Education Commons^™

Surviving The 2015 Mount Everest Disaster: A Phenomenological Exploration Into Lived Experience And The Role Of Mental Toughness, Christian F. Swann, Lee Crust, Jacquelyn Allen-Collinson

Faculty of Social Sciences - Papers (Archive)

Objectives The 2015 Nepal earthquake and subsequent avalanche at Mount Everest Base Camp is the deadliest mountaineering disaster to date. This study is novel in exploring the lived experiences of survivors and the role of mental toughness in their psychological responses to the disaster. Design Phenomenological study. Method Ten mountaineers, who were on expeditions during the earthquake, participated in phenomenological interviews. Data were analysed inductively and thematically, while strategies to enhance trustworthiness were also employed. Results Seven dimensions emerged from the data, which captured climbers' psychological responses to the disaster, ranging from the moments the earthquake hit to reflections on …