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If you love backpacking or just being outdoors, but always wanted to add something extra to the experience, then mountaineering is for you. Mountaineering itself is a relatively simple sport; just make it up to the top of a chosen mountain. The problem lies in the extreme range of situations you encounter as you pass through higher and higher altitudes, but itâ??s a welcome challenge for many that participate in the sport. If you already know a bit about backpacking and being outdoors in general, itâ??s easy to transition to mountaineering and start bagging peaks in no time. There are just a few things you need to know. Remember, a lot of this is dependent on how big the mountain is and how long you are going to be alone in the wilderness. You would need far less food for an afternoon on Pikes than 40 days in Tibet climbing in the Himalayas.
1. Terminology
Learning the mountaineering lingo is important when you start reading about climbing as well as to understand the rest of this article. Mountains are often categorized by height. In the US, a 14er is a mountain that is at least 14,000 feet. The rest of the world goes by meters, so 4Kers to 8Kers are common. A climb is also graded by â??class,â?? which is really determined by steepness and exposure. A flat trail with no exposure to danger (i.e. a fatal fall) would be Class 1. Class 2 and 3 are slightly steeper with some possibly challenging obstacles in the way. Class 4 is mainly a hands-and-knees scramble, while Class 5 is technical climbing where both members are usually belaying one another.
2. Basic Skills
Most 14ers in the US offer non-technical routes that can be climbed by any fit person. Humboldt Peak in Colorado is my favorite Class 2/3 mountain due to the scenery and isolation. Pikes and Longs are also classic lower class mountains, but they are often crowded during the summer months. But if you want to start seriously mountaineering, you are going to need to take up rock climbing. Even large mountains like Everest are mainly class 2 and 3, but you want your technical skills to be rock solid (pun intended) when you reach the 20% of the climb that is technical. You should be climbing 5.9â??s at a local crag or rock gym with relative ease.
3. Basic Gear
Protection and speed is the name of the game here. I learned the hard way that a cheap tent is not going to hold up in a mountain storm with 80 mph winds and ice. Invest in a serious 4-season tent. This will be one of the most expensive things you buy, but without a tent, your trip is over. Youâ??re also going to want bivy gear and rain protection. Bivy gear can be anything you need to set up a quick, temporary shelter. Trash bags and a hiking pole work, but so does a 200 bivy sack from an online retailer. Also remember to buy quality layering clothes. Youâ??re only going to bring one set of clothes for an entire week in the mountains, so make sure itâ??s quality stuff! Here are some more specifics on what to bring
From : fulljordan com
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