Ice toolAn ice tool is a specialized elaboration of the modern ice axe, and often described broadly as an ice axe or technical axe, used in modern ice climbing and mixed climbing. Modern ice climbers usually use them in pairs when ascending an ice climbing route, and thus in some circumstances such as top-rope-anchored climbs, a pair may be shared among two or more people, where only one of them at a time is climbing.
Self-arrestThe self-arrest is a climbing technique mostly used in mountaineering and alpine climbing where a climber who has fallen and is sliding uncontrollably down a snow or ice-covered slope 'arrests' their fall by themselves by using their ice axe and their crampons.
AlpenstockAn alpenstock (German: Alpen- "alpine" + Stock "stick, staff") is a long wooden pole with an iron spike tip, used by shepherds for travelling on snowfields and glaciers in the Alps since the Middle Ages. It is the antecedent of the modern ice axe. French-speaking climbers called this item a "baton". Josias Simler, a Swiss professor of theology at what later became the University of Zurich, published the first treatise on the Alps, entitled De Alpibus commentarius.
Ice climbingIce climbing is a climbing discipline that involves ascending routes consisting entirely of frozen water. To ascend, the ice climber uses specialist equipment, particularly double ice axes (or the more modern ice tools) and rigid crampons. To protect the route, the ice climber uses steel ice screws that require skill to employ safely and rely on the ice holding firm in any fall.
ClimbingClimbing is the activity of using one's hands, feet, or other parts of the body to ascend steep topographical objects that can range from the world's tallest mountains (e.g. the eight thousanders) to small boulders. Climbing is done for locomotion, sporting recreation, for competition, and in trades that rely on ascension, such as construction and military operations.
MountaineeringClimbers ascending Mount Rainier looking at Little Tahoma Peak, United StatesMountaineering is a set of outdoor activities that involves ascending mountains. Mountaineering-related activities include traditional outdoor climbing, skiing, and traversing via ferratas that have become sports in their own right. Indoor climbing, sport climbing, and bouldering are also considered variants of mountaineering by some, but are part of a wide group of mountain sports.
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Mixed climbingMixed climbing is an ice climbing discipline used on climbing routes that do not have enough ice to be regular ice climbs, but are also not dry enough to be regular rock climbs. To ascend the route, the mixed-climber uses normal ice-climbing equipment throughout (e.g. double ice tools or ice axes in their hands, and crampons on their feet), but to protect the route, they use both ice and rock equipment.
HikingA hike is a long, vigorous walk, usually on trails or footpaths in the countryside. Walking for pleasure developed in Europe during the eighteenth century. Long hikes as part of a religious pilgrimage have existed for a much longer time. "Hiking" is the preferred term in Canada and the United States; the term "walking" is used in these countries for shorter, particularly urban walks.
European Committee for StandardizationThe European Committee for Standardization (CEN; French: Comité Européen de Normalisation) is a public standards organization whose mission is to foster the economy of the European single market and the wider European continent in global trading, the welfare of European citizens and the environment by providing an efficient infrastructure to interested parties for the development, maintenance and distribution of coherent sets of standards and specifications.
International Climbing and Mountaineering FederationThe International Climbing and Mountaineering Federation, commonly known by its French name Union internationale des associations d'alpinisme (UIAA; French for 'International Union of Alpine Clubs'), was founded in August 1932 in Chamonix, France when 20 mountaineering associations met for an alpine congress.
BelayingIn climbing and mountaineering, belaying comprises techniques used to create friction within a climbing protection system, particularly on a climbing rope, so that a falling climber does not fall very far. A climbing partner typically applies tension at the other end of the rope whenever the climber is not moving, and removes the tension from the rope whenever the climber needs more rope to continue climbing.*As an Amazon Associate I earn from qualifying purchases.