Listening to a mountain to save workers trapped underground
In 2023, Arnold Dix helped rescue 41 men trapped in a tunnel after it collapsed high in the Himalayas. As an engineer and tunnel expert, he was uniquely placed to assist, but Arnold also used another skill in the high risk operation: he listened to the mountain. The successful rescue made Arnold a hero to millions of people across India and it was in news all over the world, including back home in country Victoria, where the story surprised the community who knew him as a part-time truck driver and flower farmer. Arnold’s life has taken him from geology to law to tunnels, he’s been shot at in Albania, saved lives in Qatar and driven trucks to make ends meet. He also worked in the tunnels of Ground Zero after 9/11. The episode of Conversations explores tunnels, the Himalayas, rescue, trapped workers, science, geology, law, 9/11, mountains, memoir, hero, engineering, career change. The Promise is published by Simon and Schuster