The term mountaineering describes the sport of mountain climbing. While some scholars identify mountaineering-related activities as climbing (rock and ice) and trekking up mountains. Others are also adding backpacking, hiking, skiing, via ferrata and wilderness activities. Still others state that mountaineering activities also include indoor climbing, sport climbing and bouldering.
However, most of the scholars, the term mountaineering understand as a climbing (which now refers to adventure climbing or sports climbing) and trekking (hill walking in ‘exotic’ places). Hiking in the mountains can also be a simple form of mountaineering when it involves scrambling or short stretches of the more basic grades of rock climbing as well as crossing glaciers.
According to Wikipedia, Mountaineering is often called Alpinism, especially in European languages, which implies climbing routes with minimal equipment in high and often snow and ice-covered mountains such as the Alps, where technical difficulties frequently exceed environmental and physical challenges. A mountaineer who pursues this more technical and minimalist style of mountain climbing is sometimes called an Alpinist, although use of the term may vary between countries and eras. The word “alpinism” was born in the 19th century to refer to climbing for the purpose of enjoying climbing itself as a sport or recreation, distinct from merely climbing while hunting or as a religious pilgrimage that had been done generally at that time.
According to Britannica, Mountaineering, also called mountain climbing, the sport of attaining, or attempting to attain, high points in mountainous regions, mainly for the pleasure of the climb. Although the term is often loosely applied to walking up low mountains that offer only moderate difficulties, it is more properly restricted to climbing in localities where the terrain and weather conditions present such hazards that, for safety, a certain amount of previous experience will be found necessary.
Mountaineering differs from other outdoor sports in that nature alone provides the field of action—and just about all of the challenges—for the participant. Climbing mountains embodies the thrills produced by testing one’s courage, resourcefulness, cunning, strength, ability, and stamina to the utmost in a situation of inherent risk. Mountaineering to a greater degree than other sports, is a group activity, with each member both supporting and supported by the group’s achievement at every stage. For most climbers, the pleasures of mountaineering lie not only in the “conquest” of a peak, but also in the physical and spiritual satisfactions brought about through intense personal effort, ever-increasing proficiency, and contact with natural grandeur.
While mountaineering began as attempts to reach the highest point of unclimbed big mountains it has branched into specializations. That address different aspects of the mountain and consists of three areas: rock-craft, snow-craft, and skiing, depending on whether the route chosen is over rock, snow or ice. All require experience, athletic ability, and technical knowledge to maintain safety.
Mountaineering techniques vary greatly depending on location, season, and the particular route a mountaineer chooses to climb. Mountaineers train to climb on all types of terrain whether it be snow, glacier, glacial Ice, water ice, or rock. Each type of terrain presents its own hazards. Climbers must be skilled in dealing with the different challenges that could arise from different terrain.
The UIAA or Union Internationale des Associations d’Alpinisme is the world governing body in mountaineering and climbing, addressing issues like access, medical, mountain protection, safety, youth and ice climbing.
Historically, many cultures have harbored superstitions about mountains, which they often regarded as sacred due to their perceived proximity with heaven, such as Mount Olympus for the Ancient Greeks.
On April 26, 1336 famous Italian poet Petrarch climbed to the summit of 1,912m Mount Ventoux. Overlooking the Bay of Marseilles, claiming to be inspired by Philip V of Macedon’s ascent of Mount Haemo, making him the first known alpinist.
One of the first European mountains visited by many tourists was Sněžka. This was mainly due to the relatively minor technical difficulties ascent. In fact that since the sixteenth century, many resort visitors flocked to the nearby Cieplice Śląskie-Zdrój and highly visible Sněžka, visually dominant over all Krkonoše was for them an important attraction. The first confirmed ascent took place in the year 1456.
In 1492 Antoine de Ville, lord of Domjulien and Beaupré, was the first to ascend the Mont Aiguille, in France, with a little team, using ladders and ropes. It appears to be the first recorded climb of any technical difficulty, and has been said to mark the beginning of mountaineering.
In 1573 Francesco De Marchi and Francesco Di Domenico ascended Corno Grande, the highest peak in the Apennine Mountains. During the Enlightenment, as a product of the new spirit of curiosity for the natural world, many mountain summits were surmounted for the first time.
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