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The most striking common feature between alpine climbing and mountaineering is that they are often thrown into the same pot as bouldering. In fact, however, they are different activities that can be distinguished quite well. One could consider indoor or outdoor bouldering as a preliminary exercise for outdoor climbing – and alpine climbing as a part of mountaineering.
What Defines Mountaineering?
For the mountaineers, it is a matter of climbing a summit on routes they have chosen themselves. This is often only possible with the help of heavy equipment, a rope team and appropriate clothing. If necessary, night camps must be provided for higher peaks or base camps with equipment and food must be set up. But the most noticeable difference to the alpine climber and boulderer is the footwear. Mountaineers wear bulky mountaineering boots* with firm and profiled soles. They use ice axes*, ropes, and other equipment to master the ascent.
What distinguishes Alpine Climbing?
Alpine climbers enjoy challenging routes and steep walls in the alpine region. Their main concern is the experience of climbing, not necessarily the summit. On the other hand, a summit may well be the goal of all efforts. Climbers’ footwear is normally designed in such a way that the feet are hindered as little as possible by firm soles and a stiff shoe body. Rather, they are intended to guarantee a feel for the underground. The footwear of boulderers and climbers is therefore usually light and thin.
When alpine climbing or ice climbing, however, the footwear must be more solid. For an alpine climbing tour often only one or two ropes and some karabiners*, rope clamps or abseiling devices are used. When bouldering indoors or outdoors, the climbers usually stay at a height that still allows a jump. Climbing is higher so that you have to abseil frequently afterward.
Differences and Similarities in Alpine Climbing
When bouldering and climbing are no longer enough as sporting challenges, climbing fans often turn to alpine climbing. Here, experienced people with different priorities can try out their skills. Free alpine climbing takes place with the help of hooks, slings and safety equipment – but these are used solely for protection. Some climbers also use technical aids. Those who remove their hammered-in safety hooks during the descent are “clean” alpine climbers.
The “Free Solo” climbers climb alpine routes without any aids at all. You’re not using any security measures. However, a so-called “big wall” could hardly be mastered in one day. Ice climbing is a specialty in alpine climbing. This is not possible without ice axes and other aids. Like mountaineers, alpine climbers can be on their own or in smaller groups as a team of two or three. Like mountaineers, alpine climbers must prepare themselves well for the selected routes. They must master techniques such as abseiling or belaying. On some sections of the route, difficulties lurk that cannot be overcome without technical assistance.
A distinction must be made between alpine climbing, alpine sport climbing and ice climbing. Sport climbing in the alpine region was only established in the 1980s because it seemed feasible through improved and weight-reduced equipment and higher performance requirements. The aim here is to increase sporting performance in the field of multi-pitch tours. This means that an alpine climber can get very close to the area of mountaineering.
For the descent from the destination, there is either abseiling along the route where you ascended – or an easier way back to the valley: for example, a well-known hiking trail that leads from top to bottom. A further possibility for abseiling is “abseiling slopes” off the beaten track. This means that people who climb later on heavily frequented routes have the opportunity to reach their destination more easily. Alpine climbers often wear protective helmets in order not to be injured by rockfalls.
Alpine climbers can be equipped with twin or half ropes, mobile safety devices such as clamps, slings or hooks as well as bivouac bags. The nutrition on the way consists to a large extent of bars and sports drinks, which have little space requirement. Usually, only day tours are undertaken.
Differences and Similarities in Mountaineering
Mountaineers usually begin to climb smaller peaks at an early age. Here, too, different types can be found. Through Reinhold Messner, for example, high-altitude mountaineering has become better known as one of the eight-thousand-meter peaks of the world. Edmund Hillary made expedition mountaineering famous. This type of mountaineering has meanwhile developed into a folk sport – with many dead and rubbish piles along the most frequented routes.
But mountaineering also includes routes on which people climb. There are similarities with alpine climbing on such routes. On mountaineering tours, mountaineers also master glaciers, snow and ice fields. Winter mountaineering also includes routes that have to be covered with skis or snowshoes. Ice climbing also falls into this category.
For the first time in 1786 someone was called a mountaineer. Jacques Balmat and Michel Gabriel Paccard established a new sport with the first ascent of the Montblanc. In the fifties and sixties, the Himalayas were the focus of interest. But already in 1336, Francesco Petrarca had made history by climbing Mont Ventoux.
At the beginning of the 20th century, alpinism established itself as a sporting challenge in the home regions. The difficult alpine routes are still reserved for experienced mountaineers. On the easier alpine routes you will also find well-equipped and experienced alpine climbers today.
What does Alpine Climbing have in Common with Mountaineering?
At first glance, there are already larger similarities than some people suspect. Without careful tour planning and careful risk assessment, nothing works in demanding alpine climbing or mountaineering. Thinking a route is doable is easy- however, whether the ability is sufficient also in reality, is a vital question. A strong sense of reality and good planning are helpful.
A tour planning does not only include the determination of the route, but much more. Sometimes the transitions from one point to the next are fluid.
Geographical Conditions
Every alpine tour and every mountain ascent has a starting point and a destination. But the way there is the real problem. As you know, there are many ways to Rome. There are easier and very difficult ascent routes. The own abilities have to be assessed realistically as well as the degree of difficulty of the chosen route. Not only yourself but also the rope team partner must have the same abilities. You have to be able to rely on each other completely. In particularly difficult places, you can usually not get ahead without the other. The choice of route defines which aids are required.
Weather Conditions
The weather conditions on the route should not be underestimated. The difficulty and duration of an ascent can be significantly influenced by weather conditions. These factors must be taken into account – as well as factors such as rain, fog, rockfall, avalanches or the onset of winter.
The weather can considerably influence the assumed feasibility of a route. Above all, however, it often does not keep to predictions. Besides the question of the weather forecast also own observations of the weather conditions are important. This is just as true for alpine climbing as it is for mountaineering. If necessary, a bivouac must be set up or an early descent must be chosen.
Rope Team
The experience and the number of climbing partners are important in order to complete the chosen route safely. If the weakest link in the rope team is not taken into account when choosing the route, it will cause the entire company to fail. By the way, not every three-way route is feasible. Sometimes someone has to go alone. Sometimes a rope partner can be life-saving.
Level of Difficulty
Accepting challenges should always happen on a realistic scale. Overestimation of oneself has already cost many mountaineers and some alpine climbers their health or their lives. Both in alpine climbing and mountaineering, the levels of difficulty of certain routes are known today. However, it is problematic that the difficulty levels of a route are evaluated according to different scales.
In the Alpine region, for example, the UIAA scale or the French scale apply. In addition to these, the Saxon, French or mixed scale, the water ice and mixed scale or the technical scale can also be used for mountaineering. Not only the difficulties of the route have to be taken into consideration, but also the psychological or physical problems that someone may have during the unsecured ascent in certain places. In addition, errors often occur when converting such scales. This can be a problem even for experienced climbers or mountaineers.
Attention: You have to take care of your safety when climbing! The information on climbtheearth.com only helps you to learn. Before you climb, you should make sure that you have been properly instructed by an expert and that you follow all safety precautions.
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