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Part III of III: Who's responsible? 
There are differences in the preparation and actual progress between commercial and private expeditions, but what about after the expedition when everyone is safe and sound back at home? This is perhaps where the biggest differences are evident between guided and unguided expeditions, hindsight. On a private expedition a climber is supposed to be responsible for him/herself. If he/she turns around or decides not to climb, he/she is accountable for their own actions, and that accountability is taken off the mountain and returns back home with them. To what point does a client relinquish responsibility and accountability? An inherent reality on a commercial expedition is that the clients relinquish some control, responsibility, and accountability to the guides – that is their job and that is why clients chose to go with a guide. This might seem obvious, but what is not always clear is to what degree those qualities are relinquished to the guide and how much is retained in the clients themselves. Where is the line drawn? To what point does a client relinquish responsibility and accountability? This is question that arises all too often in the mountains these days. When a private expedition summits or turns around, they are responsible for their own achievement or failure. When a commercial expedition fails and a client doesn’t summit, who takes responsibility? “People sometimes try to find someone to be responsible for them not summiting,” As the owner of a commercial outfit, Ralf has had many successful ascents, but also some summit misses. The critics Most recently a client who was on Ralf’s Manaslu expedition this Spring returned home without a summit, and some bumps and bruises after a fall on the way down the next day. The client wrote an unfavorable article in a German climbing journal. “It takes those who are guiding years to earn a good reputation – on the other side there are those few articles.” Ralf is no stranger to criticism and is open to it, “When criticism is soundly formulated, I am happy to get criticism. But when you have the feeling it is complete nonsense, then you really feel uncomfortable with what was written . . . They did not ask me my opinion before publishing the article, but once it is published I don’t like to respond back.” What does all this about responsibility mean to a climber? When looking to climb a big mountain, assess your needs. If you chose to go with a guide look at all the information possible, see what is offered, what isn’t offered, and most importantly seek out all the facts. Looking forward to Kangch Despite a bad article, Ralf is unfazed and it has not affected his business. His energies are all ready focused towards the spring climbing season and his private expedition to Kangchenjunga. Maybe afterwards he’ll be less mum about all 14? |