Editor’s Note: The essay below is drawn from an evening talk given to Club members by fellow member Mick Learoyd. Mick is a skilled climber and mountaineer with decades of experience, adventures and escapades, including some near misses. Mick has bought knowledge and insight from his former career as a insurance risk assessor to thinking about the place of risk in the game we all play.
“ADVENTURE” : The word for me conjures up images of unique situations, exciting moments, and unfamiliar places. Often, this takes place with friends and special bonds are formed as a consequence. Adventure is enriching. Adventure helps us to grow as individuals as we push and explore our personal boundaries. By testing ourselves, particularly in the game we all play in the greater outdoors, we are better prepared for the challenges of our day-to-day lives.
Uunforeseeable things can happen
By committing to an adventure and perhaps stepping out of our comfort zone, we accept that unforeseeable things can happen. How much you want that is your appetite for risk.
For me, the unknown element is a large part of the attraction, as well as the physical and mental challenges. The degree of risk that we take on is our risk tolerance; and in climbing and mountaineering the potential or severity of loss can be high. You could literally kill yourself!
Unknown or unexpected circumstances can be arduous, stressful and even dangerous. But we all learn important things about ourselves by contending with and overcoming these challenges as safely as possible. This is risk control. When control is lacking, we end up pushing too close to or beyond our competence — we experience a “near-miss”. But it can be dangerous and we learn rather too alarmingly.
Assessing the environment of your adventure, understanding your physical and mental limitations, and knowing how to use the correct equipment correctly is how you control the risk.
The peak of unconscious incompetence
Ideally your skills, experience and personal confidence to attempt such adventures go hand in hand. But that is not always the case.
The Dunning-Kruger effect explains this relationship (figure above). All too often in climbing and mountaineering, unfavourable outcomes occur when confidence is high and knowledge, skills, experience and self-awareness are low. Lack of preparation, arrogance and/or complacency are a dangerous mix; as numerous recent mountain rescue call-outs attest. You’re at the peak of unconscious incompetence.
We should always look to learn from our experiences as well as from the experience of others. From time to time we each should reflect on the outcomes of our adventures and on our performance. We should aim to improve our knowledge and skills by correcting our failings. Setbacks do happen but we should not be put off by them and we can learn from them. “It was too windy to go any higher”, or “I couldn’t quite reach the hold and I fell off”. This is how we build our resilience to risk.
Progress up the slope of enlightenment (right-side of figure above) is never-ending and for me is a goal worth pursuing. A “plateau of sustainability”, which is different for each of us, appears where there is equilibrium between our confidence and tolerance of risk on the one hand, and our competency, experience, and ability to control risk on the other. The alternative is that we continue to swing between extremes of overconfidence and fear.
Systematically removing uncertainty
Being methodical and systematically removing uncertainty is the key to success. And this is true whether we’re talking about rock climbing, hill/mountain-walking or any other branch of mountaineering. In general terms (that I’ve chosen to be equally applicable for all branches) uncertainty can be removed by: rehearsing moves, memorising sequences, planning contingencies, and eliminating external variables such as weather and soundness of route.
Our sport is special and by committing to these adventures, we experience unique, beautiful, and sometimes extraordinary moments: in the environment we play the game in, among our good friends, and within our individual Selves. These moments and “special situations” would not have been part of my life if I had not accepted the risk of engaging in climbing and mountaineering. Successes provide me (and others that experience similar success) with powerful senses of identity and personal worth. They develop one’s self-confidence.
Understanding my own appetite for and tolerance of risk has taught me to take informed, calculated decisions—trusting my knowledge, experience, and intuition to create many treasured moments, while also learning to recognise when a situation is unsafe or slipping beyond my control. Wanting to live to fight another day has shown me that turning back, setting aside ambition, or resisting pressure to push on is not weakness but wisdom. And the same holds true for all of us: understanding your own risk tolerance, listening to experience and intuition, and knowing when to retreat are the disciplines that keep us safe and ready for the next adventure.
Caution alone cannot lead to a fulfilling life
Yet caution alone cannot lead to a fulfilling life. There is a different kind of cost in letting a realistic dream slip by untouched. Attempting something bold and falling short may leave a bruise or worse, but the regret of an untested ambition lasts far longer. It is often the opportunities we never take that echo the loudest in later years.
That is why it matters to embrace the experiences that call to you. The moments you earn through effort, share with others, and later reflect upon become the memories that shape your character and your confidence. They are the stories you carry forward into every future challenge. As Robert Swan, the polar explorer, once reminded me: “Remember to stop, reflect, appreciate… and smell the roses.”
Risk and adventure should be part of everyone’s lives and what better way to undertake it than with friends of like-mind and passion? That is something to be cherished and appreciated, and being a member of Club can create that shared special experience.
END.