Many articles are written about mountaineering, but few approach it from a Strategic Thinking perspective. This article however skips over the climbing detail of our ascent of the Matterhorn, and instead focuses on the strategic aspects. A simple, yet fundamental, model of Strategic Thinking considers the relationship between Goal, Strategy, Tactics and Teamwork. First the Goal must be clearly agreed, then a Strategy determined. Tactics are then the flexible implementation of the Strategy as circumstances change. Effective Teamwork is central to the whole process.
The Goal was simple, but not easy – climb the iconic Matterhorn (4478m), with my friend Graham, by the Lion Ridge from Breuil-Cervinia in Italy during an unmoveable ten day trip in late July 2016, and then get down safely. This satisfies all of the criteria of a SMART Goal, being Specific, Measurable, Achievable, Realistic and Timebound. Ours was a challenging goal because of the vagaries of weather and snow conditions on the mountain. A suitable weather window is by no means guaranteed and sometimes the mountain is too snowy to climb, even in July. At other times the mountain is so dry that the rocks are loosened and there is the danger of rockfall. In summer 2015 for example the mountain was officially closed to climbers for this reason.
Our Strategy then was to plan for two good-weather windows, using the first window to acclimatize on other peaks, then rest for a short period, before finally going for our primary goal in the second weather window. This plan was based on my experience in the alps that fine weather windows of 3-4 days are interspersed with a couple of days of stormy, unsettled weather. Prior acclimatization is an important part of the strategy as the chance of summit success is much diminished if a climber is slow and/or exhausted. A further part of the strategy was to position ourselves in sight of the peak in Breuil-Cervinia once we were acclimatized and ready to climb. On previous trips I have been based elsewhere and been put off travelling to the Matterhorn by the conflicting reports of weather and conditions on the internet. We decided we needed to judge conditions for ourselves and not rely on others. The real challenge with the Matterhorn is that after a poor weather period it takes time for the snow on the mountain to melt and for the mountain to come into condition. Depending on the sun and temperature this can take several days, perhaps not even coming into condition before the next storm comes in.
When we arrived in Italy it was very warm and the Matterhorn was in good condition but we were not yet acclimatized. We based ourselves in Courmayeur with instant access to the high mountains via a cable car. We spent two days and a night acclimatising around the Torino hut at 3,375m, doing easy climbs and importantly getting our equipment sorted and gaining comfort with climbing together in the alps once again. We came down to the valley and then also climbed a 10 pitch rock route together in the valley before the predicted bad weather arrived. At this point, as planned, we drove around to Breuil-Cervinia in the pouring rain.
The first day in Breuil-Cervinia was a washout with just occasional glimpses of the mountain in the cloud showing fresh accumulations of snow. Much of the precipitation was falling by day however, when the temperature was higher, and we hoped it was raining on the mountain as well, washing some of the snow away. It was a very unpredictable period of weather, which made forecasting very difficult. Every weather forecast we viewed would say something different and so we found ourselves relying very much on our own judgement. In fact experience has taught me that some mountain forecasts are very pessimistic, perhaps because they don’t want to send people up a mountain unprepared! If in doubt however, you can always rely on the good old Atlantic Pressure Chart and with high pressure due over Northern Italy on Tuesday, that was to be our summit day. So we decided upon a strategy; make two hut stops on the way up the mountain, first at the comfortable Abbruzzi hut at 2850m, reaching the higher Carrel hut (3,850m) at lunchtime on Monday to acclimatize further and be sure of getting a bed that night (first come, first served). Then an early rise on Tuesday morning for our climb to the summit. We also decided to carry enough food up to the Carrel hut for two nights, in case bad weather or poor climbing conditions demanded a second night in the hut.
On the climb upto the Carrel hut we easily passed a couple of unacclimatized climbers who had arrived from sea level in Genoa that morning. They later arrived at the hut exhausted. We arrived at the hut at lunchtime and bagged our beds; all was well. Steadily, over the course of the afternoon, the hut filled until by evening it was overflowing. Our strategy risked being thwarted by 60 climbers, of varying ability, queuing for the first climbing pitch directly above the hut at dawn and delaying our climb so much that summiting would be impossible. What were we to do?
This is when Tactics become important. We could wait a day but our strategy had determined Tuesday to be the best day and Wednesday could be even busier or the weather could deteriorate. At dinner time the guides made an unexpected announcement that they would be leaving the hut at 5am and others would be well advised to follow them to aid route finding in the dark or be overtaken (the guides reputation for speed preceded them). We decided to remain with our plan to leave the hut at 4am however, and accept that the guided parties would overtake us, but in doing so they would hopefully reveal the route in the dark (guidebooks advise leaving at dawn as route finding in the dark is so difficult). We figured that losing some time in the dark was less of an issue than being delayed by queues of climbers on the first pitch bottleneck at 5am.
Overnight there was a storm on the mountain and this potentially knocked the confidence of other climbers. We stayed with our plan however and got up at 3.30am with a clearing sky, so we breakfasted quickly and set off first from the hut. The guides had adopted their own devious strategy – deceive the rest of the hut that they would leave at 5am but then leave at 4am. We were overtaken by them with their clients shortly after the first pitch!
Conditions were poor on the mountain following the storm. The rock was iced up and there was fresh snow on the ledges. This slowed progress for us and for the guides. Guided parties overtook us however, one by one, but each revealed the next section of the route until dawn came. We made good progress through the morning, and were the first non-guided party to summit although, at seven hours, slower than we had hoped due to the very mixed conditions. We spent half an hour on the summit in beautiful weather enjoying the view and taking photographs.
The author on the Italian summit of the Matterhorn
On the way down it became apparent that others had not fared so well. For a start, later parties did not a get a view from the summit as the weather had fogged in. Those we passed on our way down summited in the mist and were very late down. Others turned back before summiting and were still late down. We arrived back at the Carrel hut at 6.30pm and decided to stay a second night at the hut. Our strategy of taking enough food for a second night had paid off. Another party set off down from the hut at 7pm as they had only an apple left to eat between them. It rained during their descent and they likely got down to Breuil-Cervinia at around midnight, wet and exhausted.
We had a comfortable night’s sleep, particularly enjoying our warm blankets when other climbers rose in the dark for their turn to climb the mountain. We had a leisurely breakfast and set off down, reaching the comfort of the Abruzzi hut by lunchtime for a beer and proper meal. Safely down, our Goal had been achieved, our Strategy had been successful and our Tactics had paid off. We felt good.
Graham and I chatted about how, as friends and climbing partners of 20+ years, we had shared a clear and common goal. We had found joint decision making fairly easy. Although we had differences of opinion, we worked through them and arrived at good decisions. We were able to be open and honest with each other, often in humour. We trusted each other both on and off the mountain. We made a good team. Teamwork is the glue that gives the best chance of achieving a goal by allowing good strategy and tactics to be developed and to flourish.
After returning home we read of two British climbers who died on the same route we had climbed, just nine days after our successful ascent. As far as we could ascertain from media reports they turned around late, having failed to reach the summit, and were caught in a storm on the way down. Their bodies were found frozen, not too far above the hut, in light clothing. The absence of an effective Strategy and Tactics can have fatal consequences on the Matterhorn. We reflected upon a further element of our strategy so far not mentioned in this article; the importance of carrying spare clothing and an effective emergency survival bag allowing a night to be spent in the open if required.
The theme of a need for effective Strategic Thinking is similar on all mountains. I could have written a similar article about my expedition to Everest in 2008 during which a clear Goal was also achieved. The detail would of course have been different, but the Strategic decisions of acclimatization schedule, mountain conditions, weather gap, positioning on the mountain, timing (considering other expeditions on the mountain), food and equipment were all similar but on a different scale (over 8 weeks for Everest instead of 10 days for our Matterhorn trip). The Tactical decisions on summit day would also be similar; when to leave camp, pace, route finding in the dark, weather and snow conditions, turnaround time, energy conservation etc. Teamwork is clearly even more important in a larger team over a longer period of time living in uncomfortable conditions a long way from home. Sadly there have also been many deaths over the years on Everest, just as there have on the Matterhorn, often in situations where Strategy, Tactics and Teamwork have not been effectively conceived and/or implemented. In fact when viewed through a Strategic Thinking lens, the 2015 film “Everest” (based on the disastrous 1996 season on Everest about which much has been written) is a Masterclass in Goal, Strategy, Tactics and Teamwork.
Finally, whilst in business poor Strategic Thinking does not involve actual death it can lead to the death of organisations. Think of Kodak, Blockbuster Video and, more recently, BHS. Goal, Strategy, Tactics and Teamwork are almost universally applicable!
Posted by Mark Procter