Hi All,

I'm assuming some of you may have seen the recent expose about Kili on Carte Blanche.
In many respects it was an eye opener but also created a lot of questions in terms of liability and accountability to clients from tour/travel operators.

I felt there was a gap on issues of accreditations etc, which I highlited on the Carte Blanche forums.
http://www.carteblanche.co.za/Forum/view.asp?id=6592&Topic=777
What are your views on this?

People who attempt to walk up a mountain should take responsiblity for themselves and know that they all as individuals have the skills required to accomplish the goal set before them. What ever happened to going to a mountain with people that you trust with your life, and conquering it as a team? I for one, am not going to 'give' my life to some dude I hardly know so he can drag my sorry ass up the slopes.

For those of us living in an information vaccum, what was the gist of the Carte Blanche episode?

As far as I understand it, you are supposed to be accredited in the country in which you guide, train, (practice as a doctor) etc. The MDT ( www.mdt.za.org ) is SA's body that is responsible for accreditation for mountaineering in South Africa.

After the programme, I wondered what sort of accreditation Carte Blanche has that allows it to report. Surely a reporter worth anything should have tried to interview the Tanzanian operator and guide and looked at what accreditation is necessary in that country to guide.

It seems that much of the report was an attack on ADI with it being interesting that they did not mention the other company or tour operator on whose trip another client died.

What it did highlight was the need for proper accreditation of mountain guides.

It might also have highlighted other issues such as why the Tanzanian authorities/government does not provide medical equipment like oxygen or a compression bag at the camps. They are after all the ones milking the mountain and from numerous reports do hardly anything in the way of putting anything back (eg like toilets).

@hector- I think Roland's response may answer your question somewhat, also http://www.carteblanche.co.za/Display/D ... sp?Id=3179

or the forum I opened, http://www.carteblanche.co.za/Forum/vie ... &Topic=777

@Roland- For the most part I do agree, although while I feel that ADI was singled out, I don't think it was an attack on them perse.
Considering the father's version of events though, it would seem that they could have dealt with the situation in a better manner, but I wouldn't want comment on that myself because there are a number of gaps in the story.

However the priority for me is accreditation.
Besides MDT, shouldn't the international body ensure or lay daown regulationa pertaining to co-ordination/accreditation between local and Tanzanian operators?

Guided climbing will always be a major problem. There are just too many factors out of the control of a guide on a big mountain. I think that it is irresponsible of guiding companies to accept the responsibility for all decisions etc on a big mountain, or to give the impression that they can perform such and such a rescue or do x,y and z when things go wrong. The guides are as much subject to the effects of altitude as the clients. When anyone reading this forum goes climbing they accept responsibility for their decisions. If your belayer makes a mistakes that puts you in hospital, thats part of the risk. Most climbers I know arent in the habit of sueing when things go wrong. The age old question is \"Why climb?\". There are many right answers, but the biggest wrong answer is: \"to make money\"