Personality and individual characteristics as indicators of lifetime climbing success among Everest mountaineers

To measure the importance of personality and individual characteristics in such extreme environments as high-altitude mountaineering, this study investigated how physical, physiological, and/or hormonal markers provide insights into individual predilections for competitive and risk-taking behaviours. Because climbing outcomes depend on the ability to overcome adverse environmental conditions, avoid unnecessary risks, and exert sufficient self-regulation to handle extreme physiological and psychological stressors, it focused particularly on the relation between the successful scaling among Mount Everest climbers and risk attitudes, personality factors (from the Big Five Inventory) or traits associated with prenatal androgen exposure (2D:4D ratio). The results indicate not only that the 2D:4D ratio positively predicts lifetime mountaineering success but that the more risk averse open-minded and emotionally stable the climbers, the more active and successful compared to their peers. These findings, in addition to suggesting that human biological and psychological traits substantially influence success and long-term performance in extreme situations, offer valuable insights into how humans with different tendencies are likely to behave under such stressful conditions.