Technical Advice
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Avalanche: Does the Accident Route Matrix have a place?
Read more: Avalanche: Does the Accident Route Matrix have a place?Accident Route Matrix Does the Accident Route Matrix (ARM) have a place in understanding avalanche incidents? In this blog we look at systems based incident analysis. These methods look at all the causal factors in incidents far beyond the “who triggered it” strategy of individual decision making. There are lots of tools for assessing the…
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Super Puma G-WNSB
Read more: Super Puma G-WNSBToday marks the tenth anniversary of the loss of Super Puma G-WNSB on the approach to Sumburgh (Shetland) with four fatalities. Although the Mountain Assurance blog is really about the mountains, this tragic incident is important for a couple of reasons. The crew of Rescue Bond One, the industry rescue helicopter based on the Miller…
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Human Factors – Change the person or the context?
Read more: Human Factors – Change the person or the context?Human Factors – Change the person or the context? Procedures that we don’t always follow, even if we should. After incidents and near misses in the outdoors much of the conversation around learning from these events is focused on the performance of the instructor or guide concerned. I recognise that as normal, in that the…
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Swipe Right! – Decision Making in avalanche terrain…
Read more: Swipe Right! – Decision Making in avalanche terrain…Alison shouted AVALANCHE, as the wet slide exited the hidden couloir well above us. The volume seemed to build exponentially until the snow hit the frozen lake below. Breaking the ice, the debris started a tidal wave across the lakes surface. Seconds earlier we had faced a “go or no go” decision. We were fully…
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1:x What’s in a mountain guiding ratio?
Read more: 1:x What’s in a mountain guiding ratio?1:x What’s in a mountain guiding ratio? 1:1, 1:2 Cultural norms, local customs, regulation and why small ratio groups are more important than you think. The situation I found myself in was suboptimal. ‘Tower Ridge’ is normally climbed roped up, with one or two clients per instructor or guide, using the techniques of short-roping and…
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The Normalisation of Deviance and how I nearly killed myself at an avalanche “safe” venue…
Read more: The Normalisation of Deviance and how I nearly killed myself at an avalanche “safe” venue…MOVE, MOVE, MOVE, we pushed forwards in towards the cliff as we were hit by the air blast. Pelted by chunks of snow I wrapped my arms around my head and waited either for the avalanche, or my life, to end… Moments before I was gearing up at the bottom of the classic ice climb…
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Attentional Narrowing: Why mountain guides and pilots know it can put you in harms way
Read more: Attentional Narrowing: Why mountain guides and pilots know it can put you in harms wayI levelled the wings and pointed the glider back towards the tarmac triangle of the three runways. The uncomfortable truth of my situation was glaring back at me. Attentional narrowing meant there was a good chance I might not make it back to the airfield… The day had started as a normal but mediocre gliding…
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CASM – A Human Factors Group Tool
Read more: CASM – A Human Factors Group ToolGuides, Instructors and leaders operating in the UK in avalanche terrain frequently travel in groups, but yet there remains very little research into the ‘Non Technical Skills’ required to mitigate avalanche terrain. CASM is a proposed Human Factors group tool which is based on Crew Resource Management (CRM) training from the aviation sector, an inevitably…
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Mountain CRM: An interview with a Search and Rescue Helicopter Pilot
Read more: Mountain CRM: An interview with a Search and Rescue Helicopter PilotWhile Mountain Assurance was preparing to launch ‘Mountain CRM’, we decided to share this short audio interview with Search and Rescue (SAR) helicopter pilot Graham Stein. I know many of you have been waiting for ‘Mountain CRM’ and this online course is available now via the Mountain Assurance Teachable site. Despite the additional time available…
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- Avalanche: Does the Accident Route Matrix have a place?
- Learning from incidents, and going beyond story telling?
- Super Puma G-WNSB
- Human Factors – Change the person or the context?
- Swipe Right! – Decision Making in avalanche terrain…
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