-600x432.jpg 600w, https:\/\/assets.bergundsteigen.com\/2024\/12\/bergundsteigen-lawinenlagebericht_teil2_lawinengroese3_lawinen.report-700x505.jpg 700w\" sizes=\"auto, (max-width: 795px) 100vw, 795px\" \/><figcaption class=\"wp-element-caption\">More people died when traveling with a mountain guide than without one. Quelle: Lawinen.report<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n\n\n\n<p>Why am I writing this uncomfortable article? Well, because I have to. As a mountaineer who has lost many friends, as a mountain professional, as a risk manager for high hazard companies and as the mother of a teenage daughter who is starting to develop her own love for mountaineering, I think these statistics are unacceptable. As a human being with a moral imperative to care about human life, I think we need to prioritize bringing this statistic down. <\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>Society\u2019s opinions about mountain sports, and especially accidents (including the social and economic costs thereof), is rapidly changing. If we do nothing to improve these death rates in the near future, it is a certainty that our mountain sports will become far more restricted by external regulators. And this seems to me an undesirable outcome \u2013 but the regulatory squeeze is already being felt:<\/p>\n\n\n\n<div class=\"wp-block-group is-style-highlight-box-orange\"><div class=\"wp-block-group__inner-container is-layout-constrained wp-block-group-is-layout-constrained\">\n<ul class=\"wp-block-list\">\n<li>We have the example of Italy, where it is <strong>forbidden<\/strong> by law for mountain guides to go out with avalanche risk 4 or 5.<\/li>\n\n\n\n<li>Due to many incidents and rescues, mayors around the Mont Blanc massif simply <strong>close the mountains <\/strong>when conditions are precarious. As a result, we mountain professionals risk losing terrain suitable for guiding.<\/li>\n\n\n\n<li>In winter 2015, the prefect of the Hautes Alpes <strong>threatened to close the mountains<\/strong> after the death of 15 people by avalanches in only 23 days. <br>(<em>On a personal note, one of those victims was my climbing partner, an accomplished mountaineer, one of New Zealand\u2019s strongest rock climbers in her day and the mother of a lovely teenage daughter.<\/em>)<\/li>\n\n\n\n<li>Also in winter 2015, the French guides association<strong> urged all its members to stay on slopes of less than 30 degrees <\/strong>when skiing, no matter what \u2026<\/li>\n<\/ul>\n<\/div><\/div>\n\n\n\n<p>And if we are still unconvinced, my final argument for why we should become better risk managers is, of course, <strong>climate change<\/strong>. As mountain professionals, we witness the forefront of the effects. <strong>Global warming<\/strong> makes the already uncertain mountain environment even more unpredictable. Recent winters have delivered several examples of avalanche situations that differed drastically from those originally predicted. We have to learn to deal with this better and faster. It is inconvenient when the weather or avalanche forecast does not match reality, but it cannot be an excuse for us making a decision that will lead to a fatality.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<h2 class=\"wp-block-heading\">How could we do better?<\/h2>\n\n\n\n<h3 class=\"wp-block-heading\">Widen our margins with a focus on consequences <\/h3>\n\n\n\n<p>So why do our clients hire us? Because we give them a great time. We know the best spots, bring them to the best viewpoints, break trail, coach them when they are afraid, listen to their stories, tell interesting stories ourselves. Yes, we have an extraordinary job. But in the eyes of most of our clients, the main reason they pay us is because we can keep them in one piece. For a client, any accident, let alone a fatal one, is an unacceptable outcome. But facts do notreflect this. Quite a distressing number of people who entrust their lives to the hands of a mountain professional still lose their lives. Especially in avalanche terrain. And, for some strange reason, we have become used to it. The key words when working with clients ought to be humility, installing large margins with a focus on consequences, creating options, and a decision-making process which is transparent and can be reproduced. <\/p>\n\n\n\n<blockquote class=\"wp-block-quote is-layout-flow wp-block-quote-is-layout-flow\">\n<p>Why do they hire us? Because we provide the best spots, lots of adventure stories \u2014 and to keep them safe.<\/p>\n<\/blockquote>\n\n\n\n<p>In other words, we should focus our decision making in avalanche terrain much more on consequences, not on probability. Being a successful mountain professional is about creating a great week for our clients, <strong>staying away from high consequence situations<\/strong>, even when the avalanche and weather conditions are extremely poor. And this is quite different from trying to figure out what is the coolest run we can do with a risk 3 at hand. <\/p>\n\n\n\n<div class=\"wp-block-group is-style-highlight-box-orange\"><div class=\"wp-block-group__inner-container is-layout-constrained wp-block-group-is-layout-constrained\">\n<p>Or to put it more simply, in the words of avalanche forecaster Karl Klassen: <br>\u201c<em>Assume you are wrong until proven otherwise.<\/em>&#8220;<br><em>&#8220;Learn to enjoy skiing on simple, moderate terrain.<\/em>&#8220;<\/p>\n<\/div><\/div>\n\n\n\n<h3 class=\"wp-block-heading\">Design protocols and best practices for good decision making in uncertain environments<\/h3>\n\n\n\n<p>If we are honest, most of the time it is not the famous \u201c<em>Restrisiko<\/em>\u201d (residual risk) that kills us and our clients. It is making suboptimal decisions somewhere in our planning or execution. Suboptimal, because there was too much (time) pressure, we held too many assumptions, too much tunnel vision, too much ego, we consulted too little with colleagues, etc., etc \u2026 Or maybe we were simply too tired or too distracted. <\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>Thanks to the research of Amos Tversky and Daniel Kahneman, which informed Ian McCammon\u2019s well-known \u201c<strong><em>FACETS<\/em><\/strong>\u201d approach, we are already acquainted with heuristic traps. But although we now seem to acknowledge them much better than we used to, we have not yet really established enough practices on how to deal with them once they have been identified. The 5-step decision protocol (see article in <a href=\"https:\/\/www.bergundsteigen.com\/ausgabe\/113\/\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noreferrer noopener\">bergundsteigen #113<\/a>) can be useful. Furthermore, Annie Duke in her book \u2018<a href=\"https:\/\/www.annieduke.com\/site\/uploads\/howToDecide_excerpt.pdf\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noreferrer noopener\">How to decide<\/a>\u2019 gives us many tips for better decision making in high uncertainty environments.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>If we as professionals can clarify what makes a decision \u201c<strong>good<\/strong>\u201d, and what makes it <strong>less good<\/strong>, we will also be able to rationalizes and defend our decisions better, if necessary. It does not make sense that we have standards for which methods and which gear to use, but, unlike other high-risk industries (e. g. aviation), we do not yet have standards for good decision making in high pressure, high uncertainty situations.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<figure class=\"wp-block-image size-large is-resized\"><img loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" width=\"1235\" height=\"954\" src=\"https:\/\/assets.bergundsteigen.com\/2023\/10\/bergundsteigen-124_verhauer_aufmacher_archiv-dav1a-e1747664778188.jpg\" alt=\"\" class=\"wp-image-18675\" style=\"aspect-ratio:1;width:492px;height:auto\" srcset=\"https:\/\/assets.bergundsteigen.com\/2023\/10\/bergundsteigen-124_verhauer_aufmacher_archiv-dav1a-e1747664778188.jpg 1235w, https:\/\/assets.bergundsteigen.com\/2023\/10\/bergundsteigen-124_verhauer_aufmacher_archiv-dav1a-e1747664778188-300x232.jpg 300w, https:\/\/assets.bergundsteigen.com\/2023\/10\/bergundsteigen-124_verhauer_aufmacher_archiv-dav1a-e1747664778188-1024x791.jpg 1024w, https:\/\/assets.bergundsteigen.com\/2023\/10\/bergundsteigen-124_verhauer_aufmacher_archiv-dav1a-e1747664778188-768x593.jpg 768w, https:\/\/assets.bergundsteigen.com\/2023\/10\/bergundsteigen-124_verhauer_aufmacher_archiv-dav1a-e1747664778188-280x216.jpg 280w, https:\/\/assets.bergundsteigen.com\/2023\/10\/bergundsteigen-124_verhauer_aufmacher_archiv-dav1a-e1747664778188-400x309.jpg 400w, https:\/\/assets.bergundsteigen.com\/2023\/10\/bergundsteigen-124_verhauer_aufmacher_archiv-dav1a-e1747664778188-600x463.jpg 600w, https:\/\/assets.bergundsteigen.com\/2023\/10\/bergundsteigen-124_verhauer_aufmacher_archiv-dav1a-e1747664778188-700x541.jpg 700w\" sizes=\"auto, (max-width: 1235px) 100vw, 1235px\" \/><figcaption class=\"wp-element-caption\">Lots of accidents happen in the back garden. Foto: archive DAV<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n\n\n\n<h3 class=\"wp-block-heading\">More focus on distraction management<\/h3>\n\n\n\n<p>Several bergundsteigen authors have tried to learn from a tragic rappelling accident in 2023. Many sensible things have been said I find it interesting that the obvious seems not to have been stated: a lack of concentration in combination with a distraction might have been the root cause of this tragic accident. Just before falling to his death, the climber was speaking to another climber, whom he knew and who was rappelling next to him. They were conversing at the very moment when the victim arrived at the belay and had to secure himself with his belay sling. <\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>Of course, we will never know with certainty if a distracted mind was at the root of his tragedy. But how many people, including world class climbers, have had<strong> severe accidents \u201cin their back garden<\/strong>\u201d because of a <strong>lack of concentration in combination with distractions<\/strong>? Alex Honnold almost died because he forgot to tie a knot at the end of his rope when climbing with his girlfriend and her family. Lynn Hill miraculously survived a 30-metre fall after she forgot to finish her knot. She herself pinpointed a distraction as the root cause: somebody started talking to her while she was tying her knot. We know that because of how the brain works, driving and texting do not go together. <\/p>\n\n\n\n<blockquote class=\"wp-block-quote is-layout-flow wp-block-quote-is-layout-flow\">\n<p>Honnold almost died because he forgot to tie a knot at the end of his rope. <\/p>\n<\/blockquote>\n\n\n\n<p>Why do we let ourselves be similarly distracted during crucial rope manoeuvres on which our lives (or the lives of others) depend? In the high hazard industry, managing distractions is becoming an important element of workplace safety. And we all know that our risk management is only optimal when we are sufficiently fit, focused and alert. In our protocols, however, we do not pay systematic attention to these \u201cfit, focused and alert\u201d aspects. We would sooner focus on tying an even better knot or doing another partner check than concretely addressing the fact that we are not fully mentally present or are in a state of fatigue.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<h3 class=\"wp-block-heading\">Manage&nbsp;internal&nbsp;distractions<\/h3>\n\n\n\n<p>Distractions&nbsp;do&nbsp;not&nbsp;only&nbsp;come&nbsp;from&nbsp;the&nbsp;outside&nbsp;world.&nbsp;Our&nbsp;own&nbsp;thoughts,&nbsp;fitness&nbsp;and&nbsp;hormones&nbsp;are&nbsp;also playing&nbsp;a&nbsp;huge&nbsp;role&nbsp;when&nbsp;it&nbsp;comes&nbsp;to&nbsp;absentmindedness&nbsp;or&nbsp;flawed&nbsp;focus.&nbsp;Someone&nbsp;who&nbsp;is&nbsp;dealing&nbsp;with&nbsp;a diverse&nbsp;palette&nbsp;of&nbsp;risks&nbsp;and&nbsp;uncertainties&nbsp;should&nbsp;be&nbsp;mindful&nbsp;of&nbsp;this,&nbsp;and&nbsp;ideally&nbsp;should&nbsp;know&nbsp;when&nbsp;and how&nbsp;to&nbsp;manage&nbsp;her&nbsp;or&nbsp;his&nbsp;inner&nbsp;distractors.&nbsp;We&nbsp;have&nbsp;a&nbsp;lot&nbsp;to&nbsp;gain&nbsp;here.&nbsp;<\/p>\n\n\n\n<h3 class=\"wp-block-heading\">More&nbsp;international&nbsp;exchange&nbsp;of&nbsp;best (technical)&nbsp;practices<\/h3>\n\n\n\n<p>Although&nbsp;I&nbsp;have&nbsp;lived&nbsp;in&nbsp;the&nbsp;French&nbsp;Alps&nbsp;for&nbsp;a&nbsp;long&nbsp;time,&nbsp;I&nbsp;first&nbsp;had&nbsp;to&nbsp;experience&nbsp;a&nbsp;very&nbsp;critical&nbsp;abseil situation&nbsp;before I&nbsp;changed&nbsp;from&nbsp;the&nbsp;good&nbsp;old&nbsp;<a href=\"https:\/\/www.bergundsteigen.com\/artikel\/klemmknoten-fb-kreuzklemmknoten-vs-prusik\/\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noreferrer noopener\"><strong>Prusik&nbsp;Brems&nbsp;Knot<\/strong>&nbsp;to&nbsp;the&nbsp;<strong>French&nbsp;Machard<\/strong>.<\/a>&nbsp;While rappelling&nbsp;from&nbsp;Repentance&nbsp;in&nbsp;the&nbsp;Cogne&nbsp;valley&nbsp;some&nbsp;eight&nbsp;years&nbsp;ago,&nbsp;my&nbsp;rope&nbsp;became&nbsp;stuck&nbsp;behind some&nbsp;ice&nbsp;structure.&nbsp;Water&nbsp;was&nbsp;spraying&nbsp;everywhere,&nbsp;and&nbsp;it&nbsp;was&nbsp;not&nbsp;long&nbsp;before&nbsp;I&nbsp;was&nbsp;soaked&nbsp;to&nbsp;the&nbsp;bone.&nbsp;My&nbsp;rope&nbsp;was&nbsp;as&nbsp;drenched&nbsp;as&nbsp;me&nbsp;and&nbsp;there&nbsp;was&nbsp;no&nbsp;way&nbsp;that&nbsp;I&nbsp;could&nbsp;get&nbsp;my&nbsp;prusik&nbsp;going&nbsp;again.&nbsp;If&nbsp;I&nbsp;had&nbsp;not&nbsp;managed&nbsp;to&nbsp;get&nbsp;an&nbsp;ice&nbsp;screw&nbsp;in,&nbsp;it&nbsp;would&nbsp;have&nbsp;been&nbsp;a&nbsp;very&nbsp;sad&nbsp;ending&nbsp;to&nbsp;an&nbsp;intense&nbsp;morning.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>Later,&nbsp;a&nbsp;French&nbsp;guide&nbsp;and&nbsp;friend&nbsp;Arnaud&nbsp;Guillaume&nbsp;who&nbsp;works&nbsp;for<a href=\"https:\/\/www.ensm.sports.gouv.fr\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noreferrer noopener\">&nbsp;ENSA<\/a>&nbsp;told&nbsp;me&nbsp;that&nbsp;their&nbsp;research showed&nbsp;that&nbsp;the&nbsp;Machard&nbsp;is&nbsp;the&nbsp;only&nbsp;friction&nbsp;hitch&nbsp;which&nbsp;functions&nbsp;in&nbsp;any&nbsp;circumstance.&nbsp;I&nbsp;was&nbsp;therefore&nbsp;glad&nbsp;to&nbsp;see&nbsp;that&nbsp;in&nbsp;bergundsteigen,&nbsp;the&nbsp;industry&nbsp;preference&nbsp;for&nbsp;the&nbsp;Machard&nbsp;friction&nbsp;hitch&nbsp;had&nbsp;also&nbsp;landed,&nbsp;but&nbsp;I&nbsp;wonder&nbsp;why&nbsp;it&nbsp;took&nbsp;so&nbsp;many&nbsp;years&nbsp;after&nbsp;the&nbsp;French&nbsp;research&nbsp;results&nbsp;were&nbsp;published.&nbsp;The&nbsp;European&nbsp;adoption&nbsp;of&nbsp;the&nbsp;Scottish&nbsp;Bothy&nbsp;Bag&nbsp;has&nbsp;a&nbsp;similar&nbsp;story.&nbsp;I&nbsp;discovered&nbsp;this&nbsp;magic&nbsp;tent&nbsp;some&nbsp;ten&nbsp;years&nbsp;ago&nbsp;during&nbsp;a&nbsp;wilderness&nbsp;winter&nbsp;first&nbsp;aid&nbsp;training&nbsp;course&nbsp;in&nbsp;the&nbsp;Swiss&nbsp;Alps&nbsp;with&nbsp;a&nbsp;Scottish&nbsp;mountain&nbsp;guide.&nbsp;I&nbsp;am&nbsp;very&nbsp;scared&nbsp;of&nbsp;the&nbsp;combination&nbsp;of&nbsp;wind&nbsp;and&nbsp;cold&nbsp;and&nbsp;since&nbsp;this&nbsp;training&nbsp;I&nbsp;always&nbsp;have&nbsp;two&nbsp;bothies&nbsp;with&nbsp;me&nbsp;on&nbsp;my&nbsp;winter&nbsp;weeks&nbsp;with&nbsp;clients (for&nbsp;the&nbsp;record:&nbsp;the&nbsp;clients&nbsp;carry&nbsp;the bothies).&nbsp;And&nbsp;as&nbsp;a&nbsp;trainer&nbsp;of \u201cAspirants\u201d,&nbsp;I&nbsp;recommend&nbsp;that&nbsp;they&nbsp;always&nbsp;have&nbsp;this&nbsp;item&nbsp;as&nbsp;a&nbsp;life&nbsp;saver.&nbsp;Again,&nbsp;I&nbsp;was&nbsp;very&nbsp;glad&nbsp;to&nbsp;see&nbsp;<a href=\"https:\/\/www.bergundsteigen.com\/artikel\/biwaksaecke-fuer-jeden-einsatz\/\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noreferrer noopener\">bergundsteigen&nbsp;supporting&nbsp;these&nbsp;emergency&nbsp;shelters<\/a> \u2026&nbsp;but&nbsp;also&nbsp;a&nbsp;little&nbsp;sad,&nbsp;because&nbsp;it&nbsp;took&nbsp;two&nbsp;huge&nbsp;accidents&nbsp;on&nbsp;the&nbsp;Haute&nbsp;Route&nbsp;to&nbsp;make&nbsp;the&nbsp;bothy&nbsp;bag&nbsp;recommended&nbsp;standard&nbsp;kit&nbsp;for&nbsp;winter&nbsp;traverses.&nbsp;<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>Given\u00a0the\u00a0above\u00a0track\u00a0record,\u00a0I\u00a0wonder\u00a0how\u00a0many\u00a0abseil\u00a0incidents\u00a0it\u00a0will\u00a0take\u00a0until\u00a0dynamic\u00a0lanyard\u00a0systems (Petzl\u00a0Connect\u00a0Adjust\u00a0and\u00a0comparable\u00a0systems)\u00a0will\u00a0become\u00a0the\u00a0gold\u00a0standard\u00a0in\u00a0all\u00a0Alpine\u00a0countries.\u00a0Of\u00a0course,\u00a0these\u00a0are\u00a0only\u00a0random\u00a0examples.\u00a0My\u00a0point\u00a0is:\u00a0we\u00a0should\u00a0work\u00a0on\u00a0a\u00a0more\u00a0open\u00a0international\u00a0exchange\u00a0of\u00a0best\u00a0practices\u00a0and\u00a0research\u00a0results.\u00a0<\/p>\n\n\n\n<h3 class=\"wp-block-heading\">Involve&nbsp;clients&nbsp;in&nbsp;risk&nbsp;management&nbsp;and&nbsp;decision&nbsp;making<\/h3>\n\n\n\n<p>For&nbsp;some&nbsp;of&nbsp;us&nbsp;it&nbsp;might&nbsp;be&nbsp;a&nbsp;strange&nbsp;idea,&nbsp;but&nbsp;our&nbsp;clients&nbsp;can&nbsp;be&nbsp;a&nbsp;useful&nbsp;resource&nbsp;when&nbsp;it&nbsp;comes&nbsp;to&nbsp;risk&nbsp;management.&nbsp;Not&nbsp;only&nbsp;because&nbsp;we&nbsp;have&nbsp;trained&nbsp;them&nbsp;in&nbsp;basic&nbsp;skills&nbsp;such&nbsp;as&nbsp;avalanche&nbsp;rescue,&nbsp;but&nbsp;also&nbsp;<strong>because&nbsp;they&nbsp;have&nbsp;brains<\/strong>.&nbsp;Inviting&nbsp;them&nbsp;to&nbsp;use&nbsp;these&nbsp;brains&nbsp;before,&nbsp;during&nbsp;and&nbsp;after&nbsp;a&nbsp;tour&nbsp;makes&nbsp;us&nbsp;as&nbsp;a&nbsp;team&nbsp;less&nbsp;vulnerable&nbsp;to&nbsp;mistakes&nbsp;in&nbsp;our&nbsp;decision&nbsp;making.&nbsp;By&nbsp;involving&nbsp;more&nbsp;eyes&nbsp;and&nbsp;ears&nbsp;in&nbsp;our&nbsp;observation&nbsp;and&nbsp;analysis,&nbsp;we&nbsp;are&nbsp;able&nbsp;to&nbsp;gather&nbsp;more&nbsp;information&nbsp;about&nbsp;our&nbsp;environment&nbsp;and&nbsp;circumstances.&nbsp;<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>I\u00a0know,\u00a0for\u00a0example,\u00a0a\u00a0guide\u00a0in\u00a0La\u00a0Grave \u2013\u00a0Paulo\u00a0Grobel \u2013\u00a0who\u00a0already\u00a0includes\u00a0his\u00a0clients\u00a0systematically\u00a0in\u00a0his\u00a0risk\u00a0management.\u00a0Every\u00a0day,\u00a0no\u00a0matter\u00a0if\u00a0it\u2019s\u00a0a\u00a0distant 7000\u00a0m\u00a0peak\u00a0in\u00a0Nepal\u00a0or \u201cjust\u00a0a\u00a0tour\u00a0in\u00a0the\u00a0backyard\u00a0with\u00a0a\u00a0colleague\u00a0or\u00a0friend\u201d \u2013\u00a0he\u00a0starts\u00a0with\u00a0<strong>team-wise\u00a0mapping<\/strong>\u00a0<strong>out<\/strong> (visually\u00a0on\u00a0a\u00a0piece\u00a0of\u00a0paper)\u00a0the\u00a0route\u00a0options,\u00a0risks\u00a0and\u00a0countermeasures\u00a0to\u00a0take.\u00a0We\u00a0can\u00a0definitely\u00a0learn\u00a0a\u00a0lot\u00a0from\u00a0these\u00a0kinds\u00a0of\u00a0practices.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<h3 class=\"wp-block-heading\">Just culture and intervision: Let him, who is without sin, cast the first stone?<\/h3>\n\n\n\n<p>Often, in the aftermath of an accident in the mountains, we hear hasty attempts at non-judgemental compassion from the guiding community, such as: \u201cIt could have happened to me as well.\u201d Or that \u201cthe guides took all possible safety measures\u201d. I saw this same phenomenon when I was working as a police officer. The very fact that \u201cthe outside world\u201d is <strong>constantly judging us<\/strong>, makes us feel the need to protect each other, and close ranks. Of course it is right not to judge one another without knowing the exact circumstances. And yes, I would really appreciate the support of my colleagues after a fatal accident, because I can imagine how devastating a situation like that must be, not only for the people left behind, but also for the guide. But on the other hand, I believe that sometimes the \u201c<em><strong>we do not judge each other<\/strong><\/em>\u201d mantra is <strong>not conducive to learning<\/strong>. Guiding is a very isolating and sometimes lonely business.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<figure class=\"wp-block-image size-large\"><img loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" width=\"1024\" height=\"680\" src=\"https:\/\/assets.bergundsteigen.com\/2023\/03\/bergundsteigen-122_proundcontra_untergrund-1024x680.jpg\" alt=\"\" class=\"wp-image-17943\" srcset=\"https:\/\/assets.bergundsteigen.com\/2023\/03\/bergundsteigen-122_proundcontra_untergrund-1024x680.jpg 1024w, https:\/\/assets.bergundsteigen.com\/2023\/03\/bergundsteigen-122_proundcontra_untergrund-300x199.jpg 300w, https:\/\/assets.bergundsteigen.com\/2023\/03\/bergundsteigen-122_proundcontra_untergrund-768x510.jpg 768w, https:\/\/assets.bergundsteigen.com\/2023\/03\/bergundsteigen-122_proundcontra_untergrund-1536x1020.jpg 1536w, https:\/\/assets.bergundsteigen.com\/2023\/03\/bergundsteigen-122_proundcontra_untergrund-2048x1361.jpg 2048w, https:\/\/assets.bergundsteigen.com\/2023\/03\/bergundsteigen-122_proundcontra_untergrund-280x186.jpg 280w, https:\/\/assets.bergundsteigen.com\/2023\/03\/bergundsteigen-122_proundcontra_untergrund-400x266.jpg 400w, https:\/\/assets.bergundsteigen.com\/2023\/03\/bergundsteigen-122_proundcontra_untergrund-1400x930.jpg 1400w, https:\/\/assets.bergundsteigen.com\/2023\/03\/bergundsteigen-122_proundcontra_untergrund-600x399.jpg 600w, https:\/\/assets.bergundsteigen.com\/2023\/03\/bergundsteigen-122_proundcontra_untergrund-700x465.jpg 700w\" sizes=\"auto, (max-width: 1024px) 100vw, 1024px\" \/><figcaption class=\"wp-element-caption\">Gudiing: A lonely business and unwillingly linked to not learning? Foto: bergundsteigen archive<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n\n\n\n<p><br>The nature of the business begs for systematic guides intervision: a \u201cJust Culture\u201d, in which the right questions can be asked and different viewpoints and new perspectives for action can be exchanged. In my experience, intervision provides us with opportunities of indepth introspection and learning. Everybody who has been a guide in the mountains for some time has these stories at hand. In my experience, sharing these stories with colleagues in order to learn is crucial. But unfortunately, in guide training we still often focus on the newest avalanche search method, pulley system or jurisprudence, refraining from sharing with each other the real problems that keep us awake at night, or the times we felt ashamed because it was sheer luck rather than good guiding that kept us alive.I was very happy with recent issues of bergundsteigen, in which people wrote honestly and bravely about sometimes painful<br>nearmiss stories from their guiding experience, focussing on learning. I think this is a great step forward.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<h3 class=\"wp-block-heading\">Good measuring is important<\/h3>\n\n\n\n<p>I have hesitated a long time about incorporating the need for more meaningful measuring into this list. In companies I have worked for I have seen great things happening because of clear health and safety goal setting. But in the dungeons of all this measuring I have also witnessed very questionable practices. Managers driving an injured colleague to the hospital in their personal car and insisting on him coming back to work the next day (\u201cI know that you are a welder, but you can still sit behind a desk!\u201d), in order to avoid an official hospitalisation and sick leave in the records. Or what to think about a member of an executive committee going to lengths in order to have his accidents statistics tweaked so that he would not lose his number one position in the industry listing. Or even people being happy that it was \u201conly a subcontractor\u201d that ended up severely injured in hospital (\u201cnot on my statistics\u201d).<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>But last Saturday I was at a festive evening with home-made food and some jazzy live music. I came there equipped with wheelchair and crutches after a recent operation. At a certain moment five guide friends stood around me and we were exchanging typical 50+ guide\u2019s experiences: a couple of years ago, Yvan had had his <strong>two knees replaced<\/strong> at the same time in order to be able to go to Greenland four months later. Marco had experienced a difficult ski season because of his <strong>not-so-well-placed hip prosthesis<\/strong>. Eric had to go to Grenoble the following week to have his <strong>ankle arthritis treated <\/strong>(the same as me!). And Christophe (still climbing French 8th grade routes) confessed he <strong>would need a new hip<\/strong>, but he was trying to postpone it as long as possible.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<blockquote class=\"wp-block-quote is-layout-flow wp-block-quote-is-layout-flow\">\n<p>Rather than recruiting the best climbers, they recruited people with the right personality.<\/p>\n<\/blockquote>\n\n\n\n<p>With St\u00e9phane Monari I didn\u2019t talk health issues. But when he told me he had just guided for eight weeks in a row, mainly training new guides for the ENSA, of course we came across the French guides death rate statistic. He explained to me that after these statistics became public, the ENSA had fundamentally changed their way of doing things. Instead of recruiting only the best of the best alpine climbers (the \u201chalf gods\u201d), they now focused more on recruiting people with the right personality. And to become a teacher you now have to be a very experienced pedagogical guide and work with actual clients at least six months a year. The curriculum focuses much more on <strong>risk management, the psychological aspects of the job, communication with clients and decision making<\/strong>. Two extra weeks have recently been added in focusing on off-piste guiding.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<h3 class=\"wp-block-heading\">Changing the French guide culture<\/h3>\n\n\n\n<p>According to Steph, this is completely changing the French guide culture. \u201cThe time of <strong>omerta<\/strong> is over. The new generation has a very different approach. There is more open dialogue about, for example, psychological issues and there is also more open exchange between us guides about misses and near misses. And a very practical example: we now have WhatsApp groups per valley or region and in winter mountain professionals can share their observations and questions\u201d.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>ENSA\u2019s example further convinced me that without statistical transparency, we limit our opportunities for improvement. If we are able to step away from professional ego (also at the organisational level) and be humble and open about our numbers, we will see increased motivation to invest in changes to improve those numbers.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<div class=\"wp-block-group\"><div class=\"wp-block-group__inner-container is-layout-constrained wp-block-group-is-layout-constrained\">\n<div class=\"wp-block-group is-style-highlight-box-orange\"><div class=\"wp-block-group__inner-container is-layout-constrained wp-block-group-is-layout-constrained\">\n<h2 class=\"wp-block-heading\">To round it up <\/h2>\n\n\n\n<p>We do a lot of things right when it comes to keeping ourselves and our clients safe in the mountains. And I am very aware of the fact that nobody leaves the hut in the morning with the intention of having an accident. And yes, fate or bad luck do sometimes interfere with our good intentions and flawless preparation. And we certainly should not underestimate the effects of repeated risk exposure. But this only underlines that our high risk, high consequence biotope demands a \u201cstate of the art\u201d response in dealing with the always rapidly changing risks, including ourselves.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>I have tried to define various pathways for improving our practices. These have been based on experiences in the risk management industry and in the mountains. The central idea is to benefit as much as possible from \u201cnew knowledge\u201d. Together with specialists in the field, I hope to be able to elaborate more on these various subjects in coming issues of bergundsteigen. Do not hesitate to give your input!<\/p>\n<\/div><\/div>\n<\/div><\/div>\n\n\n\n<hr class=\"wp-block-separator has-alpha-channel-opacity\"\/>\n\n\n\n<h3 class=\"wp-block-heading has-small-font-size\">Sources and notes<\/h3>\n\n\n\n<ul class=\"wp-block-list\">\n<li class=\"has-small-font-size\">1. 1600 active French guides \u2013 5.2 deaths per year give a 0.328125 % per annum. x8 (Duration of US involvement in Vietnam) gives a mortality rate of 2.65 % over the same time span. Death rate of US soldiers in Vietnam was 2.7 % (source American War Library).\n<ul class=\"wp-block-list\">\n<li class=\"has-small-font-size\"><strong>Comment (2025) to the stats by Phillip Ebert<\/strong>: There seems to be an issue in the comparison between French mountain guides and U.S. soldiers in Vietnam, and for a couple of reasons the analogy may end up conveying something different from what the numbers actually support.<\/li>\n\n\n\n<li>You note that multiplying the annual fatality rate for French guides (about 0.33% per year) by eight gives a cumulative risk of around 2.65%, which you then compare to the 2.7% figure for U.S. soldiers. The challenge is that the 2.7% figure is already an average annual fatality rate per soldier, because a typical tour in Vietnam lasted one year. So to align the denominators, one should compare the annual rates directly: roughly 0.33% per year for guides vs. 2.7% per year for soldiers. On that basis, the fatality rate for an average soldier was around 8 times higher.<\/li>\n\n\n\n<li>There is also a psychological aspect that might make the comparison misleading for readers. French guides form a fairly homogeneous group in terms of risk exposure, whereas \u201cU.S. soldier in Vietnam\u201d refers to a very heterogeneous population. The overall 2.7% rate combines frontline infantry soldiers (whose annual fatality risk was closer to 5\u201310%) with support personnel whose risk was much lower. If a reader imagines the former\u2014the typical depiction in films of a \u201cU.S. soldier in Vietnam\u201d\u2014then the relative fatality risk of infantry soldiers compared to guides is even more stark: up to 30 times higher (!).<\/li>\n\n\n\n<li>Hence the claim that the two fatality risks are \u201calmost identical\u201d is not correct and is potentially misleading.<\/li>\n\n\n\n<li>That said, your main point still holds: an annual fatality rate of around 0.33% for guides is indeed very high, and highlighting it is valuable and should prompt change. I tried to find comparable data for French fishermen or firefighters but couldn\u2019t locate anything reliable.<\/li>\n\n\n\n<li class=\"has-small-font-size\">However, one more note of caution: while I don\u2019t have the details about the French Mountain Guide fatality statistic to hand, it is important to ask how many mountain guides died while pursuing their own passion (i.e. in their spare time pushing their own limits) and how many died while actually at work guiding clients. Ideally, we would want to separate this out: many guides will knowingly take huge personal risk on their own trips, while ensuring that when guiding they adopt a completely different risk profile. What this means is that we should not be focusing on fatality rates of mountain guides per se; rather, we should be looking at the fatality risk of guided groups vs. non-guided groups, and even more: we should best control for avalanche terrain exposure for each trip. That data, however, is not available, but if mountain guides were to start recording their guided trips on GPS and share them, we could compare it with other data from, non-guided end users (e.g. with that from Skitourenguru).<\/li>\n<\/ul>\n<\/li>\n\n\n\n<li class=\"has-small-font-size\">2. Decision making in avalanche terrain ISSW 2004 Iain Stewart Patterson. <\/li>\n\n\n\n<li class=\"has-small-font-size\">3. Sources ENSA &amp; SLF. <\/li>\n\n\n\n<li class=\"has-small-font-size\">4. Patterns of death among avalanche fatalities: a 21-year review. CMAJ. Boyd J, Haegeli P, Abu-Laban RB <\/li>\n\n\n\n<li class=\"has-small-font-size\">5. Example <a href=\"https:\/\/www.slf.ch\/de\/lawinenbulletin-und-schneesituation\/avablog\/2022\/23\/avablog-14-15-maerz-2023\/\">here<\/a>.<\/li>\n\n\n\n<li class=\"has-small-font-size\">6. Duke, Annie (2020). How to decide? Simple Tools for Making Better Choices, Portfolio. <\/li>\n\n\n\n<li class=\"has-small-font-size\">7. Of course (not always so) healthy aging in mountain sports could fill an upcoming bergundsteigen issue.<\/li>\n<\/ul>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"<p>How good is our risk management\u2014really?<br \/>\nMountain guide Anne van Galen dares to question the status quo of professional guiding. Her bold, self-critical take challenges us all to rethink responsibility in high-risk mountain environments.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"featured_media":20529,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"closed","template":"","thema":[1104],"sportart":[],"ausgabe":[1041],"autorinnen":[806],"class_list":["post-20526","artikel","type-artikel","status-publish","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","thema-unsicherheit-en","ausgabe-128-herbst-24","autorinnen-anne-van-galen"],"yoast_head":"<!-- This site is optimized with the Yoast SEO plugin v27.3 - https:\/\/yoast.com\/product\/yoast-seo-wordpress\/ -->\n<title>Guiding and risk management: We really need to do better - bergundsteigen<\/title>\n<meta name=\"description\" content=\"How good is our risk management\u2014really? 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