Alpinist crossing the Hinterstoisser traverse on the Eiger north face, 1938 Heckmair Route (ED2, V−, A0, 60° snow).[1]
Lists
Climbers
Piolet d'Or winners
IFSC victories
Equipment
Knots
Historical events
Grade milestones
Eight-thousanders
Terminology
Types of rock climbing
Aid
Big wall
Multi-pitch
Bouldering
Highball
Competition
Speed
Free
Sport
Traditional
Solo
Free solo
Deep-water solo
Rope solo
Top roping
Types of mountaineering
Alpine
Mixed
Via ferrata
Himalayan
Alpine style
Expedition style
Ice
Dry-tooling
Scrambling
Hillwalking
Other types
Buildering
Canyoning
Crane
Grass
Commercial
Parkour
Pole
Rock hopping
Rooftopping
Roof hacking
Slide
Tree
Key terms/actions
Abseiling
Belaying
First ascents
FFA
FFFA
Grades
Leading
Flashing
Greenpointing
Onsighting
Redpointing
Simul climbing
Traversing
Route
v
t
e
Alpine climbing (German: Alpinklettern) is a type of mountaineering that involves using any of a broad range of advanced climbing skills, including rock climbing, ice climbing, and/or mixed climbing, to summit typically large routes (e.g. multi-pitch or big wall) in an alpine environment. While alpine climbing began in the European Alps, it is used to refer to climbing in any remote mountainous area, including in the Himalayas and in Patagonia. The derived term alpine style refers to the fashion of alpine climbing to be in small lightly-equipped teams who carry all of their own equipment (e.g. no porters), and do all of the climbing (e.g. no sherpas or reserve teams).
Alpinists face a wide range of serious risks in addition to the specific risks of rock, ice, and mixed climbing. This includes the risks of rockfalls (common with rock faces in alpine environments), avalanches (especially in couloirs), seracs and crevasses, violent storms hitting climbers on exposed mountain faces, altitude effects (dehydration, edema, frostbite), complex navigation and route finding, long abseils, and the difficulty of rescue and/or retreat due to the remote setting. Due to the scale of the routes, alpine climbers need to be able to move together for speed (e.g. simul climbing or as rope teams), which is another source of specific risk.
The first "golden age" of modern alpine climbing was the first free ascents–in summer, in winter, and as solo–of the great north faces of the Alps by pioneers such as Walter Bonatti, Riccardo Cassin and Gaston Rebuffat. The subsequent era, which is still ongoing, is focused on the equivalent ascents and enchainments, of the ice and snow-covered faces and ridges of major Himalayan peaks (e.g. the eight-thousanders, Latok, The Ogre) and Patagonian peaks (e.g. Cerro Torre Group, Fitz Roy Group) in "alpine style" by pioneers such as Hermann Buhl, Reinhold Messner and Doug Scott, and latterly by alpinists such as Ueli Steck, Mick Fowler, Paul Ramsden, and Marko Prezelj. The annual Piolets d'Or are awarded for the best achievements in alpine climbing.
^"Eiger speed record by Dani Arnold". PlanetMountain. 24 April 2011. Retrieved 10 May 2023.
Alpineclimbing (German: Alpinklettern) is a type of mountaineering that involves using any of a broad range of advanced climbing skills, including rock...
Free solo climbing, or free soloing, is a form of rock climbing where the climbers (or free soloists) climb solo (or alone) without ropes or other protective...
docuseries about his quest to climb across the peaks of Greenland. Also in 2021, Honnold started a podcast about climbing called Climbing Gold. Honnold lived in...
Glossary of climbing terms relates to rock climbing (including aid climbing, lead climbing, bouldering, and competition climbing), mountaineering, and...
Competition speed climbing is a form of competitive speed climbing performed on a standardized artificial wall with a top rope. Alpineclimbing: Ascending large...
1970s, ice climbing developed as a standalone skill from alpineclimbing (where ice climbing skills are used on ice and snow). Ice climbing grades peak...
traditional outdoor climbing, skiing, and traversing via ferratas that have become sports in their own right. Indoor climbing, sport climbing, and bouldering...
Climbing equipment refers to a broad range of manufactured gear that is used in the activity or sport of climbing. Notable groups include: Alpine climbing...
climbing in Burgundy, and alpineclimbing in the Massif des Écrins. By 1976, aged 16, she was spending her summer in the Verdon Gorge, with climbing-partner...
2016, a film crew followed Leclerc as he solo climbed some of the most difficult and dangerous alpineclimbing routes in the world. The film was produced...
Big wall climbing is a form of rock climbing that takes place on long multi-pitch routes (of at least 6–10 pitches or 300–500 metres) that normally require...
Aid climbing is a form of rock climbing that uses mechanical devices and equipment, such as aiders (or ladders), for upward momentum. Aid climbing is the...
curious about rock climbing and joined the school's club. Harrington's rock climbing activities were centered on moderate outdoor climbing routes at New Hampshire...
considered a pioneer) and alpineclimbing. Emmett has established the hardest waterfall ice-climbs in the world, and was the first to climb grades of W10 and...
which is called free climbing. In free climbing, the term first free ascent (abbreviated FFA) is used where a mountain or climbing route is ascended without...
Zealand's South Island Alpineclimbing, a branch of climbing in which the primary aim is very often to reach the summit of a mountain Alpine Endurance Team,...
the type of climbing route (e.g. bouldering route, sport climbing route, traditional climbing route, ice climbing route, and alpineclimbing route, etc...
Mixed climbing is a climbing discipline used on routes that do have not enough ice to be pure ice climbs, but are also not dry enough to be pure rock climbs...
ferrate or in English via ferratas) is a protected climbing route found in the Alps and certain other Alpine locations. The protection includes steel fixtures...
history of rock climbing, the three main sub-disciplines—bouldering, single-pitch climbing, and big wall (and multi-pitch) climbing—can trace their origins...
rock climber, ice climber, mountaineer and climbing author. He is internationally noted for his alpineclimbing and was awarded the Piolet d'Or three times...