Human Factors on Expedition with Ryan Atkinson

This blog podcast unpacks an article titled "Beyond the Summit:
Why Human Factors and Crew Resource Management Matter in
Expeditions," written by Ryan Atkinson on 22 September 2025. Ryan
asserts that while competence and experience are crucial for
expeditions, human factors (HF), the psychological, social,
and organisational influences on performance are often the
difference between success and disaster.





Ryan highlights that stressors like fatigue, ambition, and
cognitive biases like Groupthink and Social
Proof amplify risk in extreme environments, citing the
Tunnel Creek avalanche as an example. To mitigate these risks,
the author advocates for the adoption of Crew Resource
Management (CRM), an aviation-inspired safety framework focusing
on practices like closed-loop communication, checklists, shared
situational awareness, and flattened authority gradients.


Ultimately, successful expedition teams must evolve from
fragile flash teams into structured evolved
teams that prioritise collective safety
through understanding human limitations and working
together. You can read Ryan's blog here:
https://ryanatkinson.tv/2025/09/22/beyond-the-summit-why-human-factors-and-crew-resource-management-matter-in-expeditions/