Behaviour in Extreme Situations – What We Can Learn from
Mountaineers
Claudia Erni Baumann
Swiss Federal Institute of Technology Zurich (Switzerland)
cerni@ethz.ch
Abstract
Extreme mountaineers often have to cope with risky situations. They are considered experts in
mountaineering. But how do they deal with risks? How differ their behavior from “normal” people?
What conclusions can be drawn to the human behaviour in everyday work and in learning situations in
particular? This article examine these questions and illuminates human behavior in extreme situations.
The fatal accidents of the two Swiss climber Erhard Loretan and Joëlle Brupbacher last spring have
raised questions: How is it possible that mountaineers, always considered to be experts in their field,
lost their lives in expeditions?
The behaviour of mountaineers is characterized by the situation and the individual who is in the
particular situation. In addition, there are normative conditions that may affect the behavior. The
perception of risk is individual. Furthermore, the perception is a mental process and has to do with
how the information is absorbed through the senses, processed and evaluated [1].
To become an expert, a beginner has to pass three periods [2]: In a first phase, the playful
engagement with the subject is in the foreground. After some basic skills have been acquired, targeted
and intensive practicing begins. At the end of this second phase the individual has to decide, whether
he or she wishes to pursue the subject as a profession. How well a person will be corresponds directly
to the effort, which is used for deliberate practice, which means targeted, focused and intense
practice [3].
Beginners in sports make their first experiences in a safe environment, positive experiences are in the
foreground. the emphasis of advanced is on expanding the knowledge and movement experiences.
An expert can master challenging situations, he or she has a wide repertoire of motions and
experiences. An expert may well reflect his movement behavior. But new experiences with his own
limits are increasingly difficult to achieve [4].
This means that with increasing level of a mountaineer’s competence:
• the complexity of movement is higher
• the range of experience is wider
• the environment in which he or she likes to be gets more uncertain
• the ability to reflect is improved
• it is more difficult to beat the previous experiences
• the readiness to assume a risk does not decrease
• and hence the remaining risk increase
What conclusions can be drawn to the human behaviour in everyday work and learning situations? It
is certainly wrong to derive insights directly. However, some basic considerations can be derived
concerning the organisation and management of groups, the working atmosphere and group dynamics
and as well as the personality of the relevant people.