"North to the future" with Pietro Trabucchi. 6 managers test their stress resistance in Matterhorn storm...

Cervinia - Saturday 30 April 2016. It's approximately 08:45 a.m. when, outside the headquarters of the Golf Club, begin to trickle in the first top managers who received the invitation to participate at "North to the Future ', the' initiative created by SOGES and Pietro Trabucchi, within the "Alaska Stress Challenge" project, to let 6 top managers of multinational companies (including Decathlon, Acqua Minerale San Benedetto, Renolit Gor, SOSITALIA) to experience and understand firsthand the stress reactions and see if there is a "resilient reaction" or, conversely, a difficulty in the reply. The main question is: is there a link between behavioral style in the face of difficulties, dominance, leadership and the secretion of stress hormones?

The day kicked off at "Company Guide del Cervino", where the group met and known before facing the briefing on the activities of the next few hours. The first argument touched was the test measuring of the cortisol level of each manager; the goal was to have a baseline parameter for monitoring how the difficulties they would have face would later impacted on their hormonal profile. In short, a study on the "social stress effects" linked to the production of cortisol by the body, to see the correlation between the changes (if any) in the production of cortisol and behavioral style adopted in stressful situations, which would have been measured with an observation grid.

Daniele Vietti of Driatec explains how the tests will be carried out: through the taking of a saliva sample using swab.

Time for the swab!

When subjected to the measuring, managers had to face the first real test of the day: the interview. Some truthful but approximate maps of the area between Cervinia and the Plateau Rosa, the arrival point of the walk scheduled, were handed them; It was then left them 20 minutes of time to get together and decide strategies and paths to reach the finish line.

In a group or solo? Which path to follow? Many questions meander the team...

Once the time expires, each participant underwent individually (without the others could see what was happening) to a true "interrogation" by a commission composed of Nicolas and Claudio (the two mountain guides who would assist the group in climb to Plateau Rosa) and Pietro Trabucchi and Franco Moro (members of the expedition to Alaska Stress Challenge). The four did interrogate every manager questioning the group's choices, on the path, on personal goals, asking deliberately provocative and misleading information and questions in order to stress them psychologically and be able to make a second sample of saliva to be analyzed to look for any changes in cortisol.

Psychological stress has been activated: now it's time for the physical stress! Here the distribution of tents and sleeping bags to get in shoulder during the climb to the 3,480 meters of Plateau Rosa...

Ready, steady, go!

Snow, wind, storm: suc as better conditions to manage stress...

Once in a while, a break is necessary...

Mission accomplished!

A little bit of relax before put up tents and set up the camp for the night...

A hot meal is the right reward after a day like this!

The icing on the cake was the night spent in a tent, in the storm, when weather forecast was even -22 °. Here's how the tents presented the next morning, upon awakening...

Unfortunately, the inclement weather has changed the team's plans, which included the ascent to 4,000 meters of Breithorn. The return was so anticipated, and yet all ended well with the final debriefing. Stay tuned to find out the search results!