CLASS-VIII A

ABOUT MOUNTAINS
 About Mountaineering

• Mountaineering is the sport,

hobby or profession of walking,
hiking, backpacking and climbing
mountains.
• In Europe it is also referred to as
alpinism, while in the Americas
the term refers to a particular style
of mountain climbing, that involves
a mixture of ice climbing, rock
climbing, mixed climbing, and
where the climbers carry all their
loads with them at all times.
• In the Himalayan regions the style
of mountaineering is Expedition.
HOW MANY TYPES?
• Mountaineering began as
attempts to reach the
highest point of unclimbed
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.
 TYPES

ROCK C
LIMBIN
G
SKI
I NG

MB I NG
W CLI
SNO
SNOW
• Compacted snow conditions allow
mountaineers to progress on foot.
Frequently crampons are required to travel
efficiently over snow and ice. Crampons
have 8-14 spikes and are attached to a
mountaineer's boots. They are used on hard
snow (neve) and ice to provide additional
traction and allow very steep ascents and
descents
• Varieties range from lightweight aluminium
models intended for walking on snow
covered glaciers, to aggressive steel
models intended for vertical and
overhanging ice and rock. Snowshoes can
be used to walk through deep snow. Skis
can be used everywhere snowshoes can
and also in steeper, more alpine
landscapes, although it takes considerable
practice to develop strong skills for difficult
terrain
GLACIER
• When travelling over glaciers, crevasses pose a
grave danger. These giant cracks in the ice are not
always visible as snow can be blown and freeze
over the top to make a snow bridge. At times snow
bridges can be as thin as a few inches.
• Climbers use a system of ropes to protect
themselves from such hazards. Basic gear for
glacier travel includes crampons and ice axes.
Teams of two to five climbers tie into a rope equally

spaced.
• If a climber begins to fall the other members of the
team perform a self-arrest to stop the fall. The other
members of the team enact a crevasse rescue to

pull the fallen climber from the crevasse.

 ICE
• Multiple methods are used to safely travel
over ice. If the terrain is steep but not
vertical, then the lead climber can place ice
screws in the ice and attach the rope for
protection .
• Each climber on the team must clip past the
anchor, and the last climber picks up the
anchor itself. Occasionally, slinged icicles or
bollards are also used. This technique is
known as Simul-climbing and is sometimes
also used on steep snow and easy rock .
• If the terrain becomes too steep,
standard ice climbing techniques are
used in which each climber is belayed,
moving one at a time
 SKIING

• Skiing is a group of sports using skis

as equipment for traveling over snow.
Skis are used in conjunction with boots
that connect to the ski with use of a
binding.
• Combining the techniques of
alpine skiing and mountaineering
to ascend and descend a
mountain is a form of the sport by
itself, called Ski Mountaineering.
SHELTERS
• HUT
• BASE CAMP
• BIVOUAC (BIVY)
• TENT
• SNOW CAVE
 BASE CAMP

• The "Base Camp" of a mountain is

an area used for staging an
attempt at the summit. Base
camps are positioned to be safe
from the harsher conditions above.
• There are base camps on many
popular or dangerous mountains.
Where the summit cannot be
reached from base camp in a
single day, a mountain will have
additional camps above base
camp.
HUT

• The mountain huts are of varying size

and quality, but each is typically
centered on a communal dining room
and have dormitories equipped with
mattresses, blankets or duvets, and
pillows; guests are expected to bring
and to use their own sleeping bag
liner.
• The facilities are usually
rudimentary but, given their
locations, huts offer vital shelter,
make routes more widely
accessible (by allowing journeys to
be broken and reducing the weight
of equipment needing to be
carried), and offer good value.
 BIVIOUAC (BIVY)

• In the mountaineering context,

a bivouac or "bivy" is a
makeshift resting or sleeping
arrangement in which the
climber has less than the full
complement of shelter, food
and equipment that would
normally be present at a
conventional campsite.
• This may involve simply
getting a sleeping bag and
Bivouac sack and lying down
to sleep.
TENT

• Tent are the most common form of

shelter used on the mountain.
These may vary from simple tarps
to much heavier designs intended
to withstand harsh mountain
conditions .
• In exposed positions, windbreaks
of snow or rock may be required to
shelter the tent.
• One of the downsides to tenting is
that high winds and snow loads
can be dangerous and may
ultimately lead to the tent's failure
and collapse.
 SNOW CAVE

• Where conditions permit snow

caves are another way to
shelter high on the mountain.
Some climbers do not use
tents at high altitudes unless
the snow conditions do not
allow for snow caving, since
snow caves are silent and
much warmer than tents.
• They can be built relatively
easily, given sufficient time,
using a snow shovel. A
correctly made snow cave will
hover around freezing, which
relative to outside
temperatures can be very
warm.
TYPES OF HAZARDS

• FALLING ROCKS
• FALLING ICE
• FALLS FROM ROCKS
• AVALANCHES
• ICE SLOPES
• SNOW SLOPES
• CREVASSES
• WEATHER
• ALTITUDE
• SOLAR RADIATION
• VOLCANIC ACTIVITIES
 HAZARDS

V A S SES
CRE

IN G ICE
FALL

AVALAN
CHES
AVALANCHES
 EQUIPMENTS

• A wide range of
equipment is used
during rock climbing .
• It protects climbers
from consequence
falls.
TYPES OF EQUIPMENTS
LOCATIONS

• Mountaineering has become a popular sport

throughout the world. In Europe the sport largely
originated in the Alps, and is still immensely popular
there. Other notable mountain ranges frequented
by climbers include the Caucasus, the Pyrenees,
Rila mountains, the Tatra mountains and
Carpathian Mountains.

• In North America climbers frequent the Rocky

Mountains, the Sierra Nevada of California, the
Cascades of the Pacific Northwest and the high
peaks of Alaska .

• There has been a long tradition of climbers going

on expeditions to the Greater Ranges, a term
generally used for the Andes and the high peaks of
Asia including the Himalaya, Pamirs and Tien
Shan.

• Other mountaineering areas of interest include the

Southern Alps of New Zealand, the Japanese Alps,
the South Korean mountains, the Coast Mountains
of British Columbia, the Scottish Highlands, and the
mountains of Scandinavia, especially Norway.
 First Men to Reach The Summit of Mount Everest
Sir Edmund P. Hillary
New Zealand mountain climber Sir Edmund
Hillary was one of the first two men to reach
the summit of Mount Everest, the tallest
mountain in the world, and return. Hillary and
Sherpa tribesman Tenzing Norgay reached
the 8848 m (29,028 ft) summit on May 29,
1953. Queen Elizabeth II knighted Hillary, a
Royal Air Force veteran, for the feat.
Tenzing Norgay
In 1953 Nepalese mountain climber Tenzing
Norgay and New Zealand mountaineer
Edmund Hillary were the first people to scale
the summit of Mount Everest, the highest
mountain in the world at 8,850 m (29,035 ft).
FIRST TEENAGE TO REACH EVEREST

•Arjun Bajpayee, a resident of

Uttar Pradeshs Noida city has
become the youngest person
to climb the Mount Everest at
the age of 16.
REACHING THE TOP
THE END