Climbing is the activity of using one's hands, feet, or other parts of the body to ascend a steep topographical object that can range from the world's tallest mountains to small boulders. Climbing is done for locomotion, sporting recreation, for competition, and is also done in trades that rely on ascension, such as rescue and military operations. Climbing is done indoors and outdoors, on natural surfaces, and on artificial surfaces
Mountaineering, mountain climbing, or alpinism is a set of outdoor activities that involves ascending mountains. Mountaineering-related activities include traditional outdoor climbing, skiing, and traversing via ferratas that have become sports in their own right. Indoor climbing, sport climbing, and bouldering are also considered variants of mountaineering by some, but are part of a wide group of mountain sports.
Scrambling is a mountaineering term for ascending steep terrain using one's hands to assist in holds and balance. "A scramble" is a related term, denoting terrain that could be ascended in this way. It can be described as being between hiking and rock climbing.
Glossary of climbing terms relates to rock climbing, mountaineering, and to ice climbing.
Mountaineering: The Freedom of the Hills is often considered the standard textbook for mountaineering and climbing in North America. The book was first published in 1960 by The Mountaineers of Seattle, Washington. The book was written by a team of over 40 experts in the field.
A glissade is a climbing technique mostly used in mountaineering and alpine climbing where a climber starts a controlled slide down a snow and/or ice slope to speed up their descent. Glissading is ideally done later in the day when the snow is softer.
Rock-climbing equipment varies with the type of climbing undertaken. Bouldering needs the least equipment outside of shoes and chalk and optional crash pads. Sport climbing adds ropes, harnesses, belay devices, and quickdraws to clip into pre-drilled bolts. Traditional climbing adds the need for carrying a "rack" of temporary passive and active protection devices. Multi-pitch climbing adds devices to assist in ascending and descending fixed ropes. Finally, aid climbing uses unique equipment.
Abseiling, also known as rappelling, is the controlled descent of a steep slope, such as a rock face, by moving down a rope. When abseiling, the person descending controls his own movement down a static or fixed rope, in contrast to lowering off, in which the rope attached to the person descending is paid out by his belayer.
Crevasse rescue is a set of techniques in mountaineering where climbers use their equipment to pull a climber, who has just fallen into a crevasse, to safety. Crevasse rescue is considered a core skill set in alpine climbing, but difficult to do efficiently. It is typically encountered by rope teams on glaciers.
Solo climbing, or soloing, is a style of climbing in which the climber climbs a route alone, without the assistance of a belayer. By its very nature, it presents a higher degree of risk to the climber, and in some cases, is considered extremely high risk.
Multi-pitch climbing is a type of climbing that typically takes place on routes that are more than a single rope length in height, and thus where the lead climber cannot complete the climb as a single pitch. Where the number of pitches exceeds 6–10, it can become big wall climbing, or where the pitches are in a mixed rock and ice mountain environment, it can become alpine climbing. Multi-pitch rock climbs can come in traditional, sport, and aid formats. Some have free soloed multi-pitch routes.
In climbing and mountaineering, a fixed-rope is the practice of installing networks of in-situ anchored static climbing ropes on climbing routes to assist any following climbers to ascend more rapidly—and with less effort—by using mechanical aid devices called ascenders. Fixed ropes also allow climbers to descend rapidly using mechanical devices called descenders. Fixed ropes also help to identify the line of the climbing route in periods of low visibility. The act of ascending a fixed rope is also called jumaring, which is the name of a type of ascender device, or also called jugging in the US.
The self-arrest is a climbing technique mostly used in mountaineering and alpine climbing where a climber who has fallen and is sliding uncontrollably down a snow or ice-covered slope 'arrests' their fall by themselves by using their ice axe and their crampons.
Simul-climbing is a climbing technique where a pair of climbers who are attached by a rope simultaneously ascend a multi-pitch climbing route. It contrasts with lead climbing where the leader ascends a given pitch on the route while the second climber remains in a fixed position to belay the leader in case they fall. Simul-climbing is not free solo climbing, as the lead simul-climber will clip the rope into points of climbing protection as they ascend. Simul-climbing is different from a rope team and short-roping, which are used for flatter terrain that doesn't typically need protection points.
Terry "Mugs" Stump was a noted American rock climber and mountaineer, active in establishing difficult first ascents in the Alaska Range and the Canadian Rockies. He died from falling into a crevasse while descending the South Buttress of Denali on May 21, 1992, while guiding clients Bob Hoffman and Nelson Max.
Expedition climbing, is a type of mountaineering that uses a series of well-stocked camps on the mountain that lead to the summit, and which are supplied by teams of mountain porters. In addition, expedition climbing can also employ multiple 'climbing teams' to work on the climbing route—not all of whom are expected to make the summit—and allows the use of supports such as fixed ropes, aluminum ladders, supplementary oxygen, and sherpa climbers. By its nature, expedition climbing often requires weeks to complete a given climbing route, and months of pre-planning given the greater scale of people and equipment that need to be coordinated for the climb.
In climbing and mountaineering, a traverse is a section of a climbing route where the climber moves laterally, as opposed to in an upward direction. The term has broad application, and its use can range from describing a brief section of lateral movement on a pitch of a climbing route, to large multi-pitch climbing routes that almost entirely consist of lateral movement such as girdle traverses that span the entire rock face of a crag, to mountain traverses that span entire ridges connecting chains of mountain peaks.
A rope team is a climbing technique where two or more climbers who are attached to a single climbing rope move simultaneously together along easy-angled terrain that does not require points of fixed climbing protection to be inserted along the route. Rope teams contrast with simul-climbing, which involves only two climbers and where they are ascending steep terrain that will require many points of protection to be inserted along the route. A specific variant of a rope team is the technique of short-roping, which is used by mountain guides to help weaker clients, and which also does not employ fixed climbing protection points.
Alpine climbing is a type of mountaineering that involves using any of a broad range of advanced climbing skills, including rock climbing, ice climbing, and/or mixed climbing, to summit typically large routes in an alpine environment. While alpine climbing began in the European Alps, it is used to refer to climbing in any remote mountainous area, including in the Himalayas and in Patagonia. The derived term alpine style refers to the fashion of alpine climbing to be in small lightly-equipped teams who carry their own equipment, and do all of the climbing.
Andy Tyson was an American businessman, writer, and mountaineer who died in April 2015 in a small plane crash, at the age of 46. At the time of his death he was a co-owner of the company Creative Energies. He died with several others in a plane crash at Diamond D ranch in the U.S. State of Idaho. The plane was a Cessna T210M and it crashed in Custer County, Idaho. In the crash investigation it was noted that wind currents in Mountain areas can push small planes around. A candlelight vigil to mourn the lost gathered 600 people in the locality.
