Swiss Cheese
Applying James Reason's 'Swiss Cheese' model of risk to the high-stakes game of climbing.
Climbing is a numbers game. You have the positive numbers; what grade you're at, how many peaks you've bagged, and what height they were. And the negative; the close escapes, near misses, impromptu rides in helicopters, the funerals of friends. The longer you climb, the more numbers you lodge in your ledger. You can't avoid them. It's the game you play. But like any game, once you learn how to play it, you must learn to understand it. For me, one aspect of this learning often involves dwelling on the stuff I'd rather forget, or keep to myself, the potentially killing mistakes I’ve made.