Research at 26,000 feet
17 November, 2020
Scaling the side of a mountain in the Himalaya during a snowstorm isn’t for the faint of heart. But for Kyle Larson, it’s a situation he’s found himself in more than once.
Kyle, an associate professor in the Department of Earth, Environmental and Geographic Sciences at UBC Okanagan, has visited the Nepal region to explore the Himalaya 12 times — all in the name of scholarship.
“The Himalaya are the best natural laboratory you can ask for if you study mountain building,” says Kyle. “As a researcher, I need to go where the mountains are being built right now — despite the often-challenging research conditions.”
Looking to make good on a previous trip cut short by blizzards, avalanches and falling rock, Kyle returned to the region in 2019 to continue testing theories on how mountains develop and form, and how convergence is accommodated between colliding continental plates.
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