The article describes what mountaineering is, what is characteristic of this sport, and in particular, industrial mountaineering is considered.
Sport
Nowadays, no one doubts the value of sports, as well as its benefits. It contributes not only to physical health, but also strengthens the will and spirit of a person. All developed civilized countries pay a lot of attention to various sports, providing all kinds of support and contributing to its development. If we consider the example of Russia, then the greatest importance to the sports education of youth was given during the Soviet era. Then in every city or town there were several sections for every taste, and the Soviet Union team repeatedly won prizes in international competitions.
Our ancestors also understood the value of sports education of youth, and, probably, it was most developed in Ancient Greece and the Roman Empire, from where some varieties of sports and the Olympics itself came to our days.
There are a lot of sports, ranging from relatively simple, designed to develop the mind (chess), and ending with very risky and dangerous, for example, mountaineering. So what is mountaineering, how did it originate and what happens? We’ll talk about this.
Definition
Mountaineering is a sport, the meaning of which is to conquer the peaks of the mountains. In addition, the sports component of it is to overcome various obstacles of a natural kind - gorges, decays, steep cliffs and more. All this is complicated, as a rule, by difficult weather conditions and low temperature. So sometimes climbing is a very dangerous activity. But it all depends, of course, on the complexity of the route.
During sporting events on it, the key factors on the basis of which marks are given are: the height of the conquered peak, the complexity of the route, its length, time spent and much more. So now we know what mountaineering is.
Occurrence
In various sources you can find different dates when this sports discipline was formed. But still, most often its occurrence is associated with the conquest of the highest point of the Alps, Mount Mont Blanc. This was done by the doctor Michel Packard and his guide Jacques Balm in 1786. Later they erected a monument, which is located in the world center of mountaineering - Chamonix. We continue to answer the question of what is mountaineering. Now, we will take a closer look at the techniques and some of its varieties.
Equipment
As we already know, the essence of mountaineering is to overcome various natural obstacles in the mountains, and this is not only rocks. Such can be very fast and deep rivers, glaciers, snow and more. All this inevitably entails a great danger for athletes, and for safety you must always adhere to the developed equipment based on the experience of climbers of past generations. So, first of all, mountaineering is a strict adherence to safety instructions. Now we will consider the features of overcoming certain obstacles.
Cliffs
The technique for overcoming such obstacles is highly dependent on their steepness. Usually overcome them in conjunction with other climbers. The point is that as you climb the rocks, partners in a bunch insure each other. Since mountaineering is a sport characterized by increased danger, in addition to insurance in climbing steep or simply steep mountains, there is a rule of the so-called three points: three of the four limbs of a person must have a fulcrum. In this case, in case of an emergency or the loss of one of the supports, it is much easier for the athlete to maintain balance.
If the rocks are not very steep, the simultaneous rise of all participants of the bunch is allowed. In this case, the one who goes first chooses a route so that when one of the climbers falls, the other can hold it by laying a rope over the ledges of the rocks.
When the cliffs are sheer or very steep, an insurance system is used made of metal stakes that are hammered into crevices. If there are sharp stones on the site that can cut the rope in the event of a climber falling, then use a system of double, spare ropes.
If you need to climb a steep rock, on which there are cornices, then special rope ladders are used for this.
We examined what mountaineering is, the definition of the word and one of the methods that are used for climbing. Now consider the rest.
Ice
In the mountains, especially their high-altitude parts, there are often glaciers and icefalls that climbers need to overcome. For this, "cats" are used, ice axes, rope ladders and railings and more.
When passing through a glacier, there is always a danger of falling into a crack, because they move along them only in bundles, constantly insuring each other. If the ice is very steep, then use "cats" with ice axes, organizing intermediate points of insurance for athletes.
Snow
With snow, everything is somewhat simpler. Snowshoes or skis are used depending on his condition. They also do not forget about insurance, because there is always a risk of falling into a snow crevice.
Style
At the moment, there are two main climbing styles - Alpine and Himalayan. The first is suitable for not very high mountains, it is characterized by the fact that the climb is carried out immediately with all the equipment and does not imply a return without good reason.
And the Himalayan is most often used precisely for the conquest of very high mountains, the so-called eight-thousanders. Its meaning is that at first the route, insurance points are gradually laid, camps with a supply of fuel, oxygen, food are set up. Most of all, this looks like a “siege" of the mountain, and sometimes takes more than one month, but it was with the help of such methods that the highest mountains were conquered.
What is industrial mountaineering?
This type of mountaineering is used for high-altitude work in the construction of structures.
The workspace of such a climber is equipped with a means of lifting and fall protection. A similar technology is used to carry out construction or repair work in places where scaffolding, stairs, hoisting mechanisms and other devices cannot be used. For example, when working on skyscrapers. Now we know what industrial climbing is. The photo below shows an example of such a work.
The scope of such mountaineering is very diverse - it is installation, construction, laying of high-altitude cables between buildings, repair and just maintenance of some technological structures or high-rise objects. For example, washing windows, cleaning cornices from ice, snow, painting towers and more.
Such activities, even with insurance, are still very dangerous, and therefore paid pretty well, and workers enjoy various benefits. But anyone who wants to become such a climber can not, for this you need to finish special training courses and get professional training.
For the first time this type of mountaineering appeared in the early 30s of the last century.
Now we know what mountain climbing is, and what types of it exist. This sport is currently one of the most popular among extreme.