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In mountaineering, a fixed rope or fixed line is the practice of fixing in place bolted ropes to assist climbers and walkers in exposed mountain locations. They are used widely on American and European climbing routes, where they may be called
In mountaineering, a fixed rope or fixed line is the practice of fixing in place bolted ropes to assist climbers and walkers in exposed mountain locations. They are used widely on American and European climbing routes, where they may be called via ferrata
A via ferrata (Italian for "iron path", plural ''vie ferrate'' or in English ''via ferratas'') is a protected climbing route found in the Alps and certain other locations. The term "via ferrata" is used in most countries and languages except n ...
routes, but are not used in "Alpine style
Alpine style is mountaineering in a self-sufficient manner, thereby carrying all of one's food, shelter and equipment as one climbs, as opposed to expedition style (or siege style) mountaineering which involves setting up a fixed line of stocked ...
" mountaineering. Many guided expeditions to any of the eight-thousander
The International Mountaineering and Climbing Federation (UIAA) recognises eight-thousanders as the 14 mountains that are more than in height above sea level, and are considered to be sufficiently independent of neighbouring peaks. There is no ...
s normally set up fixed rope on steep or icy sections of the route. For example, on the Hillary Step
The Hillary Step was a nearly vertical rock face with a height of around located near the summit of Mount Everest, about above sea level. Located on the southeast ridge, halfway between the "South Summit" and the true summit, the Hillary Step ...
of Mount Everest
Mount Everest (; Tibetan: ''Chomolungma'' ; ) is Earth's highest mountain above sea level, located in the Mahalangur Himal sub-range of the Himalayas. The China–Nepal border runs across its summit point. Its elevation (snow heig ...
, fixed rope was used to reduce the bottleneck of climbers that typically results from climbing this technical section just below the summit.
In changing mountain environments such as glaciers, ice falls and areas with significant snow, fixed lines must generally be established anew at the start of each climbing season.
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