The Times They Are A Changin’: The Effect of Institutional Change on Cooperative Behaviour at 26,000 ft over Sixty Years

This narrative and empirical analysis investigates Hilary's claim that in his day they would not have left a man behind to die. The authors examine over 60 years of Himalayan climbing data and stories in order to test the changes in cooperation in this extreme life and death environment. In 2006, Sir Edmund Hillary lambasted the modern climbing fraternity for abandoning other climbers to a slow frozen death on Everest, claiming that in his day they would never leave someone to die. This followed the controversial death of David Sharp, passed by an estimated 40 climbers who were more interested in the summit than the life of a fellow human being. But was this stinging criticism true or just the faded recollections of a former climbing giant? This book investigates that claim through a narrative analysis, which combines the empirical analysis of Hawley and Salisbury's Himalayan Expedition Database with the anecdotal evidence provided by a plethora of newspaper articles and books. While there is evidence supporting the claim that commercialization is to blame for the breakdown of pro-social behaviour, the results cannot conclude if it is the commercial climber or the operator driving the problem and that the Sherpa are the saving grace Cover 1 Half-Title 2 Title 4 Copyright 5 Dedication 6 Contents 7 List of Illustrations 8 Acknowledgements 9 1 Introduction 10 2 Historical Development 20 3 Commercialization 33 4 Data and Methodology 44 5 Analysis 53 6 Alternative Explanations 64 7 Conclusions 72 References 78 Index 85 Front Matter....Pages i-viii Introduction....Pages 1-10 Historical Development....Pages 11-23 Commercialization....Pages 24-34 Data and Methodology....Pages 35-43 Analysis....Pages 44-54 Alternative Explanations....Pages 55-62 Conclusions....Pages 63-68 Back Matter....Pages 69-79