The 1996 Mount Everest Climbing Disaster
Human Relations http://hum.sagepub.com The 1996 Mount Everest climbing disaster: The breakdown of learning in teams D. Christopher Kayes
Human Relations 2004; 57; 1263
DOI: 10.1177/0018726704048355
The online version of this article can be found at: http://hum.sagepub.com/cgi/content/abstract/57/10/1263 Published by: http://www.sagepublications.com On behalf of:
The Tavistock Institute
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– nearly four hours after the turnaround time agreed upon at base camp.
The descent
Sometime between 4 and 5 p.m., things started to go awry. An impending snowstorm, which had been visible for some time, engulfed the mountain and slowed the descent to a near halt. Climbers equipped for only 18 hours of climbing ran out of bottled oxygen and quickly became fatigued without the supplemental support. Two members of the US team, including guide
Fischer, and at least two members of the NZ team, including guide Hall and one of his clients, struggled through the storm near the top of the mountain.
The whereabouts of assistant guide Harris were unknown.
Between 5.00 and 5.20 p.m., assistant guide Beidleman assumed leadership for a team of eight climbers from both the NZ and US teams. At
27,600 feet, this team found NZ team member Weathers shivering in the cold. Weathers, who had aborted his summit bid 10 hours earlier when his vision became severely impaired, had been instructed by Hall to stay still until Hall returned on his descent. Realizing that Hall would not return soon,
Downloaded from http://hum.sagepub.com by Sandra Hopps on October 14, 2008
02 048355 (to/d)
14/10/04
2:35
Human Relations 2004; 57; 1263
DOI: 10.1177/0018726704048355
The online version of this article can be found at: http://hum.sagepub.com/cgi/content/abstract/57/10/1263 Published by: http://www.sagepublications.com On behalf of:
The Tavistock Institute
Additional services and information for Human Relations can be found at:
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– nearly four hours after the turnaround time agreed upon at base camp.
The descent
Sometime between 4 and 5 p.m., things started to go awry. An impending snowstorm, which had been visible for some time, engulfed the mountain and slowed the descent to a near halt. Climbers equipped for only 18 hours of climbing ran out of bottled oxygen and quickly became fatigued without the supplemental support. Two members of the US team, including guide
Fischer, and at least two members of the NZ team, including guide Hall and one of his clients, struggled through the storm near the top of the mountain.
The whereabouts of assistant guide Harris were unknown.
Between 5.00 and 5.20 p.m., assistant guide Beidleman assumed leadership for a team of eight climbers from both the NZ and US teams. At
27,600 feet, this team found NZ team member Weathers shivering in the cold. Weathers, who had aborted his summit bid 10 hours earlier when his vision became severely impaired, had been instructed by Hall to stay still until Hall returned on his descent. Realizing that Hall would not return soon,
Downloaded from http://hum.sagepub.com by Sandra Hopps on October 14, 2008
02 048355 (to/d)
14/10/04
2:35