Alpine climbing

Alpine climbing (German: Alpinklettern) is a type of mountaineering that uses any of a broad range of advanced climbing techniques, including rock climbing, ice climbing, and/or mixed climbing, to summit typically large rock, ice, or snow-covered climbing routes (e.g., multi-pitch or big wall climbs) in mountainous environments. Alpine climbing began in the European Alps, but is now performed in any remote mountainous area, including in the Himalayas and Patagonia. To climb alpine style is to do so in small lightly-equipped teams who carry all their equipment (e.g., no porters are used) and do all of the climbing themselves (e.g., no sherpas or reserve teams). Alpinists face many additional risks beyond the risks of falling that is associated with the activity of rock and ice climbing. These risks include major rockfalls (common with large sheer rock faces in alpine environments), of avalanches (especially in couloirs), of falling seracs and of falling into crevasses, of violent storms on exposed mountain faces, of altitude effects (dehydration, edema, frostbite), of complex navigation and route finding, of long dangerous abseils, and of the difficulty of rescue or retreat due to the remoteness of the setting. Long routes may require alpinists to move simultaneously to maintain speed (e.g., in simul climbing or as rope teams), which carries its own risks. The first "golden age" of modern alpine-climbing saw 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. Today's subsequent era focuses on the ascents and enchainments of the ice and snow-covered faces and ridges of major Himalayan peaks (e.g., the eight-thousanders, Latok, and The Ogre in Pakistan) and Patagonian peaks (e.g., Cerro Torre Group, Fitz Roy Group in South America) in "alpine style"...