The mountaineering is a sport that involves climbing a mountain high rise. The term, according to the dictionary of the Digopaul, comes from alpine, an adjective that, in turn, alludes to the Alps.
With this in mind, it is worth mentioning that the Alps are a mountain range found on the European continent and stretching across Switzerland, France, Austria, Italy, Monaco, Germany, Liechtenstein, and Slovenia. Its highest peak reaches 4,810 meters above sea level: it is Mont Blanc, located between France and Italy. The SAR also accepts the notion of alps to refer to any mountain of considerable height.
Alpinism, on the other hand, stands for mountain climbing and even mountain climbing (the latter concept originated in the Andes, a mountain range of the Americas). This means that when a person decides to climb a large mountain, it can be indicated that they are practicing mountaineering, mountaineering or mountaineering.
There are other synonyms, such as being himalayism, but the most correct and widely accepted is mountaineering, since it neutrally describes that the activity consists of climbing mountains. This does not mean, on the other hand, that the most popular is mountaineering. Broadly speaking, we can say that it is divided into the following areas, each of which requires a well-defined specialty:
* hiking: in English it is called hiking, and we can also find it with this name in Spanish-speaking countries. It is a sports activity that is carried out on roads that an organism must mark and homologate previously. As in other cases, it is not a competitive sport; However, this does not mean that every so often events are held in which a record is kept of the order in which each participant reaches the goal, or of the number of walks they have been able to finish;
* hiking: a mountaineering specialty focused on making crossings or routes through sites that are usually remote and without traced roads. The objective of this activity is recreation, so it is not a competitive sport either. The normal thing is that the tour is done on foot, and in this case the English term trekking can be used as a synonym;
* climbing: its purpose is to climb walls with a very steep slope, using physical force, but also mental force. The level of difficulty of the climb is not decisive to consider an activity as part of the climb. Unlike other mountaineering specialties, it requires the use of the upper extremities in combination with the lower ones. In fact, sometimes you also need to use your knees;
* canyoning: it is an adventure sport that focuses on ravines or river canyons. The routes of this activity can be very varied, with desert landscapes or thick vegetation, dry or with bodies of water, and one of its disciplines, called torrentism, requires overcoming these changes on the road by alternating different actions, such as swimming , walk, climb and descend.
Although it can be considered as a sport, mountaineering also has links with adventure tourism and even with the exploration of unknown terrain. Its practice requires excellent physical condition, knowledge of the mountains and various specific skills: otherwise, the person will not only be unable to reach the summit, but will also put her life at risk.
Beyond physical and technical skills, those who are engaged in mountaineering must have appropriate clothing to withstand low temperatures and accessories such as ropes, climbing peak, etc.
