Mountaineering refers to a sports activity in which athletes climb from low-altitude terrain to high-altitude peaks with bare hands or with special equipment under certain requirements. Mountaineering can be divided into mountaineering adventure (also known as alpine adventure), competitive climbing (including rock climbing and ice climbing) and fitness mountaineering.
The mountain peaks faced by mountaineering expeditions are usually three or four kilometers above sea level and are covered with snow all year round. Its competitiveness is not manifested in the competition and confrontation of athletes (or teams) in the same time and space and under the same conditions, but in the struggle between athletes (or teams) and harsh natural environment, which is a contest between human vitality and harsh living conditions.
In mountaineering exploration activities, athletes are faced with altitude hypoxia, strong wind and low temperature, steep terrain and various difficulties and obstacles in the mountains. The evaluation of a successful mountaineering expedition is not judged from the general aspects such as time, speed, strength and skills, but emphasizes the height and difficulty of the selected mountain peak, the uniqueness of organizing and applying tactics and its scientific degree.
Extended data
Mountaineering comes from the practice of people's life and productive labor. There are mountains in many parts of the world, and almost all countries on the earth have mountains. As the saying goes, "people who live on or near the mountain for a long time get all kinds of living and production materials through chopping wood, hunting, logging, digging wild fruits, wild vegetables, medicinal materials and mineral deposits."
In ancient times, when there was a flood, people went up the mountain to avoid the flood. When tribes, nations and countries appear in human society, people often go up mountains to avoid invading enemies or be attacked by mountains. After the formation of commodity exchange, people drove horses over mountains and mountains to exchange goods, culture and art with Xibu people.
The whole human life is closely related to mountains, and mountaineering has been developing continuously. There are many traditional customs of mountain climbing in China. For example, people use the Double Ninth Festival to climb mountains for fitness activities and tourism activities, and many scholars also like sightseeing very much.
In order to reach the summit, people give full play to their intelligence: before 1786, some people used special equipment such as climbing picks and ropes to master relevant knowledge such as avalanches, rolling stones, ice collapses and lack of oxygen in mountains.
When the special technology and equipment of mountaineering were formed, mountaineering gradually separated from tourism activities and became an independent sports event. As a special sport, mountaineering started at the end of18th century.