Risk management key to Air Force team's seven summits: Part 2 Published June 20, 2013 By Tech. Sgt. Kathee Mullins Air Force Safety Center Public Affairs KIRTLAND AIR FORCE BASE, N.M. -- The Seven Summits team uses their Air Force risk management (RM) training as they reach the highest summit in their challenge. "We wanted to spread that Air Force safety message," said Capt. Colin Merrin, a GPS satellite operations mission commander stationed at Peterson Air Force Base, Colo. "You can't be hypocritical about the matter, saying, yeah, we're safe climbers but we're not going to turn around when we get sick. That doesn't make any sense." Merrin, who'd been in excellent health during the training and the climb for the Mount Everest challenge, came down with an upper respiratory illness on the final climb and had to put his RM skills to the test when he made one of the hardest decisions in his life -- to turn back. "In mountaineering, your decisions are very binary," Merrin said. "It's like, you make this decision and you'll live. You make that decision and you'll be seriously injured or you'll die. A lot of times the decisions are black and white. My teammates and I were kind of joking that it wasn't even a decision to make. I just had to turn around. It was the hardest and easiest decision of my life. "So, at 27,000 feet, I knew I needed to turn around. Even though the choice to go down was obvious, it was the hardest decision of my life. After making peace with my situation, I sat quietly and tried to appreciate how far I had come. This is when I noticed that there was a frozen corpse a mere 20 feet away from me. Seeing this dead person made me realize the stark reality of my situation and reaffirmed my choice as correct. Mount Everest is a mountain that demands your respect for sound decision making," Merrin added. Turning back from the summit was a progressive realization for Merrin; he could feel his health deteriorating and knew he was slowing down the team. Other team members were there to reassure him that the summit was within reach, but Merrin knew he was sick and the infection wasn't getting better. At that point he knew it was unsafe for him to continue. This was not his first climb and he knew that when it becomes unsafe for you, it's unsafe for your team. "It was a heart-breaking moment to know he wouldn't continue up with us, but I was also terribly proud of him for making such a smart decision," said Maj. Rob Marshall, Seven Summits Challenge co-founder and a CV-22 acceptance pilot stationed at Bell Helicopter in Amarillo, Texas. Hard decision or not, Merrin used the RM skills he learned as an Airman to make the right decision. "Honestly, I feel that I was adequately prepared for the trip. Before departing for Nepal, I had the opportunity to read the training plans and climbing resumes of the other team members and I had a firm belief that our team was going to be quite impressive," said Merrin. "When we eventually got on the mountain and began climbing together, this assumption was proven correct. The 'Blue Jackets,' as we came to be known, had soundly earned the reputation for being the strongest team on the 2013 expedition. I attribute this to the fact that all of us were very well prepared. "The Air Force has instilled in me a methodical, systematic approach to RM and I use this regularly in the mountains. For instance, when you're climbing, it's natural to review routes, weather patterns, equipment, etc. This is a natural way to approach the dangers of mountains and mitigate the risks surrounding the climb. Danger is an inherent feature of mountaineering so it's important to recognize the hazards and lessen our exposure to them," Merrin said. Merrin said every climber understands there is a chance of not reaching the summit of every mountain climbed, both metaphorically and literally. He said all you can do is climb with your full effort and commitment, assess the risks and be smart about your decisions. "If I ever choose to attempt Mount Everest again, it will be done with the understanding that the summit is not a guarantee, but risk management is," said Merrin.