Mountaineering in the Himalayas: A Comprehensive Analysis Through a Literature Review and Research Profiling

Abstract

Abstract Introduction. The article aims to analyse the current state of knowledge about mountaineering in the Himalayas through a systematic literature review. Material and Methods. For this purpose, the following research questions were formulated: Which journals publish the most studies concerning the Himalayas and which authors make significant contributors to this area of research? What are the dominant research themes, and how have they changed over the years? What factors contribute to success and deaths in Himalayan mountaineering? The study is based on a mapping review of publications from the Scopus, Web of Science, EBSCO and Google Scholar databases with research profiling and co-word analysis using VOSviewer. In total, 189 articles selected for review were subjected to automatic content analysis (text mining, clustering) in the VOSviewer program to produce a self-organising map of keywords, grouped into four thematic areas: (1) tourism management, geo-ecology and local community; (2) psychology, anthropology and risk of high altitude physical activity; (3) acclimatisation, hypoxia pathophysiology; and (4) altitude and acute disease, brain and pulmonary oedema. Results. In the qualitative phase of the analysis, success and failure factors in Himalayan mountaineering were identified. It can be concluded that it is becoming safer and more common for climbers to reach the summit and such achievements are more accessible to women and older people. Conclusions. Safety increases can be attributed to the obligatory use of oxygen by mountain guides, better infrastructure on the trail (two-way system of lifelines), more reliable weather forecasts, and the assistance of experienced leaders.