Climbing Mount Everest 

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I. Challenge:

Haven't you ever felt to be on top of the world? Mount Everest provides the opportunity to literally stand on top of the world and this experience continues to be the life-time dream of many. Mountaineers have been attempting to scale this peak since 1921 and yet, barely 5000 have made it to the top, in a whole century post the first attempt. This, in itself, demonstrates the extremity of the challenge. Nearly 300 deaths have been reported in these attempts, of which more than 200 bodies are still lost in the wilderness of its snowscape.

The major reason for deaths is caused due to fatigue which arises due to lack of oxygen. The oxygen level at the summit is 33% of that at sea level. Even though mountaineers do carry supplemental oxygen in their backpacks, these get over as they spend long overs in the 'Death Zone', which is the zone between Camp 4 and the Summit. 

Most of the climb occurs in the month of May (for the whole year) and this itself is restricted to one or two weeks of good weather. Hence, a lot of people (over 600) attempt to climb in a short window of time. This leads to huge crowding along the trail, which results in mountaineers spending a longer time, thus increasing the fatigue levels and risks of oxygen depletion.

II. Storyboard (Before):

The video below shows the length of queues that exist during the climb at Mt Everest. This results in long exposure to the extreme climatic conditions, which causes the majority of the deaths.

Intent: Thrill of conquering Mt Everest
Action: Reaching Mt Everest base camp and making the climb
Pain: Injuries/Fatality

Please play in full-screen mode to see the content properly.

III. Solution:

The solution proposed is two-fold:

1. Permit Regulation: The Government should impose a limit on the number of permits that are issued each year. The capping can be, for instance, set at 500 for each year. In addition, Government must ensure that only those who have prior experience in climbing peaks of 7000 or above meters is allowed the permit as opposed to the current scenario where even someone with no mountaineering experience is allowed to climb the tallest peak in the world.

2. Mandatory Simulated Test: All the summit seekers must undergo a mandatory physical and mental test which simulates the conditions similar to Mount Everest. This will ensure that only those who are completely conditioned to withstand the extreme conditions (low oxygen levels) and have high physical stamina are allowed to attempt scaling the peak.  The simulation test can be done prior to the climb.

IV. Storyboard (After):

The video below shows that the permit regulations must be made more strict and a simulation test be performed to ensure a successful summit climb.

Intent: Thrill of conquering Mt Everest
Solution: Regulated Permits and Physical Tests before the climb
Gain: Enjoying the journey and reaching safely back to base camp

Please play in full-screen mode to see the content properly.

V. Wireframe:

The pictures below depict the processes at the Government office and the mandatory physical test:

VI. One-day experiment:

The one-day experiment would be done as below for each of the solutions:

1. Permit Regulation: In order to perform the experiment, we need a control set and a random sample set.  It is easy to obtain both these sets. This has to be done in two ways:

A. Mountaineering Experience of Climbers:

For the control, we will select only those climbers who have prior mountaineering experience of scaling 7000m or above peaks. For the random sample set, it will be a mix of mountaineers selected at random, which will have a mix of experienced and inexperienced climbers. 

B. Number of climbers:

Five hundred (proposed Government limit) divided by the number of days in an average season and the number of climbs per day will give the upper limit for the control. The control climb will be selected where the number of climbers is lower than the upper limit. For the random sample set, it will be any other random climb at a different point of time on the same day.

Using this method, we can create the control and sample sets without the Government having to actually implement this rule.

2. Mandatory Simulated Test:

It is possible to set up a set of physical tests which can measure the stamina of the climber for the purpose of the one-day experiment. This would include tests which will measure the cardio performance in low oxygen environments, attained through wearing masks. In this case, the control set will be those who have passed the physical test to endure the extreme climatic conditions and the sample set will those who did not pass the test. 

Hypothesis: 

The ones in the control set in both the first and second solution sets will be having lesser number of injuries and more stamina at the end of ascent and descent as compared to the sample set.

VII. Conclusion:

If the hypothesis is proven right, then Government proposing permit regulations and making it mandatory for the mountaineers to pass the physical and mental test would be a move to ensure lesser casualties and fatalities in the climb. 

Currently, the Government issues the permit for only one year. This would mean that if a mountaineer fails the mandatory simulation test, he will not be allowed to climb and hence, he will have to lose the amount spent on the permit ($11,000). This can be overcome if the Government provides a refund of this amount in instances where the climber does not pass the test or increase the validity period to three years so that the climbers who have failed the test can improve their physique and attempt two more times. These changes would result in a safer climbing experience for all those who seek the scale Mount Everest.