Evaluating the location

Look at all the potential hazards

Most of the aspects of a particular location will open up big cans of worms.  Just looking at the technical difficulty of the objective and experience levels of the team will flag up all manner of issues. 

• Is the terrain steep enough to need ropes ? 
• Can we use standard mountaineering techniques or do we need to approach from a semi-industrial angle ? 
• What weather conditions can we expect ?
• If things go wrong how are we going to get out and if things go really wrong how are we going to evacuate a casualty?

In the mountains we can’t afford to overlook anything or take anything for granted.  Extreme locations and extreme consequences go hand in hand.