Basics Of Mountaineering

Mountaineering is a sport, hobby or profession for many, but for those who live life for the sake of adventure and are never satisfied with small achievements, it is life. The sheer feat of achievement that is achieved through this is amazing. Today even women have taken to this sport like never before. There are a number of woman climbers who have achieved new feats in the field of mountaineering. They have proved that they are equally competent when it comes to scaling difficult terrains and can achieve success with equal aplomb. Lei Wang is one such female climber who has the distinction of being the first woman climber to have scaled the seven summits of the world along with the north and south poles. In fact there are only 9 people in the world who have achieved this distinction. She is also the first Chinese and Asian American woman to achieve this. What started as a fascination, turned into passion after having climbed Mount Cotopaxi. After undergoing vigorous training she set to scale the six other summits.

Mountaineering can be basically divided into rock climbing, snow or ice climbing, and climbing terrains which has a mixture of both the factors i.e. rock climbing and ice climbing. Mountaineering is certainly not for the light hearted and only those who can grit and bear the difficult conditions can think of sport as a hobby.

Scaling the seven summits is one of the most common goals of most climbers. This was first conquered by Richard Bass in 1986 and since then there are a number of climbers who have managed to achieve this feat. Out of the seven summits Mount Kilimanjaro is the most fascinating of all. It is believed to be the world’s highest free standing mountain. What adds to the fascination is its easy scalability. It is scalable to even regular tourist albeit with a little physical stamina.

If you are one of those who are interested in mountaineering, you can start by learning the basics. There are a number of climbers who act as guides and can help you.

Mountaineering appeals to several people for several reasons. There are some who are attracted by the challenge that the unknown terrains offer and the adrenaline rush, some are attracted by the physical activity involved, some love being one with nature.

The physical hardship and pain that people have to undergo, vanishes the moment when you conquer a summit. However there are a few things to keep in mind. You need to make sure that you are fit to climb. This ensures that you avoid injuries and accidents. A lot of training, during the pre-climbing is essential. It not only requires skill and training but also specific clothing and accessories.

A lot of people have taken to mountaineering resulting in climbing being a serious industry, with countries like Nepal attracting adventure tourists.