In the 1980s, Sony adopted a corporate-wide practice where new employees were marked by a green circle on their id badges. There has been a boom in backcountry education, but those weekends are fleeting for beginners and advanced participants, so how can mentorship create long-term learning? How can backcountry users engage in micro-mentorships to create a safer community? The case of an unaware backcountry traveler is certainly not unique to the men we saw on the arete. In the mountains, training isn’t necessarily inherent or facilitated by more knowledgeable others. In business, new jobs usually start with weeks of training. In every arena-be it in the mountains or the cities, there is a learning curve inherent to being in a new environment. In the case of the party passing us along the arete, their group leader may have had the right intentions, but certainly was not the guide or mentor they needed. My social circles include savvy mountain travelers from whom I learned how to do things right, and how to recognize when I was doing things wrong. Education was always a part of my childhood mountain experiences. I was born in the mountains to parents who recreated in the mountains but did so under the tutelage of guides and packers of the Sierras and Tetons. The unaware tourists seemed to have a leader, and maybe this was our greatest distinction. There could be countless factors that separated them from us, an equipped and knowledgeable party. ![]() “Idiots.” With raised eyebrows, the other half of our group look concerned, knowing one exaggerated slip leads to an unsurvivable fall. ![]() The usual mocking came from members of our group. No harnesses, no crampons, no guide, and no clue to the risk they were exposing themselves to. The blank soles of their rental boots challenging their tedious position, empty spaces of air swirling around their left and right. ![]() Key questions to ask ourselves: how can mentorship create long-term learning? How can backcountry users engage in micro-mentorships to create a safer community? Photo: Ramona watched six men leave the Aiguille du Midi cable station, stumbling down the arète that would lead them to the glaciated ski descent of the famed Vallée Blanche above Chamonix.
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