Working With Risk: Lessons From Mountain Rescue

A talk given at PyBeach 2026

Transcript

1. WORKING WITH RISK: LESSONS FROM MOUNTAIN RESCUE Andrew Godwin @andrew@aeracode.org @aeracode.org
2. Hi, I’m Andrew • Mountain Rescue since 2023 • Python things since 2005 • Live in Denver, Colorado Andrew Godwin @andrew@aeracode.org @aeracode.org
3. Content Warning Discussion of peril, potential injury and death, in the abstract Andrew Godwin @andrew@aeracode.org @aeracode.org
4. Andrew Godwin @andrew@aeracode.org @aeracode.org
5. What is mountain rescue? It's not as simple as you might think at first Andrew Godwin @andrew@aeracode.org @aeracode.org
6. Andrew Godwin @andrew@aeracode.org @aeracode.org
7. Search Finding people who are lost, reported by themselves or friends/family Rescue Getting people out of the field who cannot get themselves out, often for medical reasons Recovery Getting deceased people out of the field Andrew Godwin @andrew@aeracode.org @aeracode.org
8. Flatland Under 15° - no need for rope systems (except haul). Low Angle 15 - 45° - rope essential for safety but not suspending full body weight High Angle Over 45° - rope supporting full body weight Andrew Godwin @andrew@aeracode.org @aeracode.org
9. Clear Creek Canyon, July 2026 Andrew Godwin @andrew@aeracode.org @aeracode.org
10. What is risk? We will all have different perceptions Andrew Godwin @andrew@aeracode.org @aeracode.org
11. Andrew Godwin @andrew@aeracode.org @aeracode.org
12. Mountain rescue is high consequence It's pretty fixed - we can't change it very much. Andrew Godwin @andrew@aeracode.org @aeracode.org
13. We know the situation is dangerous It's already caused at least one problem! Andrew Godwin @andrew@aeracode.org @aeracode.org
14. But we can control likelihood This is true for most risks! Andrew Godwin @andrew@aeracode.org @aeracode.org
15. Safety Culture Slow is smooth. Smooth is fast. Don't rush, and call out mistakes. Training Don't make a real mission the first time in a while you have to do something Clear Command Self-solving or duplicate work is a waste at worst and dangerous at best. Andrew Godwin @andrew@aeracode.org @aeracode.org
16. Andrew Godwin @andrew@aeracode.org @aeracode.org
17. Guess what? You have risk too! It is a rare, happy person who works on risk-free systems Andrew Godwin @andrew@aeracode.org @aeracode.org
18. But you probably get to play with both axes Even if you are, for some reason, writing rocket control software in Python Andrew Godwin @andrew@aeracode.org @aeracode.org
19. Andrew Godwin @andrew@aeracode.org @aeracode.org
20. Compartmentalisation. Blast radius. If you have a failure, make it only spread so far. Andrew Godwin @andrew@aeracode.org @aeracode.org
21. Don't keep secrets and personal data You can't leak what you don't have Andrew Godwin @andrew@aeracode.org @aeracode.org
22. Good deployment with cheap rollback Do you know how nice it is that we can just undo stuff? Andrew Godwin @andrew@aeracode.org @aeracode.org
23. But you can still work on likelihood And these tend to be more people- and process-oriented Andrew Godwin @andrew@aeracode.org @aeracode.org
24. Actually practice incident response! Don't let the real one be the first time. Andrew Godwin @andrew@aeracode.org @aeracode.org
25. Don't schedule you or your team 100% If you're already running at the limit, anything else will break things Andrew Godwin @andrew@aeracode.org @aeracode.org
26. Small changes, released frequently Move slowly but steadily. Don't make big jumps. Andrew Godwin @andrew@aeracode.org @aeracode.org
27. Have a safety culture. Blame-free, and everyone can say meaningfully say "stop". Andrew Godwin @andrew@aeracode.org @aeracode.org
28. Clear leadership is critical That means making decisions. Even if they feel hard. Andrew Godwin @andrew@aeracode.org @aeracode.org
29. "Rescue is not a democracy" You should listen to everyone. But then you might need to make a call. Andrew Godwin @andrew@aeracode.org @aeracode.org
30. Torreys Peak, June 2025 Andrew Godwin @andrew@aeracode.org @aeracode.org
31. It is human nature to ignore risk You have to face it and understand it Andrew Godwin @andrew@aeracode.org @aeracode.org
32. Heroics hide process failures They are needed sometimes, but stop everyone learning Andrew Godwin @andrew@aeracode.org @aeracode.org
33. A near-miss is a gift You got to learn from failure without having it actually fail Andrew Godwin @andrew@aeracode.org @aeracode.org
34. Software needs strong design & decisions It's not just about writing code, and honestly it never really was. Andrew Godwin @andrew@aeracode.org @aeracode.org
35. US mountain rescue is always free (It does vary elsewhere, but please call sooner rather than later) Andrew Godwin @andrew@aeracode.org @aeracode.org
36. Thanks! Andrew Godwin @andrew@aeracode.org @aeracode.org