Latent Threats: When training bites back. This blog is about Latent Threats. Threats that lurk undetected in training systems, procedures and practice. In a previous blog post, Threat Managers: Rethinking Risk, we described the approach of Threat and Error Management. Specifically we described threats as being inherent in mountaineering, the need to manage them, and…
Threat Managers: Rethinking risk. This blog is about the management of risk in the outdoor sector, the challenges with risk and a way forward. Here I argue that we need to rethink our notions of risk, explaining the approach of Threat and Error Management (TEM). Mountain Professionals are well placed to act as “Threat Managers”.…
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…
Today 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…
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…
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…
With the first snow on the Cairngorms now is a good time to talk about the launch of Mountain CRM. This online course is an introduction to ‘Crew Resource Management’ and ‘Human Factors’ in Avalanche Terrain. You can find this course over on the Mountain Assurance Teachable site at https://mountain-assurance.teachable.com/p/mountain-crm. You will learn how to…
In December 2014 there was much discussion within the UK instructional and guiding community following the Fatal Accident Inquiry Determination into the tragic death of Graham Paterson on the Isle of Skye. Sheriff Principal Derek CW Pyle made the following recommendations under the Fatal Accidents and Sudden Deaths Inquiry (Scotland) Act 1976: 1. Consideration should…
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