overcrowding in the visitor experience: to define ways to...
TRANSCRIPT
Climber’s Perceptions on Mount Everest: Measuring Crowding
Issues, Challenges, Success, and Environmental Issues
Sources: AdventureStats. 2007. http://www.adventurestats.com/tables/EverestAgeFat.shtml,
Salisbury, R. 2007. The Himalayan Database: The Expedition Archives of Elizabeth Hawley.
A crowded Hillary Step. Photo: Eric AlexanderCamp IV, South Col. Photo: Paul Adler
Poster Background Photo: Jon Kedrowski
Jon Kedrowski
Research Proposal
Department of Geography, Texas State University—San Marcos, TXPhoto: dailygalaxy.com
Goals
• To examine the visitor experience in association with overcrowding and subsequent climber’s perception of risk and challenges on Mount Everest.
• To define ways to address the specifics of the overcrowding in the visitor experience:• natural hazards on the standard routes.
• crowding ‘high crimes’ (Kodas 2008).
• environmental issues.
• definitions of ‘success’ and ‘summit fever’.
Research Objectives
• Develop new knowledge about the different demographic backgrounds, visitor experiences and perception of inherent risks associated with a typical summit attempt of the highest mountain on Earth.
• Utilize a surveying technique to gauge the overall impressions of climbers from a typical season of expeditions.
• Enhance understanding as to how the visitor experience to Mount Everest is perceived and how it can be improved so that risk to all who venture there (as well as damage to the surrounding environment) can be lowered and managed by the various stakeholders involved.
Conceptual Framework of Survey
THED
“Degradation Scenario”
Change in
Risk &
Challenge
Perceptions
“Summit Fever”
Mount Everest
Overcrowding Risk
Taking
“Before”
“During”
“After”
Definition of
„Success‟ on
Everest Ethical
Mountaineering
Climber Demographic
Backgrounds
Unethical
Mountaineering
Background
• Theory of Himalayan Environmental Degradation (THED) (Ives 1987, 1989).
• Sagarmatha (Mt. Everest) National Park ‘degradation scenario’ (Byers 2005) verified by prior research (Byers 1987a, 1987b, 1987c, 1997, Fisher 1990, Brower 1991, Stevens 1993, 1997, Brower and Dennis 1998).
• Mountaineering “Summit Fever” on Mt. Everest has an indirect ripple effect on both the THED and ‘degradation scenario’.
• ‘Highest peak phenomenon’ = increasing issues (Kodas 2008).
Mount Everest Summits Since 1975
0
100
200
300
400
500
600
700
19
75
19
77
19
79
19
81
19
83
19
85
19
87
19
89
19
91
19
93
19
95
19
97
19
99
20
01
20
03
20
05
20
07
Year
Su
mm
its
Summits
Mount Everest Deaths Since 1975
0
2
4
6
8
10
12
14
16
1975
1977
1979
1981
1983
1985
1987
1989
1991
1993
1995
1997
1999
2001
2003
2005
2007
Year
Fata
liti
es
Deaths
Sources: AdventureStats. 2007. http://www.adventurestats.com/tables/EverestAgeFat.shtml,
Salisbury, R. 2007. The Himalayan Database: The Expedition Archives of Elizabeth Hawley.
Acknowledgements• Thanks to Texas State University—San Marcos Graduate College and Department of Geography for providing
partial funding for Cryosphere & Hazards 2008 Workshop attendance and presentation.
• Special thanks to the Mountain Research Initiative (MRI), The International Centre for Integrated Mountain Development (ICIMOD), and the conference selection committee at the University of Nebraska-Omaha who provided partial funding for trip support, transportation, and Cryosphere & Hazards 2008 Workshop attendance.
• David R. Butler, Ph.D., Texas State University, Advisor and Chair of Dissertation Committee.
ReferencesBreivik, G. 1996. Personality, sensation seeking and risk taking among Everest climbers. International Journal of Sport Psychology 27: 308-320.
Brower, B. 1991. Sherpa of Khumbu: People, Livestock, and Landscape. Delhi: Oxford University Press, 202 p.
Brower, B., Dennis, A. 1998. Grazing the forest, shaping the landscape? Continuing the debate about forest dynamics in Sagarmatha National Park. In
Nature’s Geography: New Lessons for Conservation in Developing Countries, ed. K. S. Zimmerer and K. S. Young, 184–213. Madison: University of
Wisconsin Press.
Burke, S., Orlick, T. 2003. Mental strategies of elite Mount Everest climbers. Journal of Excellence 8: 42-58.
Byers, A. C. 1987a. An assessment of landscape change in the Khumbu Region of Nepal using repeat photography. Mountain Research and Development 7(1):
77–81.
Byers, A.C. 1987b. A geoecological study of landscape change and man-accelerated soil loss: the case of the Sagarmatha (Mt.Everest) National
Park, Khumbu, Nepal. PhD dissertation. Ann Arbor, MI: University Microfilms International.
Byers, A.C. 1987c. Landscape change and man-accelerated soil loss: The case of Sagarmatha (Mt. Everest) National Park, Nepal. Mountain Research and
Development 7(3): 209–216.
Byers, A.C. 1997. Landscape change in the Sagarmatha (Mt. Everest) National Park, Nepal. Himalayan Research Bulletin XVII :(2). Special issue: SoluKhumbu
and the Sherpa.
Byers, A.C. 2005. Contemporary human impacts on alpine ecosystems in the Sagarmatha (Mt. Everest) National Park, Khumbu, Nepal. Annals of Association of
American Geographers 95(1): 112-140.
Delle Fave, A., Bassi, M., Massimini, F. 2003. Quality of experience and risk perception in high-altitude rock climbing. Journal of Applied Sport Psychology
15(1): 82-98.
Ewert, A.W. 1985. Why people climb: the relationship of participant motives and experience level to mountaineering. Journal of Leisure Research 17: 241-250.
Ewert, A.W. 1991. Managing a scarce natural resource: the high-altitude mountaineering setting. In: Proceedings of the International Conference and Workshop
Summaries Book of the International Association for Experiential Education (19th, Lake Junaluska, NC, Oct. 24-27, 1991), 131-136.
Ewert, A.W. 1994. Playing the edge: motivation and risk taking in a high-altitude wildernesslike environment. Environment and Behavior 26(1): 3-24.
Fisher, J. F. 1990. Sherpas: Reflections on Change in Himalayan Nepal. Berkeley: University of California Press, 205 p.
Kodas, M. 2008. High Crimes: The Fate of Everest in an Age of Greed. New York: Hyperion, 372 p.
Stevens, S. F. 1993. Claiming High Ground: Sherpas, Subsistence, and Environmental Change in the Highest Himalaya. Berkeley: University of California
Press, 540 p.
Stevens, S.F. 1997. (ed.) Conservation Through Cultural Survival: Indigenous Peoples and Protected Areas. Washington, DC: Island Press, 361 p.
Research Questions
1. What factors have a significant effect on the mountain climber’s perception, including fears and challenges encountered on Mount Everest during all phases of an expedition?
2. What is the relationship of success versus overall climbing experience on Mount Everest? In addition, what actually constitutes true ‘success’ on Everest?
Research Questions (cont.)
3. Are the levels of crowding and environmental degradation within acceptable limits for the Everest climbers?
4. What are major similarities and differences within the Everest climber demographics regarding questions #1 ,#2, & #3?
5. What are some feasible solutions to critical concepts based on the climbers and their responses?
Methodology
• 40-item questionnaire administered on site for all three phases of the expedition:—“Before”, “during”, “after”.
• Survey organization by the following categories:—Climber demographics
—Prior experience and expertise
—Perceptions of fears/challenges encountered
—Over-crowding and environmental concerns
Methodology (Cont.)
Following Data Collection:
1. Experience and Skill Level Analysis.
2. Factors Affecting Climbers Perceptions.
3. Rank Correlation Analysis of Overcrowding Issues.
4. Critical Concept Analysis.
5. Discussion of Solutions for Survey Results.
South Standard Route: Everest Basecamp, Nepal, at the
base of the Khumbu Icefall
(17,575’/5357m).
North Standard Route:Everest Basecamp, Tibet, at the
head of the Rongbuk Glacier
(16,400’/5000m).
Study Area LocationsBackground (cont.)
• Visitor experience in mountaineering is only moderately documented.
– Relationships between climber’s motives and levels of experience (Ewert 1985, 1994).
– Overcrowding and environmental quality within acceptable limits (Ewert 1991).
– Himalayas: quality of experience and risk perception (Breivik 1996, Delle Fave et al. 2003), defining mental strategies and relationship to success (Burke
& Orlick 2003).
Photo: NASA Images
Photo: Paul Auerbach, M.D.
Nepal Basecamp—5357m
Significance
• From a geographer’s perspective:
– Variables comprising important components of ‘summit fever’ will be isolated
– Demographics of climbers and the relationships drawn from specific issues on Everest escalated by the overcrowding will be analyzed by examining perceptions
– Critical concepts will also be related to the overcrowding concerns (environmental, cultural, economical, political) and conclusions may be drawn
Near Tibet Basecamp—5000m
Road leading into Everest BC. Photo: Jo Singh
Conclusions
Focused innovations of the project include:1. Explanation and geographic assessment of climber demographics: who the climbers are, where they are from, and what brings them to climb Everest.2. Evaluation of the mountaineering experience, expertise, and skill level of climbers on Mount Everest to determine how qualified the climbers actually are (prior to the climb), and then determine how experienced the climbers themselves think they should be in order to climb the peak.3. A probabilistic view of factors affecting climber’s perceptions of mountaineering on a high peak within the temporal aspects of a climbing expedition (‘before’, ‘during’, and ‘after’).
Conclusions (Cont.)
Project innovations (cont.):
4. A site-specific and detailed location determination of the overcrowding and environmental problems on the highest mountain in the world.
5. Popular critical concepts addressed in regards to associated challenges on the mountain that may be applied to other mountains as well.
6. Valuable insight for the Nepalese and Tibetan governments to help manage the permit systems and mitigate escalating problems on Mount Everest.
FY 2009 FY 2010 FY 2011
2008 2009 2010 2011
SUMMER
& FALL
SPRING
SUMMER
FALL
SPRING
SUMMER
FALL
SPRING
SUMMER
Pilot
Study
Initial
Data
Review
Logistics & Planning for
South Col Side
(NEPAL)
South Col
Survey
Finalized
Acquisition of Data via Survey
(Everest BC,
NEPAL)
Everest Climb
South Col
Route
South Col Data Analysis
Experience &
Skill Level
Analysis
Climbers Perception &
Overcrowding
Analysis
Logistics & Planning for
North Col Side
(TIBET)
Begin Dissertation
Report
Oral Report (Dissertation
Defense)
Dissertation Final Submission
(South Col Only)
North Col Survey
Finalized IRB
Approval
Acquisition of Data via Survey
(Everest BC,
TIBET)
Everest Climb
North Col
Route
North Col Data Analysis
Experience &
Skill Level
Analysis
Climbers Perception &
Overcrowding
Analysis
Oral Report (North Col
Only)
Comparative
Analysis
(North & South
Combined)
Oral
Report
Begin Final
Reports
& Book
Project TimelineGaps in Literature
• Awareness of “Summit Fever” by the Everest climbing community on specific issues (examined across the climber demographics):
– Overcrowding on all aspects of an Expedition
• “Before”, “during” and “after” perceptions
• Assessing specific locations where crowding is a problem
— Critical Concepts
• Definition of success for today’s Everest climber
• Environmental/human ethics shaping quality of visitor experience
Trash & discarded
oxygen bottles
litter Camp IV, South Col
Photo: Mike Richard
Everest: a very crowded mountain. Photo: Dariusz Zaluski
Kedrowski ©2008