Nancy Hansen (r.) and Ralf Dujmovits at the DLR

“We were the mice for five weeks,” says Nancy Hansen describing the time she and Ralf Dujmovits – as reported – spent in a hypoxia chamber at the German Aerospace Center (DLR) in Cologne half a year ago. The goal of the study was to find out whether, under certain circumstances, extreme hypoxia can lead to a strengthening of the heart in humans – as previously found out in two experiments with mice in the USA. After an acclimatization phase of around two weeks, the climbers had spent 16 days at a simulated altitude of 6,700 meters or higher, including four days at an oxygen content of only eight percent, which corresponds to 7,112 meters. “I suffered quite a lot,” admits Nancy. “But it was a big privilege to be part of the study.” Ralf is also still impressed by the experience: “I was hard on the edge. To be honest, I wouldn’t do it again. I underestimated the whole thing.” Last week the couple was in Cologne again – for one of several follow-up examinations. The first preliminary results of the study are now available.

Only 56 percent oxygen saturation

Pulmonary function test on the climbing wall

Extreme hypoxia initially had different effects on the bodies of Nancy and Ralf. Ralf, due to his many expeditions to eight-thousanders apparently better accustomed to the lack of oxygen, acclimatized much easier than Nancy. “One of the DLR doctors told me: ‘I hope you feel better than you look’,” she remembers and smiles. Once, the 50-year-old Canadian had an oxygen saturation of only 56 percent, a hospital patient would have been a case for intensive care. A DLR team was on duty around the clock for the two climbers. The scientists took blood and urine samples, carried out ultrasound and MRI examinations or cognitive tests. The analysis of the huge amount of data from the various tests is far from complete.

Both climbers lost muscle mass, they slept worse. It was astonishing that Nancy’s and Ralf’s responsiveness and concentration ability remained almost constant, even under extreme hypoxia. “However with the restriction that they were really challenged by the cognitive tests and had to concentrate,” says Dr. Ulrich Limper, who led the DLR study together with Prof. Jens Tank. During normal conversation, some “dropouts” were noticed.

Kidney performance also declined

Leaving the hypoxia chamber after five weeks

In Nancy’s heart, the right ventricle swelled and the pumping capacity decreased. In her brain, minor so called “White Matter Lesions” occured, which are frequently found in elderly people. In Ralf’s brain, the veins swelled over time without the 57-year-old suffering from severe headaches. In addition, the kidneys of both climbers worked much worse under hypoxia – albeit still sufficiently. “The good news is that all symptoms disappeared within 30 hours after Nancy and Ralf had left the hypoxia chamber and breathed normal air again,” says Dr. Fabian Hofmann, one of the DLR doctors.

It is not yet possible to say whether a damaged human heart is positively influenced by extreme hypoxia, as found out in the mice experiment. “We were dealing here with two healthy hearts of top athletes,” says Hofmann. “But it’s amazing what we can do to the hearth without structural change.” Further studies are to follow, if possible also with heart patients.

P.S.: Nancy and Ralf are about to set off for an expedition to Antarctica – to significantly lower altitudes than simulated at the DLR.

Khumbu glacier

The Khumbu Glacier at the foot of Mount Everest is apparently even more endangered by climate change than previously assumed. British glaciologists, who measured the ice temperature of the glacier in 2017 and 2018, point to this. At three drill sites up to an altitude of about 5,200 meters near Everest base camp, they used a specified adapted car wash unit to conduct hot water under high pressure into the ice. The scientists hung strings with temperature sensors in the resulting holes, the deepest of which reached about 130 meters deep into the ice. “The temperature range we measured was warmer than we expected – and hoped – to find,” says Duncan Quincey of Leeds University, leader of the “EverDrill” project.

Warmer than the outside air

The drill sites near Everest BC

According to the glaciologists’ study, the minimum ice temperature was minus 3.3 degrees Celsius, “with even the coldest ice being a full two degrees warmer than the mean annual air temperature”. A similar study carried out near Everest Base Camp in 1974 found ice that was two to three degrees colder. “’Warm’ ice is particularly vulnerable to climate change because even small increases in temperature can trigger melting,” explains Quincey. “Internal temperature has a significant impact on the complex dynamics of a glacier, including how it flows, how water drains through it and the volume of meltwater runoff.” Millions of people in the Himalayas and Hindu Kush are affected by these processes because they depend on glacier water, says the researcher.

“Water tower for Asia”

Five years ago, scientists at the University of Milan pointed out that the ice masses around Everest had shrunk by 13 percent over the past 50 years. “The Himalayan glaciers and ice caps are considered a water tower for Asia since they store and supply water downstream during the dry season,” said the Nepalese geoscientist Sudeep Thakuri at that time. “Downstream populations are dependent on the melt water for agriculture, drinking, and power production.”

With Nancy Hansen (r.) and Ralf Dujmovits in the DLR hypoxia chamber

And suddenly the call came from space: “Here is Alex”. At first Ralf Dujmovits did not know who was talking at the other end of the telephone line: “Alex? Then I suddenly recognized the voice I had heard two days earlier during the broadcast of the rocket launch.” Alexander Gerst inquired from the International Space Station (ISS) about the condition of the German climber and his Canadian partner Nancy Hansen in the hypoxia chamber of the German Aerospace Center (DLR) in Cologne. “It sounded like he was sitting next door.” For a quarter of an hour, Ralf, the first and so far only German climber to have scaled all 14 eight-thousanders, spoke to “Astro Alex”, the first German astronaut to take command of the ISS. “He was very interested in our experience in the lab. That was great.” Of course, Nancy talked to Gerst too. For both climbers it was a “real highlight”, says the 49-year-old Canadian.

Underestimated strain

Alexander Gerst watching World Cup football at the ISS

After five weeks in the 110 square meter hypoxia chamber, the door will open for Dujmovits and Hansen on Tuesday. Then the experiment will be over, in which it should be tested whether heart functions improve during a long stay in extremely thin air. Ralf and Nancy spent the last two weeks all day at a simulated altitude of 6.718 meters and slept at night at 6,490 meters. That left its mark. “You see us quite tired here,” says Ralf, when I visit them (with bottled oxygen) again last weekend. “I had expected otherwise. I was convinced that we would be a little tired at first, but after a while we would get so accustomed to the low-oxygen conditions that we would be able to cope well with it. I underestimated how exhausting the whole thing is.”

“A huge success”

One reason for this fatigue may be that – as it turned out with Ralf’s MRI – the blood in the veins of the brain has become extremely congested over time and the veins are swollen now. “I’ve never seen it so massive. At first glance, you’re not happy about this,” says Dr. Ulrich Limper, who leads the DLR study together with Prof. Jens Tank. “On the other hand, it is not a direct threat. We assume it will regress.” In four weeks, Dujmovits and Hansen will return to DLR for their first follow-up examination.

The scientists have collected a great deal of data that will now be evaluated. First results are expected to be available within six months. “It’s already a huge success for us,” says Limper. “The concept worked, we learned a lot. We are still cautious, but clinically it looks as if our hypothesis that certain heart functions improve under the influence of hypoxia could be confirmed. If we can substantiate that with the data, it would be great.” The study might even lead to new therapies for heart attack patients.

“Swollen” heart

Nancy on the mobile climbing wall

Originally, it had been planned that, after an acclimatization phase, the two climbers would live day and night at a simulated altitude of 7,112 metres for two weeks. But the scientists had to change their arrangements. At that simulated height, Nancy’s pulmonary artery pressure – the pressure with which the oxygen-poor blood is pressed from the heart into the lungs – was significantly increased. The right half of her heart was therefore, to put it simply, “swollen”, Nancy’s values were at the limit. “From our point of view it would not have been successful to ‘chase’ her up”, says Limper. “Her condition probably would have gotten worse.” Therefore the simulated altitude was lowered to below 7,000 meters, at night even further down than during the day. “Nancy’s body coped with this. Her values slowly improved and towards the end approached those of Ralf again.”

Not much higher than 7,000 meters

Does the body learn from frequent stays at high altitude?

According to Limper, it is assumed that in Nancy’s case it was a “normal reaction of a heart that is simply not yet accustomed to very high altitudes”. Ralf also told about health problems during his first expeditions, which no longer occured during his later projects. “There may be something like a long-term adaptation,” says the physician, adding that this has not yet been scientifically proven.

Nancy’s troubles made her and Ralf think. “It shouldn’t be a problem to tackle a seven-thousander where we spend the last night at 6,300 or 6,500 meters,” says Ralf. “But above that altitude, Nancy could suffer some damage to health. That’s what we’ve learned, and we’ll take that into account, of course.”

Constantly felt cold

Less muscular mass

During the time in the hypoxia chamber, both climbers have lost more than two kilograms of body weight each, primarily muscle mass. “The upper arms have become thinner,” says Ralfs, “and where normally the trousers are taut on the thighs, now everything flaps.” The climbers’ weight loss was lower than expected, says Ulrich Limper. “We attribute it to the fact that apart from hypoxia they had no stress factors as usual in the mountains: no cold, no pitching up the tent, no continuous physical strain. In the end, they moved very little.” Nancy and Ralf tried to stay reasonably fit on a treadmill, an ergometer and a mobile climbing wall. One of the surprising findings for the scientists was that Ralf was exhausted after 50 minutes on the ergometer, but did not sweat at all. It also seemed unusual that despite a room temperature of 24 degrees Celsius Nancy and Ralf felt so cold that they pulled two jackets over their T-shirts. So there are still a few question marks.

Into the sun!

“It was worth the effort”

Nancy and Ralf do not regret getting involved in the DLR experiment. On the contrary. “I would do it again,” says Nancy. “Scientifically I found the whole thing incredibly interesting. Of course, not every moment was fun, but overall it was an amazing experience that was pretty unique.” Also for Ralf “it was absolutely worth the effort”: “We leave the project healthy. And if we can make a contribution to the future development of a therapy for heart attack patients, then everything is perfect.”

And what are they looking forward to the most? “Sunshine,” Nancy answers quick like a shot. Ralf especially longs to see his family and friends again and is looking forward to sitting in the garden, running through the woods or cycling on his mountain bike for hours: “We had an incredibly committed team of scientists and doctors around us. We enjoyed it, it was exciting, and we learned a lot. But now it’s good that we’re coming home.”

Visiting Ralf Dujmovits (r.) with mask

Bottled oxygen on a mountain has always been out of the question for me. On principle. Today I made an exception – for a “virtual mountain”. To be able to visit Ralf Dujmovits, the only German mountaineer who has scaled all 14 eight-thousanders, and his partner, the Canadian climber Nancy Hansen, it is mandatory to use a breathing mask. After two weeks in the hypoxia chamber of the German Aerospace Center (DLR) in Cologne, the two test persons have reached the simulated target altitude of 7,112 meters. The percentage of oxygen in the air, normally 21 percent, was gradually reduced to eight percent by adding nitrogen. “It’s like climbing a mountain. The acclimatization is almost done, now we’re heading for the summit,” says Ralf. “The time on the summit will be of course much longer.”

Short rest, then things gets serious

Nancy Hansen’s blood pressure is checked

In the coming days, Ralf and Nancy can once again briefly “descend” to breathe thicker air. On 4 June, however, the crucial phase of the study will begin, during which the two climbers are to stay constantly at a simulated altitude of 7,112 metres for two weeks. The aim is to test whether extreme hypoxia can strengthen the heart and even lead to the formation of new cells. If this finding from experiments with mice can be confirmed in humans, completely new therapeutic approaches would be conceivable for heart attack patients.

How much physical deterioration will there be?

Eight percent oxygen content

“We are both excited,” reveals Nancy. “I think the first few days will be okay. And then either it will feel normal or we start to deteriorate. Nobody really knows.“ Ralf recalls the French climber Nicolas Jaeger, who in 1979 in a self experiment spent two months alone in the summit area of the 6,768-metre-high Huascaran in Peru: “Cognitively he felt not so bad. In the end, physical deterioration became the major problem for him. I expect the same from us. We’re probably going to lose a lot of muscle.”

Breathe properly

So far, Hansen and Dujmovits have coped well with the low-oxygen time in the DLR’s hypoxia chamber. In any case, you can’t see yet what a burden they’re under. “I had three, four pretty bad headaches, mostly in the night,” says Nancy. “But it has gotten better.”  The 49-year-old Canadian finds it fascinating to see “what’s happening inside of our bodies, also in comparison between Ralf and I”. Her partner acclimatizes much better than her, says Nancy: “The way his lungs exchange oxygen with his heart is very different to my exchange. Ralf is teaching me how to breathe properly in here.”

Currently no climbing wall training

Pulmonary function test on the climbing wall

Dujmovits estimates that he has now lost “40 to 45 percent performance”. Dosed endurance training on the bicycle ergometer or the treadmill is still possible at the current simulated altitude of around 7,000 meters, says the 56-year-old. However, the two are currently stay well clear of the mobile climbing wall in the hypoxia chamber. “The strain on the muscles is much greater, and we get very quickly into the anaerobic phase. But we want to avoid an oxygen defiency that would cause immediately headaches,” says Ralf.

No cabin fever

I ask whether the relationship of the two test persons is put to a serious test by the long time in the hypoxia chamber? “Not so far,” Nancy replies, laughing. “We spend so much time together. There are no problems at all, and I don’t expect any.” Ralf nods. “I think it’s important to keep stress out of a relationship. We’ve done quite well so far.”

No Big Brother

Nancy and Ralf in the DLR hypoxia chamber

Even the constant camera surveillance doesn’t bother them anymore. “We’re not making  ‘Big Brother’ here,” says Dujmovits. “We know that the scientists are trustworthy with everything that can be seen here.” Meanwhile they almost ignore the cameras’ existence. “This morning I was just walking around the rooms in my underpants. Only on my way back I realized that everyone in the surveillance room could see me like this.” Ralf emphasizes that the whole experiment is “a team effort”. The climber specifically praises the committed DLR scientists: “They are here for us 24 hours a day in an all-round shift work.”  Nancy is also enthusiastic about the team. “All the staff here have been treating us so well. We feel really like a prince and a princess.”

Ralf Dujmovits and Nancy Hansen

The doors have closed behind Ralf Dujmovits and Nancy Hansen. The so far only German climber who has scaled all 14 eight-thousanders and his Canadian partner moved in a 110-square-meter hypoxia chamber of the German Aerospace Center (DLR) in Cologne on Tuesday. As reported, the two mountaineers are participating in a study conducted by DLR in cooperation with the University of Texas to investigate whether extreme hypoxia can also have a positive side effect for human beings. US researchers from Texas found in two experiments with mice that heart muscle cells devided when the animals were exposed for two weeks to oxygen deficiency corresponding to conditions at 7,000 m. In mice which had previously been triggered myocardial infarctions, cardiac function improved after two weeks of hypoxia.

Medical control around the clock

Monitor in the control room

Ralf and Nancy, both healthy, are the subjects of the pilot study. They are to stay in the hypoxia chamber for about a month. In the first few weeks, acclimatization as on a Himalayan expedition is simulated. The oxygen percentage in the air will be gradually lowered and temporarily increased only twice in between – as if the two climbers would descend again to breathe thicker air. The last two weeks, the 56-year-old German and the 49-year-old Canadian are to  spend in a simulated height of 7,000 meters. The experiment can be stopped at any time in case serious problems arise. A DLR research team monitors Dujmovits’ and Hansen’s state of health around the clock. The daily schedule includes heart and lung function checks, blood and urine tests, fitness checks and so-called “cognition tests”, which check the reaction and perception of the subjects.

Yesterday, I visited the two climbers in their new “home”. That was possible on Wednesday for the last time without breathing mask. After more than half hour in a simulated altitude of about 3,700 meters, I felt a little bit dizzy. I preferred to do the interview with Ralf subsequently in thick air, by phone.

Ralf, you can not get out, there is no daylight, and the oxygen is lowered. That does not sound like a holiday apartment.

Nancy has a pulmonary function test

No, it isn’t a holiday apartment. But we have adjusted ourselves to it over a long period of time. We took it that way. We prepared ourselves mentally for almost nine months. Now we are here and actually feel quite well.

How does the prospect feel of being locked up for weeks and not being able to move to fresh air? That must be almost like torture for a climber.

Not even like that. I have the great privilege that I was allowed to be outside a lot. I do not see a big problem with being inside for five weeks now. We have been asked this frequently. But neither Nancy nor I are very worried that we can not handle it. We both can be very focused on special things. We have agreed to it and accept it as it is.

How did you prepare for this experiment? Have you filled up as much fresh air and nature as possible?

Skiing down to Monte Rosa Hut

We were in Valais for a week. We spent the final two nights on the Gnifetti Hut at 3,700 meters, followed by a night in the winter room of the Capanna Margherita on the Signalkuppe at 4,550 meters. So to say, we had pure nature for us. We were completely alone on the Capanna Margherita for 24 hours. We got up at 6.30 a.m. to enjoy the beautiful sunrise. Then we skied down to the Monte Rosa Hut through best powder snow. We really filled up, had a great time and, of course, a bit of pre-acclimatization too.

What motivates you to participate in this study?

Nancy had in her family environment some cases of heart attacks that ended either deadly or in very difficult recovery. Therefore, motivation for her is really to be able to bring something forward in the field of research. It’s similar with me. My interest in medicine has always been there and will continue. Being able to be possibly part of a new treatment for heart attack patients is a great story.

Maybe it’s also an additional motivation that this “seven-thousander”, which you want to scale, is still unclimbed.

Of course, it’s a bit of a first ascent. (laughs) But it’s not so much this first-time act that motivates us, but rather the support to get a step further in heart attack research.

Nitrogen tank in the DLR outdoor area

Are you also worried, be it mental or physical, when you consider the weeks in the hypoxia chamber?

There was a big unknown we both had a hard time with. It is not so easy to convert the percentage of oxygen in the air to (virtual) altitude. We have to rely on what Jens and Uli (Prof. Jens Tank and Dr. Ulrich Limper from DLR, the heads of the study) had predicted. But here we also have the opportunity to see how the air is composed by means of sensors installed in all rooms. From my feeling, that fits very well. Therefore, the trust that we must have in the team, is absolutely justified. We feel we are really in good hands here.

You are now the first complete day in the hypoxia chamber, at a quasi-altitude of about 3,700 meters. Does it feel different than on a mountain?

Of course, it’s different because the hardness factors such as strong sunlight, wind, cold, storm or snow fall are missing. So, of course, it’s much easier. But the thin air feels as we know it from high altitude – although the height is simulated by reducing the oxygen content. Normally, this percentage is always the same, no matter how high you are. (The hypoxia is caused by the lower pressure with which the oxygen is pressed into the lungs.) Here nitrogen is pumped into the rooms and thus the oxygen percentage decreases.

Do you think that you will learn something about yourself in the next few weeks?

Mobile climbing wall in the living area

I have already learned a lot. There are many, many little things. For example, we trained on the mobile climbing wall yesterday. It was specially set up for us here because we wanted to stay fit while climbing. We immediately noticed that not the lack of power in the arms or fingers will be the limiting factor, but the stamina in the thin air. We underestimated that. If we climb the overhanging part of the wall here, we’ll probably never get to the point where we run out of energy, but we’ll be at the limit in terms of endurance.

Does it help you to get through the whole thing as a couple?

That definitely makes it a lot easier. Yesterday at dinner I briefly imagined what it would be like if I were sitting here alone, maybe watching the news and then going to bed by myself. That would be terrible. You do not have anyone to talk to about what happened during the day. Being able to do this together with your partner is really great. We have a lot to laugh about. But we had also the first difficult moments during the night. Nancy suffered from headache, I had a slight pressure in my head. You talk about it, and then it’s a bit easier again.

Is it a bit like sitting in a base camp in bad weather and not being able to avoid each other?

You can really compare it. I remember for example 2009, when we were stuck in Lhotse Base Camp for three weeks in extremely bad weather and could only switch between our personal tent and the mess tent. It’s not much different here. However, we actually have more space to move, because the rooms here are very spacious. In addition, we have a lot of tasks to do during the day.

Ralf has a ECG

What do you expect, how will you come out of this experiment? As a physical wreck?

That’s the big unknown. We originally planned to go on expedition afterwards and use this extremely good acclimatization. However, cause we have no idea whether we are still fit enough to climb an interesting mountain, we have limited our plans to the Alps. There are e.g. on the south side of Mont Blanc so many high-altitude destinations. If we’re still fit enough, we’d rather go there instead of buying a permit, having to pay a liaison officer in advance, and then maybe having to say: We’re too weak, it’s just not possible.

But it’s also possible that you will be just lazily lying in the sun?

It’s possible too. After the time here in the chamber, the trade fair “Outdoor” will take place in Friedrichshafen. After that we’ll have a bit of time left without obligations. Maybe then we will be lying in the sun.

Ralf Dujmovits (l.) and Nancy Hansen in the still empty DLR living area

This seven-thousander has neither a summit, nor does it offer impressive views. It covers an area of ​​only around 110 square meters – and is located on the grounds of the German Aerospace Center (DLR) in Cologne. A hypoxia chamber within DLR’s medical research lab “:envihab” – the name stands for environment and habitat – will be comfortably furnished in the coming months.

Four weeks in the chamber

In mid-May, Ralf Dujmovits, the only German mountaineer who has climbed all 14 eight-thousanders, and his partner, the Canadian climber Nancy Hansen, will move in there for four weeks. They are taking part in a highly interesting hypoxia study conducted by DLR in cooperation with the University of Texas. The assumption: Although extreme oxygen deficiency threatens life, there could also be a positive effect on the body.

Stronger heart through hypoxia?

Ralf is wired for magnetic resonance imaging (MRI) …

US researchers from Texas found in two experiments with mice that heart muscle cells devided when the animals were exposed for two weeks to oxygen deficiency corresponding to conditions at 7,000 m. In mice which had previously been triggered myocardial infarctions, cardiac function improved after two weeks of hypoxia.

Now it is to be tested whether this effect also occurs in humans. For this purpose, Dujmovits and Hansen, both healthy, will spend two weeks in an oxygen-reduced environment comparable to 7,000 meters above sea level, as subjects of the pilot study. “We expect them as healthy, well-trained subjects to increase their cardiac output as well,” says DLR doctor Ulrich Limper during the first of several preliminary examinations in Cologne. For a further study, an experienced mountaineer is being sought as test person, who has already stayed at heights significantly higher than 7,000 meters and in addition has suffered a heart attack. He too is to spend two weeks in hypoxic conditions – of course only after he has completely recovered from the infarction.

Immediate termination possible

… and prepared for the examination of his brain

Ralf and Nancy first want to pre-acclimatize on the mountains in the Swiss canton of Valais and then go to the hypoxia chamber in Cologne in mid-May. In the first two weeks, the simulated altitude will be increased from 3,000 to 7,000 m by adding nitrogen and thus slowly lowering the oxygen concentration to eight percent (usually it is 21 percent). Over the last two weeks, Dujmovits and Hansen will have to hold out at the equivalent of an altitude of 7,000 m. Unlike in the mountains, however, the air pressure in the chamber remains constant, so that the experiment could be terminated immediately in case of complications.

“Completely crazy”

Blood draw from Nancy

He has done a lot of research and reading on the findings on long-time stay in high altitude, says Ralf Dujmovits: “In addition, my own experience of many nights in series above 7,000 m have led me to believe that the risk is within manageable limits. And if there are any problems, we can at any time press the red button and stop the study.” Nancy Hansen admits she has a queasy feeling. “Of course I am nervous about the risk! It’s completely crazy to live at the equivalent of 7,000 m for two weeks,” says the 49-year-old. “On the other hand, we can leave the study at any point if we feel too unwell. The bigger question for me is whether there will be long-term negative effects.“

Heart attacks in the family

Measuring the lung volume

Dujmovits had started studying medicine as a young man before fully dedicating himself to the mountains. The interest especially in high altitude medicine has remained, says the most successful German high altitude climber. “Being able to contribute to new findings in the field of myocardial infarction research is fascinating as well as exciting. Moreover, I have the opportunity to learn more about my body and its reaction to hypoxia.” Nancy Hansen agrees, adding family reasons for participating in the study: “My father had a massive heart attack 14 years ago. My uncle died of a heart attack. My young nephew has had two, 16-hour open heart surgeries. The topic is really important to me.”

Interesting for earth and space

This also applies to the DLR. “We are not just learning about the limits of the body of highly trained and specialized people who are comparable with pilots or astronauts and can serve as a study model for them, in our case Nancy and Ralf,” says Ulrich Limper, “but we also have the opportunity to improve the treatment of an acute heart disease, what would especially help the patients on earth.”

After having met the “Third Man” on Putha Hiunchuli (in 2011)

I have experienced it myself. It happened in fall 2011 during my failed summit attempt on the 7,246-meter-high Putha Hiunchuli in western Nepal, somewhere above 7,000 meters. My teammates were out of reach, I was fighting my way up alone, physically and mentally at the limit. “Please!,” I suddenly heard Pemba Nuru, one of our two Climbing Sherpas, say behind me. “Please what?,” I asked and turned around. But nobody was there. Strange. Scientists call the phenomenon the “Third Man”. Descriptions of such hallucinations abound in expedition reports from the highest mountains in the world. Psychiatrists of the Medical University of Innsbruck and emergency physicians of the private research center “Eurac Research” in Bolzano have now examined about 80 such descriptions from alpine literature and discovered, according to their own information, a new disease: the “isolated high-altitude psychosis”.

Seven out of eight

So far, high altitude physicians have assumed that organic causes are responsible when altitude climbers suddenly see and hear people or perceive odors that are actually not there. The researchers from Austria and South Tyrol, however, found out that “there is a group of symptoms which are purely psychotic, that is, they are related to altitude but not to a high-altitude cerebral edema or other organic factors such as dehydration, infections or organic diseases”, explains Hermann Brugger, head of the Institute for Alpine Emergency Medicine in Bolzano. Brugger had found in an earlier study that seven out of eight world-class climbers who reached altitudes above 8,500 meters without bottled oxygen had hallucinatory experiences.

Almost jumped

Dhaulagiri

The good news of the new study: The pure psychoses in high altitude are only temporary and do not leave any consequential damage. The bad news: On the mountain, they can endanger the climbers. Thus the Slovene Iztok Tomazin, one of the authors of the study, describes a hallucination he himself had during a summit attempt on the eight-thousander Dhaulagiri in December 1987. Several (fancy) mountain guides had advised him to jump down the East Face telling him that in few seconds he would be on a flat, safe place 2,000 meters lower and this would solve all his problems. “I almost jumped and this would have meant death with a 100% chance,” writes Tomazin. But then he reflected and made a test: He jumped only two meters deep to a small ledge. The pain he suffered opened his eyes, that maybe it would not be such a good idea to jump down the whole wall.

Further research in Nepal

“There are probably unreported cases of accidents and deaths due to psychosis,” says emergency physician Brugger, adding that therefore it is important to inform extreme climbers about the possibility that hallucinations can occur. In addition, they should be given strategies on how to deal with the “Third Man” without being endangered, says Katharina Hüfner, psychiatrist at the Medical University of Innsbruck. Next spring, the scientists want to continue their research along with Nepalese doctors in the Himalayas. Among other things, they want to find out how often these psychoses occur at high altitude. “The highest mountains in the world are incredibly beautiful,” says Hermann Burger. “We just did not know that they can drive us mad.”

Yeti skull in Khumjung Monastery

As a child, everyone has probably experienced this phase. Actually, you know that Santa Claus does not exist and that it’s your parents who put the presents under the tree. And yet you are repressing this fact – simply because Santa is part of the party. Something like that happens to me with the yeti. Actually, I do not believe that this huge mountain monster on two legs really exists, however, for me, the myth and the countless legends about the abominable snowman are simply part of the Himalayas. Therefore, I find it – quite frankly – rather silly that American scientists from the University of Buffalo now stand up and say: The yeti is actually a bear.

Bear hair and dog tooth

Himalayan brown bear

They studied 24 samples that had been attributed to yetis and stored in various monasteries and museums or collected on trips to Pakistan – including bones, hair and faeces – and compared them to the DNA of known species. The result: Almost all of them could be assigned to bears: Himalayan brown bear, Tibetan brown bear, Continental Eurasian brown bear and Asian black bear. Only one alleged yeti tooth from one of the Messner Mountain Museums turned out to be from a dog. Reinhold Messner feels confirmed – not because of the dog tooth, but because of the bear remains. After all, he himself had written a yeti book (and earned good money) almost 20 years ago, exposing the mountain monster as a brown bear.

Three dead yaks

Machhermo Peak

Whether in Tibet, Nepal or Bhutan, throughout the Himalayas, stories about yetis, attacking yak herds and shepherds or even abducting people, have been handed down for centuries. Allegedly there was an incident in the Everest region even in 1974: Lhakpa Doma Sherpa claimed she had been attacked by a five feet tall (or rather small) yeti when she had been guarding her yak herd in the Gokyo Valley. The yeti had pulled out her braids and torn her dress, said the then 19-year-old Sherpani. Just because she had played possum, she had survived, Lhakpa said, adding that the yeti had killed three yaks.

Laughing with erect neck hair

Yeti tracks? (found by the British climber Frank Smythe in 1937)

The incident is even noted on my 2000 National Geographic trekking map, which I still used last year while hiking through the Gokyo Valley. When we passed the alleged or real site of the yeti attack near the 4470-meter-high village of Machhermo, I alerted my son and our guide about the possible danger. We laughed – and yet there was just that little bit of uncertainty that could briefly make the hair on your neck stand on end: Did it happen that way after all?

The Yeti is alive!

Yeti (bear) bone from a cave in Tibet

If you read carefully, even the US scientists are keeping a  little back door open when they conclude their study as “strongly suggesting that the biological basis of the yeti legend is local brown and black bears.” The shadow of a doubt remains.  Maybe people just offered bear hair or bones as yeti relics because the real abominable snowmen were too strong and smart to wangle them out of it. The Yeti is alive – like Santa!

Mount Everest

If you want, there will soon be a Chomolungma/Sagarmatha in outer space as well. The Tibetan and Nepalese names of the highest mountain in the world are in common on a NASA shortlist. The American space agency is looking for a nickname for an object in space that now bears the unadorned name “2014 MU69”. At the beginning of 2019, the NASA space probe “New Horizons” will fly past the object at a distance of about 3,000 kilometers, sending data to earth.

295 years for an orbit around the sun

That’s what MU69 could look like …

Little is still known about MU69, which was discovered only in 2014, eight years after the take-off of New Horizons. MU69 circles the sun at a distance of nearly 6.5 billion kilometers – far beyond Pluto, which the space probe had passed in summer 2015. The celestial body needs around 295 years to complete an orbit. It is expected that it has withstood the test of time like a frozen block. The scientists believe MU69 could look like a flattened egg, less than 30 kilometers long. It is also possible that the object consists of two parts. In this case NASA could also use two nicknames –   – like Chomolungma and Sagarmatha.

Vote until 1 December

… or something like that

You wonder what all this has to do with Mount Everest? NASA justifies it this way: “Like MU69, Everest is a cold, distant place and a challenge to reach. Chomolungma is translated as ‘Mother of the World’, echoing our hopes that MU69 will help us to understand the origins of our solar system.” Currently, Chomolungma/Sagarmatha ranks third in the NASA vote. A different mountain name leads: Uluru, the sacred mountain of the Aborigines in Australia. You can still vote here until 1 December – as many times as you like, says the NASA, but  please no more than once per day.

Olympus Mons, giant mountain on Mars

Compared to the highest peak on Mars, Mount Everest is a dwarf. Olympus Mons rises 26 kilometers above the surface of the red planet. However, this is not the reason why the German Aerospace Center (DLR) deals with high altitude sickness. For a – as I find, very interesting – study, the DLR is looking for mountaineers, who will ascent in the period from 7 to 20 August after a night on the Gnifetti Hut (at 3,647 meters) to the Margherita Hut. The “Capanna Regina Margherita” is located on the summit of the Signalkuppe in the Valais Alps and is, at 4,554 meters, the highest building in Europe. The DLR scientists want to find out whether it helps against high altitude sickness if climbers are sleeping with a raised upper body. The test persons will use wedge pillows, which ensure that they are raised by 30 degrees. In intensive care units in hospitals such pillows have been used successfully for a long time.

Mountaineers who want to participate in the study at the Regina Margherita mountain hut in August can either register by email at ams@dlr.de or register at the valley station in Alagna or the Gnifetti Hut with the DLR study supervisors. I have talked to Dr. Ulrich Limper who heads the study. The 35-year-old doctor has been working at the DLR for three years.

Dr. Limper, why is an aerospace center interested in the health problems of mountaineers? Are there similarities between astronauts and climbers?

Ascent to the Margherita Hut

Let’s start with the astronauts: They have problems with their eyes when they return from long-term missions in the space station. This is called the “VIIP (Visual Impairment and Intracranial Pressure) Syndrome”. Sight is restricted. It has been found that in weightlessness the blood is pumped to the head and stays there because gravity is missing which could pull it down again. High altitude sickness has a very similar cause. If there is a lack of oxygen, the arteries, the vessels which lead to the brain, dilate in order to transport even more blood to the brain. The veins, which carry the blood back from the head, obviously do not have the capacity to dilate accordingly. Therefore, the blood accumulates in the head, leading to the usual symptoms of high altitude sickness such as nausea and headache.
Furthermore, in the future astronauts e.g. on missions to Mars will stay in artificial atmospheres similar to those in the high mountains: low pressure, up to a certain level also lack of oxygen. This makes it so exciting for us as space physicians to think about mountaineers.

Capanna Regina Margherita at 4554 meters

This suggests that mountaineers should be super-qualified to set off for space.

Of course these are quite different challenges. But, in principle, you are right. High-altitude climbers are often very cool-headed people who can deal with extreme situations and can act very rationally. Whenever the European Space Agency is looking for new astronauts, in a first step they hand out a questionnaire, where these things are queried. You can score points if you climb or dive in your spare time, doing all these things where you have to control your body.

A pillow under the head as a recipe against high altitude sickness? That sounds almost too simple to be true?

It is a very pragmatic approach. We do not assume that we can avoid high altitude sickness, but it should be a puzzle part in the overall concept. We want to show that the people who use the pillow as something like a physical therapy are less likely to suffer from altitude sickness than those who don’t use it. We assume that at night the blood accumulates in the head even more, because you are lying flat. That’s why mountaineers feel even worse in the morning than in the evening. This was proved by a study we made last year.

The approach is not new. I quote from a book on high altitude adaption by the German physician Klaus Mees from 2005: “It is often helpful to raise the upper body, e.g. with a backpack or clothing below the sleeping mat or sleeping bag.”

Everest ER

It’s true, this recommendation exists. But we also want to prove scientifically that it works. If you spend a night in a mountain hut, you will not find anyone who really does it. Even if you look on Internet at pictures of climbers suffering from high altitude sickness in Everest Base Camp or elsewhere: They all lie completely flat, wear an oxygen mask, have  a saturation clip on their finger, but almost no one’s upper body is raised. If we can prove that sleeping with a raised upper body is really a simple and effective measure against altitude sickness, we could make the case for it even more vehemently.

You will only record the test persons’ oxygen saturation and pulse and use a questionnaire to investigate the symptoms of altitude sickness. Is this method not too rough to capture the micro-processes that may occur in the brain?

We will not be able to say anything about the mechanism of altitude sickness, but only about this: Does the method work or not? If we were to explore the mechanism, it would make more sense, instead of going to a mountain hut, to use an DLR altitude chamber, where all conditions can be controlled and the micro-processes can be looked at. However, our study has a very pragmatic approach. Every mountaineer will benefit if we prove the success of the therapy – or not. Therefore, it makes sense to carry out the study as simply as possible. We do not take any test persons to the mountain, but work with climbers who are on the huts anyway. We assume that the less they feel burdened in their mountaineering, the more they will join in.

If your hypothesis is correct, the wedge pillow should be in the rucksack of every high-altitude climber and Mars astronaut, shouldn’t it?

It would be at least not wrong to take it with you.

Kilimanjaro

According to the statistics, Kilimanjaro is one of the top mountain destinations in the world. Every year tens of thousands of people tackle the highest mountain in Africa. In 2016, reportedly, more than 30,000 visitors have reached the highest point at 5,895 meters. The “Kibo” is said to be a trekking mountain, several easy routes lead to the summit. Only during the rainy seasons in April/May and October/November the tourist flow decreases a bit. Many operators offer hikes to the roof of Africa as a week trip – this short stay also ensures that the mountain is so popular. However, it is less known that every year several hundred tourists suffering seriously from high altitude sickness have to be rescued from Kilimanjaro, and about two dozens of them die, in some years even significantly more.

4000 meters up in a few days

Christian Kreisel

The Tanzanian government keeps the exact number of deaths under cover. If they became known, this could damage the booming mountain tourism. Many people simply underestimate the risk of getting altitude-sick on Kibo – though it’s actually obvious: After all, the summit aspirants have to overcome more than 4,000 meters in altitude within a few days. The physician Christian Kreisel from the University Hospital of Gießen and Marburg now wants to develop a faster and reliable diagnosis of high altitude sickness – with a study on Kilimanjaro. The tests have so far been too coarse meshed, says the 37-year-old, who has climbed the mountain already six times: “I want to reduce the mesh size of the sieve.”

Numerous tests

Kreisel is looking for 25 athletes who participate in the study – mountain bikers or mountain runners. From 24 September to 1 October 2017, they are to climb the highest peak in Africa. A three-day training camp is planned at 3,700 meters, an overnight stay at 4,800 meters and a summit attempt. Before and during the trip, numerous medical and also psychological tests will be made. At the same time, the athletes receive data on their performance at high altitude, which should also be useful for their future mountain sports projects.

“Up to now, pursing sport seriously on a mountain like Kilimanjaro was a dream limited to just a few elite athletes,“ says Rainer Braehler, organizer of the “Kilimanjaro Summit Challenge”, “but with this study, ambitious amateur athletes can now test their limits at very high altitudes – with the reassurance of full medical supervision”. Those who are interested in taking part, find the details and can apply on the website of the project.

After the huge ice avalanche

This summer a mega ice avalanche has swept down on the Tibetan plateau. In the Aru Range in northwestern Tibet a whole glacier tongue broke off and tumbled down into the valley. Scientists say it was one of the largest ice avalanches ever recorded. According to the Chinese authorities this natural event, which already occurred on 17 July, killed nine Tibetan herders. More than 350 sheep and 110 yaks were buried under the ice and rock masses. The American space agency NASA now published satellite images which show the dimension: The ice covered an area of ten square kilometers, the lake down in the valley was colored white and the debris piled up 30 meters in some places. The cause of the collapse is still unclear. “Climate change is causing more glacial hazards through mechanisms we do not fully understand,” said the Chinese glaciologist Tian Lide. “There is an urgent need for more monitoring and research efforts, especially in populated areas in high mountains.”

I called the Swiss scientist Samuel Nussbaumer. The 35-year-old glaciologist is working for the World Glacier Monitoring Service (WGMS) in Zurich, which is observing and analyzing the fluctuation of glaciers worldwide.

Before the collapse

How unusual is this massive ice avalanche in Tibet?

The way I see it, really the complete glacier tongue has broken off, the entire lower part. I don’t know about another event of that extent – but of course we only know about what has been documented. In 2002, there was a case of a similar dimension at the Kolka Glacier in the Russian Caucasus (about 140 people died then). But there had been a rockfall first that carried away the ice. We know pretty well, what happened back then. The exact circumstances in Tibet, however, are not yet known.

Samuel Nussbaumer

Are such massive glacial ice avalanches predictable? Are there alarming hints?

Glaciers are in constant movement. Signs are for example the crevasses which can be observed with cameras or high-resolution satellite images. Doing this, such an event could be foreseen. But of course it is not practical to monitor all glaciers worldwide. In the Alps many glaciers are observed. The dimension, however, is much smaller. There are e.g. steep hanging glaciers, where parts are in danger of breaking off and impacting on villages or cable car stations. These glaciers are monitored by automatic cameras. Such glacial collapses can be predicted – e.g. when the ice is flowing faster or the crevasses are getting larger.

Are huge ice avalanches like in Tibet a result of climate change?

You can’t make a statement about it as long as the cause of the event in Tibet is not yet finally clarified. But melt water plays an important role in the process of a sliding glacier tongue. In 1965 we had such an event on the Allalin glacier in Switzerland (88 people died), where the complete glacier tongue broke away too. In these cases there is often plenty of water in the glacier bed on which the ice can slide, and then suddenly it breaks. It’s a well-known phenomenon in steep glaciers, but of course in a much smaller extent than now in Tibet. If the temperatures are higher, the chance is greater that there is more meltwater and that the water on the surface acts like a lubricant.

Dr. Tobias Merz (l.) and his co-expedition leader Dr. Urs Hefti on top of Himlung Himal (© T. Merz)

20 doctors, nearly twice as many test persons. The Swiss research expedition to the seven-thousander Himlung Himal in fall 2013 had the objective to investigate the effects of high altitude on the human body. More than two years later, the first results are there to see. I have talked about it to Dr. Tobias Merz. The 46-year-old is a senior physician at the Department of Intensive Care Medicine at the University Hospital in Bern. Since his youth, Merz has been doing sports in the mountains. So it’s no coincidence that he has committed himself to high altitude medicine too. “In intensive care medicin a disease takes organ systems to the limits of the possible, in high-altitude medicine external conditions are responsible for this,” says Merz. Before going on expedition to Himlang Himal, he had already experienced high altitude as a climber in the Andes and the Himalayas. On the eight-thousander Shishapangma, Merz had reached a height of about 7,600 meters. He then had had to give up his own summit ambitions because he had been needed for a rescue. On Himlung Himal, he stood on the highest point.

Dr. Merz, in 2013 you reached the 7,126 meter-high summit of Himlung Himal. Do you feel somewhat queasy in hindsight if you look at your first research findings?

I already knew that high altitude climbing is a high-risk sport and that it takes you to limits of physiology and rationality. For me, the results were more a confirmation of what I had suspected and less a huge surprise.

But you have worked out something worrying for high altitude mountaineers.

We actually had two important results. One is very reassuring, one very worrying.

On ascent (© T. Merz)

Let’s start with the bad news.

There were 38 probands who were climbing this mountain. 15 of them reached an altitude of more than 7,000 meters. We have found evidence that three of these people suffered from cerebral edema while climbing, means that liquid had leaked from the blood vessels into the brain tissue. In that case the brain is swelling what can turn into a life threatening situation. It was worrying that neither we as doctors nor the test persons had noticed these cerebral edemas. Actually, the classical doctrine is that there a clinical symptoms occurring in parallel to the development of a cerebral edema such as headache, nausea or general sickness and that one has still time to take action, that is first and foremost descending quickly in order to avoid a life-threatening complication. But obviously it is not like that. We think that a cerebral edema can occur without warning. Of course, it makes the situation far more critical if a clinical disaster can happen like out of nowhere, within minutes.

But it was micro bleedings that were not even perceived by the mountaineers.

Correct. On top of the mountain these people felt like those who had no micro-hemorrhages. But these micro-bleedings that we could detect afterwards at the test persons are evidence of significant cerebral edema at high altitude. The good news is that these micro-bleedings can not be equated with brain damage. These climbers have returned and now have a completely normal brain. You can still see a few leaked blood cells, but the brain tissue is unharmed. So the climbers had a narrow escape. They were close to developing a severe cerebral edema. It then requires only a little increase in volume to fall from a normal level of consciousness into a coma.

Blood collection in Base Camp (© T. Merz)

So there are no warnings. But can we even say at which altitude the risk of cerebral edema increases dramatically?

We cannot prove it due to the design of our study. We did the MRIs (Magnetic resonance imaging)  before and after the expedition. The micro-bleedings occurred sometime in between. But we found it only at test persons who were higher than 7,000 meters. This is no proof, but at least an indication. And the affected climbers were those among all who had the lowest oxygen level. During the expedition, we checked the oxygen saturation in arterial blood twice a day.

Is there perhaps a predisposition to High Altitude Cerebral Edema (HACE)? And if yes, is it possible to test this vulnerability in advance?

No, such tests do not exist. We only can say very pragmatically: A person who had already a cerebral edema at 4,000 meters is more likely vulnerable in ever higher altitude than someone who has never had a cerebral edema. But there are no studies on that.

But younger people are probably more vulnerable than older ones. This has more mechanical reasons. The brain volume decreases with age, that is, a 65-year-old has significantly less brain matter in his skull than a young person. If the somewhat shrunken brain begins to swell, it simply has more space than the brain of a 20-year-old, whose skull is actually mostly filled with brain matter.

Would you say in the light of your study that high altitude climbing is irresponsible from a medical perspective?

I would rather say that every climber must consider by himself how much risk he wants to take. He has to be aware that a certain percentage of climbers get a cerebral edema. As in all high risk sports, it’s an individual decision whether one is willing to accept the danger.

You can book an expedition to the mountain we climbed from catalog, paying about 12,000 to 14,000 Euros. We as clients assume that the product which we buy is safe. And we also tend to delegate the responsibility for our well-being to the operator, expedition leader or guide. But it does not work. Actually, any high altitude mountaineer must be aware that he personally has to take this risk and nobody can take over that responsibility from him. This awareness is lacking a bit in commercial high-altitude mountaineering.

Camp 2 on Himlung Himal (© T. Merz)

Also an expedition doctor, if there is one, can do little.

The chance that he is getting sick is the same as for all others. And he can do little to treat the high altitude cerebral edema. It’s even difficult to bring down an ill climber from 7,000 meters. And it has to happen quickly. This brings an expedition very quickly to the verge of its logistical facilities.

Finally once again the good news: The statement that high altitude mountaineering makes stupid belongs to the category of popular misconceptions, doesn’t it?

Yes. For methodological reasons, we had doubts concerning the results of previous studies saying that climbing at higher altitudes, starting already at the height of Mont Blanc, cause brain damage. In these studies usually mountaineers were compared with non-climbers. But if I compare a 45-year-old mountaineer with a 20-year-old medical student, I will always find a relevant difference. That’s why we conducted this study, in which we examined every mountaineer with MRI before and after the expedition. We could neither prove that there is a loss of brain matter, nor that micro-infarctions occur as described in previous studies. Even the three climbers in our group who had micro-hemorrhages suffered no permanent brain damage. The cerebral edema is gone.

Tsho Rolpa in Nepal

Nepal has a problem with its glaciers. Over the past three decades, the 3808 glaciers in the Himalayan country have shrunk by about a quarter. The increased melt created some glacial lakes which scientists call ticking time bombs. One of the biggest of them, Tsho Rolpa, which is located about 100 kilometers northeast of Kathmandu, is estimated to contain between 90 and 100 million cubic meters of water by now. If the natural dam burst, it would have devastating consequences. This week, the Nepalese capital is hosting an international conference, during which more than 200 scientists from around the world exchange their findings about the impact of climate change on the high mountains of Asia – not only on the the Himalayas, but also on Karakoram, Hindu Kush, Tien Shan, Pamir and the Tibetan plateau.

Currently, more water …

Doris Duethmann

Among the scientists in Kathmandu is the German Doris Duethmann. The hydrologist from the Helmholtz Centre Potsdam is researching the water balance at the upper reaches of the river Tarim. “The Tarim runoffs have been increasing sharply over the past 40 years because the higher temperatures led to a greater glacier melt”, the scientist told me (before leaving for Nepal). The Tarim is more than 2000 kilometers long and thus the longest river in Central Asia. It flows north of the Taklamakan Desert and is among others fed by glacier runoff of the Tien Shan mountains including the seven-thousanders  Pik Pobedy (7439 meters) and Khan Tengri (7,010 meters). Especially the arid region at the edge of the Taklamakan is depending on the water from the mountains. In recent decades, the river Tarim has been increasingly tapped to irrigate fields. The strong glacier runoffs made it possible.

… later less

“People expect that it remains the way it is, but someday it will no longer be the case”,  Duethmann predicts. “Now they are living from the increased glacier melt. This will not be permanent, because the melt drain the glaciers. In the northern Tien Shan the ice has declined by 30 percent compared with 30, 40 years ago.” In other words: There is less and less ice that can melt, and water will be short someday. It is difficult to reconcile the different interests, says the hydrologist. On the one hand there are countries on the upper course of the river like Kyrgyzstan and Tajikistan, who use the water of the mountains mainly to generate electricity, on the other hand countries on the lower course such as Uzbekistan and Turkmenistan, which draw much water to irrigate their fields. “The theme of water holds a lot of potential for conflict”, says Doris Duethmann. This makes it all the more important to talk to each other – as the scientists do now at the conference in Kathmandu.

Expedition leader: not an easy task

Cuddle bear or dictator – expedition leaders can be everything between these poles, always looking for the “golden way” to maximum success. How much discussion is useful, how much “Period!” necessary? In the USA, researchers now published an interesting study on the influence of hierarchy on the outcome of expeditions. They interviewed climbers from 27 countries and evaluated the data from a total of 5104 Himalayan expeditions from 1905 until 2012. Their findings: “Hierarchy both elevated and killed in the Himalayas: Expeditions from more hierarchical countries had more climbers reach the summit, but also more climbers die along the way.” Means: Strong hierarchy can increase both summit and fatality rates. On the one hand hierarchy can – due to the lack of permanent discussion – create an atmosphere leading to greater determination. On the other hand it can inhibit low-ranking team members from expressing their doubts, thus increasing the risks for the group. But how can an expedition leader find the right balance? I asked the researchers.

All on the table

Eric Anicich

“Strong leadership will always be important in mountaineering because group coordination is so crucial”, Eric Anicich of the Columbia Business School in New York writes to me. At the same it is important to create an atmosphere where lower-ranking members in particular feel comfortable speaking up and voicing their concerns, says Eric: “One way to accomplish this is for leaders to establish a psychologically safe group culture before the expedition begins and reinforce that culture during the expedition by specifically encouraging climbers to speak up when they have information to share with the group. Effective leadership requires getting all of the relevant information on the table in order to make the most informed decisions possible.” In other words: Authority paired with an open ear increases the chance of summit success.

Narrow ridge

A group must work

I had also asked the researchers whether they had taken into consideration the difference between commercial expeditions (with usually different degrees of performance among the clients) and group expeditions of equally strong climbers. My guess: In commercial expeditions the observed effects should be more pronounced. “I agree with your intuition, but we were not able to test this hypothesis empirically”, says Eric Anicich. He and the other researchers did not have access to reliable data regarding commercial expedition status. “Hierarchy potentially matters more in commercial expeditions where the individual climbers are less likely to know each other before climbing. In this case, a strong leader is needed to coordinate the group’s effort”, Eric believes. “At the same time, climbers on a commercial expedition may be too deferential to the leader, which may prevent them from speaking up and voicing safety concerns.” A narrow ridge. Not that easy to be a good expedition leader.