Deep Dive: What Red Bull's 'The Horn' Documentary can teach us about resilience
Resilience techniques that save lives: Here is how Air Zermatt's alpine rescue team use techniques we can utilise in our own lives.
When I’d first written about this documentary, I could not have imagined the response. Nearly seven years later, the blog I provided to a client has received tens of thousands of reads, and at one point even outranked the Netflix page promoting it.
Things have changed since then, we have new and impactful threats to deal with. But the messages and observations I made from are timely. To honour it and the people I wrote about, below is a refreshed version, more relevant and modern to today’s challenges. I hope it inspires you as it has me.
Note - There are spoilers in this article.
During business continuity training sessions, I often ask the delegates what their impression or understanding of resilience is. Personal experiences mixed with formal definitions provide an idea of the class’s knowledge, but often there is nothing more impactful than a visual example.
Such an example can be found in the Red Bull/Netflix documentary The Horn. The show follows the paramedics and helicopter pilots of Air Zermatt, a specialist rescue organization located at the base of Switzerland’s famed and ferocious Matterhorn.
The documentary is an intense, intimate, and beautifully shot six episodes that will leave you reflecting on your own mortality and (hopefully) core skills.
As you watch, you observe recurring values and themes throughout the organization and its team. These themes are relevant and critical to our own efforts to build resilient organizations. They include:
A passionate and deep level of teamwork.
Personal resilience as a foundation to streamline organizational resilience.
Dedication and commitment to a meticulous planning and training schedule.
Exceptional communication.
An unwavering passion for their work and purpose.
Zermatt is a beautiful alpine town and considered a mecca for thrill-seekers and winter-sport admirers. It’s nestled deep on the southern border of Switzerland and Italy and is often considered a luxury holiday destination, with some hotels starting at $2,000 USD per night.
The details:
Matterhorn height: 4,560m tall (836m taller than New Zealand’s Mount Cook, the mountain Sir Edmund Hillary trained on for Everest).
Zermatt ski slopes and tourism: 200km of slopes (21km in summer), 3 million tourists per year.
Sports undertaken in the area: Skiing, snowboarding, hiking, climbing, mountaineering, base jumping, abseiling, hunting, paragliding, heliskiing, sledding, ice-skating, and much more.
Number of rescues: 1,600-1,700 per year (11 available helicopters over 3 heliports).
Fatalities and climbs: 500+ climbers have died on the Matterhorn; 2,000 make the ascent to the summit annually.
Weather: Due to its location and size, the Matterhorn creates its own weather system, making it one of the most challenging rescue locations on earth.
Rescue range: 2,000 square kilometers.
Staff: 13 pilots, 16 flight attendants, 12 mechanics, 10 paramedics, and 24 admin personnel, plus contracted mountain rescue specialists.
55 years of operation.
Teamwork makes the dream work
Within the first minute of episode one, viewers are confronted with the dramatic reality these unique professionals live in.
Dangling from a 30ft rope in a tight crevasse, carefully held and directed by his team above, Simon Anthamatten, a mountain rescue specialist, is slowly making his way to his patient—a skier who has fallen headfirst into one of the most extreme places on earth. His survival rests entirely on a perfectly rehearsed process.
At the time of filming, Simon is a volunteer and highly rated by his peers as one of the most experienced mountaineers available. He races on his mountain bike through the quaint streets of Zermatt whenever his pager sounds.
As the bright red, glossy helicopter begins to lift off the helipad, Simon leaps into the open door, throwing his bag and gear onto his seat, and acknowledges his colleagues with a small grin.
As the crew films the helicopter carefully land fifty or so meters away (to avoid collapsing the crevasse), Simon jumps out to collect a situation report (SITREP) and assess the situation. Everyone is remarkably calm. When one person talks, everyone listens. But there is a sense of urgency, and Simon begins to rope up. Within minutes of landing, Simon is just meters away from his patient, beginning the procedure and rescue as planned.
The scenes following the team belaying Simon into a sharp, tight crevasse are difficult to watch. Yet, you can’t help but feel at peace for the man they are saving, as if he couldn’t be in better hands unless it was God himself pulling him out.
This impressive culture of teamwork is part of the fabric at Air Zermatt. For specialist rescuers, they seldom see their colleagues during the summer, meaning some rescues are their first meeting in months. Yet, they can immediately communicate and work together at a moment’s notice, proving the depth of trust and capability within the team.
Episode 4 introduces you to the junior paramedics and those still in training. The people who teach them at Air Zermatt are the same people they will work with—future colleagues. This dynamic but effective routine is embedded in the culture as a result.
“I just need to tell you how amazed I am by the level of teamwork you displayed,”
Simon’s patient declares to his rescuers at the end of the first episode, healthy and alive.
Everyone knows the drill, and there is no question of capability. This team seems to inherently know and trust their colleagues, especially 30 feet below the snowline.
The Art of Resilience
Episodes five and six share the experiences of a particularly difficult rescue during the busy season. Air Zermatt is put through extreme conditions, and the influx of tourists often plays havoc with schedules and resources. Despite having nine helicopters (at the time of filming), rescues can last up to an hour. Coupled with 20+ patients a day, the shifts can be physically and mentally exhausting.
Not having enough time to finish lunch is normal here. Failure to complete a rescue is not. This resilience is a competency no one needs to address or review—it’s simply a deep culture that drives their progress.
In one instance, a hiker embarks on an “easy” there-and-back route to a pass in the mountains. He is struck by a devastating white-out that brings extreme fog and winds. Fortunately, he pitches his tent right where he stands and assesses the situation, but it’s not good news. With only a day’s worth of food and three days of water, he decides to activate his emergency beacon. Air Zermatt picks it up.
The pilots are in the air within minutes, but they too are confronted by the same extreme weather and simply can’t reach him.
Relying on a small signal, the team keeps in touch with the stranded hiker over the phone to monitor his condition. However, by day three, his phone dies.
“This is going to be really tricky. The weather conditions are quite bad this close to the ground. There is no way, I’m sorry, we can’t make it tonight,”
radios the pilot back to base.
Throughout the three days this mission operates, the team has no choice but to carry on with other rescues while waiting for the weather to clear. But their minds are constantly on this job.
“Sometimes, I go home and try to switch off, but my thoughts are still with the patient, stuck on the mountain. I get to sleep in my bed, but he is still there, trying to survive,”
admits senior paramedic Patrick.
By day four, they spot a break in the fog. The exhausted team heads back up the mountain one more time. Upon approaching, they explain the situation in detail to the French specialist rescue team they had picked up on the way out—concise and in a different language. Setting them down onto a small ledge, the team begins the search for the tent. It’s here that their resilience is put further to the test.
Despite the odds and the slim chance of a rescue, the team pushes on through blizzard-like conditions. Updates and progress are passed along the chain of command. Plans are put in motion back at base: paramedics remain on-site, pilots prepare for the pickup, and hospitals are on standby. Everyone has done this before—they are calm and collected. They wait in silence for the next radio update.
“They are sometimes called heroes, although they say they are just doing their jobs…they changed my life,”
says the stranded hiker, successfully rescued that day.
Validation and preparation save lives
After 55 years of operating, Air Zermatt has successfully designed, implemented, and maintained concise and effective processes for running their operations and saving lives. It’s a masterclass in strategy and response.
This team has conducted rescues across the whole spectrum—from avalanche rescue to downed skiers, and even a woman giving birth at a resort. For every event, they seem to have a dedicated plan. But, as resilience specialists, we know that can’t always be the case.
So, how do they handle every call-out as if it’s the hundredth time?
It appears that the Air Zermatt team uses grouping within priority areas. This is a response method similar to what is found in standard corporate resilience strategies. For example, imagine there is a flood in your city so severe that no transport is available and your first floor is underwater. In this scenario, the flood isn’t necessarily the problem; the lack of access to your building is. That’s the same issue you’d face during a neighboring fire or a pandemic lockdown. You can group hundreds of these disruption types into single response strategies to simplify the decision-making.
In one episode, the siren sounds loudly through the base. A key member of the show, Patrick, learns of a patient en route, but soon finds out her status: code blue.
Code blue is one of the most serious situations the team can face. It involves a patient who will not survive the journey to the hospital. This means whatever needs to happen must happen at the Air Zermatt base. The paramedics' job is to work quickly to bring the patient back to a stable condition.
The patient is brought into the hangar on a stretcher, and almost like a rehearsed dance, the six crew members get to work between the docked helicopters. It is a surreal scene filmed from a distance. The cold, concrete walls loom over the scene. There is no specific place for them to work on the patient. It feels somber, and surely the team knows it.
“OK, everyone pause. Take a breath, please,”
orders one of the paramedics after working on the woman for nearly ten minutes. They’re exhausted, the adrenaline is starting to wear off, and despite the sub-zero temperatures outside, the crew is dripping in sweat.
But soon, they’re off again, pumping her heart and checking vital signs.
How does a team like this handle the ultimate test of saving a life?
A few episodes earlier, you get a glimpse of Air Zermatt’s version of a scenario exercise, and it’s here that some clues are provided.
During an inconspicuous lunch break, the trainee paramedics are urgently called to assist with a seizure case. Slightly disoriented and confused, the two seem caught off guard and take a moment to regroup as they rush to the large hangar space.
Senior paramedic Patrick sits on a chair, acting out a seizure. The team now confirms it’s an exercise but takes the process very seriously (they’d likely lose their jobs otherwise).
“I think that is the best communication you’ve had so far. You kept relaying the steps and did your A.B.C.s. If you keep this up, you can both be great paramedics,”
Patrick kindly praises the students after the exercise concludes.
At this organization, you often hear pilots praising their colleagues as "probably the best pilot in the world." After 14,000+ hours of flying, Air Zermatt CEO Gerold is their most experienced pilot. But even he recognizes the need to continuously train and validate their response. In episode 4, he is heavily assessed by his colleague on his processes and capabilities. There is no bias here—lives are at stake.
Communication
It would be difficult to find a single standout example of Air Zermatt’s exceptional communication skills. It’s not just the multiple languages they speak (English, Swiss, German, French, and Italian are all required for the variety of tourists); it’s also the way the team communicates with each other.
There is a constant drive to keep everyone informed and engaged. Regardless of hierarchy or experience, everyone is spoken to on the same level. Beyond the tactical and command-and-control communication styles, there is a notable level of emotional intelligence in how they communicate with patients.
That, of course, is with the exception of Axel.
Air Zermatt’s most experienced and senior doctor could be mistaken for an older version of Arnold Schwarzenegger’s T800 Terminator and is a typical German-Swiss. Donning a weathered face from years of sun-kissed snow, a strong jaw, and large eyebrows, Axel may be the last person you want looking down at you during an emergency—but you’d be wrong.
“Axel is amazing. If you are in trouble and Axel is there helping you, you will be fine. I have rarely seen him make any mistakes in the thirty years we have worked together,”
CEO Gerold Binor confirms.
In one episode, Axel attends to a young woman who has suffered a concussion from a skiing accident. She is disoriented and confused, trying to free herself from the stretcher. While trying to do his job, Axel speaks up and orders the lady to listen.
“HEY! Listen to me, OK? We’re trying to help you; you need to stay still and let us WORK!”
It’s a stern, yet comical tone that comes from Axel, but his approach is effective and direct when it needs to be; when he talks, people listen. His credibility and experience have built a foundation of trust and respect from his peers. In similar situations, viewers can observe him articulating problems based on facts or assumptions. He won’t relay information if he doesn’t have it, and that proves extremely effective for the wider crew.
Later in the series, Axel is called upon to assist with multiple rescues on a ski slope. By the fourth rescue, the weather once again sets in. The helicopter leaves with two patients and not enough room for him.
His cell phone rings, "Axel, the pilots have said they can't get back to you, it's too foggy now, sorry."
"What am I supposed to do? It's an hour's walk back from here," Axel asks.
"Gerold says get creative," responds the lady at HQ.
Despite his aggressive persona and boisterous approach to communication, Axel manages to convince skiers and mountain staff to make a sled and ski him down. During a hilarious shot of this staunch man being led down the slope behind amateur skiers, his phone rings again.
"Are you being creative, Axel?" the HQ lady asks.
Why do I put myself through this?
As Simon Sinek will tell you, having a 'why'—a purpose, a goal—is like reinventing yourself and finding a reason to get out of bed in the morning. It's a blissful state where, no matter the hurdles, you keep chugging through the metaphorical snow until you spot your mountain peak.
When aligning this personal mission with an organization that shares (or at least supports) it, you're running what All Blacks legend Dan Carter calls "purpose-driven leadership…[fostering] resilience and unity, particularly in high-pressure environments."
This unwavering passion for the work we do is what makes the entire team at Air Zermatt stand out as a great example for the rest of us. These people—from the receptionist to the mechanics and pilots—all believe in what they do. Without this, it's reasonable to assume more lives would be lost.
The series finishes with a beautiful quote by CEO Binor, which sums it up best:
"All these questions, they arise, and you learn, and you try to figure out the best way for yourself. Mainly it's a school for life, what we do here. Sometimes in a very hard way, but that's what it's all about. Being a human being…"
After it's all said and done, humans are remarkably resilient creatures. We can go into impossible situations and save lives. This documentary is simply one example of this.
You can watch all episodes of The Horn via the Red Bull TV app.