Rock climbing v Mountainering

[DirtyHarry]

The French system with the TresDifficult and ExtremDifficult make sense for comparing these types of clims.

[olyclimber]

a system invented by cheese eating surrender monkeys. perfect.

[DirtyHarry]

If you have to smoke more than a pack of cigarettes on the climb and can't make the five o'clock telepherique back to the hut for wine and chocolate then it is extreme difficult.

[EWolfe]

a system invented by cheese eating surrender monkeys. perfect.

Finally, the Canadians are out-dissed!

[Toast]

 

Wayne, where are you buddy?

[counterfeitfake]

Man I hope we get to the bottom of this terminological ambiguity pretty soon.

[Peter_Puget]

 

The best answer yet is "what shoes you're wearing."

[mattp]

Yes, but what if you wear rock shoes, but carry ice axe, crampons, etc. in your pack as you might for some of the Bugaboos routes that are better done as a carry-over instead of an up and down? A buddy of mine, a proficient rock climber and experienced big wall climber, called this "mountaineering."

 

So "what kind of shoes are you wearing" is modified by "who is wearing them?"

[John Frieh]

 

The Borders of Revolution

 

Pete Athans

 

When anyone asks you why you climb, do you suffer a loss for words? Do you hear yourself resorting to some well rehearsed pleasantry, shop worn cliche or time honored but ambiguous phrase typified by George Mallory's quip, "Because it's there?" At the expansive heart of alpinism there is a defiance of language. Inside us, however, we suspect the truth: climbing answers the longing for a fusion of vision, movement, dreams and imagination in our lives. As climbers, we have heard around the campfires and base camps from Yosemite to Patagonia to Everest that climbing is the seamless interface between art, sport and life. Why do we find ourselves tongue-tied to explain?

 

I passionately believe the power of alpine climbing can provide the basis for a revolution against fixity-the status quo. Psychologically, climbers are revolutionaries. We've all seen and railed against life's triviality, false seriousness and the commercial banality of modern existence. When we have grown exasperated with the absurd and even ridiculous lives we lead, as empty of substance as they are overwhelmed with materialism, we are secretly comforted because we know the antidote. Alpinism provides a world of possibilities to redeem us, inspiring our imagination and dreams. If those old in spirit no longer dream, if they suffer the sterility of knowing what to expect, then the endlessly fertile and youthful imagination of those who know how to dream must intervene. Climbing protects the vitality of our lives.

 

Our speechlessness upon witnessing a sublime mountainscape might reveal some causes. When we behold the mountains we cannot always express our intoxication with the natural world and the social circumstances around us. On a climb, we revive our bond with the natural world, something innate and timeless; we also enhance our relationships with each other. It is a mental and spiritual intimacy that gives us the tools to create something like art, something practically non-essential, but beautiful, inspiring. This ability to create and transform reality by creating something new gives us a taste of ultimate liberty. This is strong wine indeed!

 

So, the next time you are asked why you climb,you don't have to dodge the issue. Take the challenge and tell them why you love the mountains, alpine walls, crags and boulders. Better yet, dispense with talking and simply take them climbing. Even George Mallory would smile at that.

[tradclimbguy]

 

The best answer yet is "what shoes you're wearing."

 

I think that's probably the closest determination in the pile too.

 

I think it depends more on what you wear.

 

Shorts over polypro + boots and gators = Mountaineering

 

ratty pants + running shoes = Alpine

 

shorts + flip flops = Rock Climbing

 

Prana Pajamas = Bouldering

 

So when you see me running up to SCW to do OS in my flip flops I'm out rock climbing, but if I toss on approach shoes and pants it's alpine. If I'm walking down a flat chunk of rock in my boots and gators with polypro I'm probably being made fun of in that "other" thread

[G-spotter]

If you are wearing shorts over polypro, then what you are doing is "sucking" no matter what activity you are involved in

[tradclimbguy]

If you are wearing shorts over polypro, then what you are doing is "sucking" no matter what activity you are involved in

 

I beg to differ. I thought we learned from these cool cats that Mountaineering is way cool.

 

Learn to climb slab

 

[tvashtarkatena]

 

I think it depends more on what you wear.

 

Shorts over polypro + boots and gators = Mountaineering

 

ratty pants + running shoes = Alpine

 

shorts + flip flops = Rock Climbing

 

Prana Pajamas = Bouldering

 

 

browned out underwear = hard mixed alpine climbing

[J_Fisher]

Here's my rule of thumb:

 

If I have to wake up before 6AM=mountaineering

Sleep in past 6=rock climbing.

 

Though the shoe test thing yields similar results.

 

 

[still_climbin]

Back in the olden days, when I began climbing, rock climbing was considered just one of the tools of mountaineering. Similarly, ice climbing, snow climbing, alpine backpacking, bivy technique, etc. were all part of mountaineering. Mountaineering also required broader knowlege of weather, geology, glaciers, maps, survival skills, medicine, and organization.

 

It seems that over the last several decades various splinters of the sport of mountaineering became sports in there own right, such as rock climbing.

 

To answer the origionally posted question, mountaineering begins as you start adding these other elemnets.... Not exactly a black and white division. For those climbs in the "grey zone" between rock climbing and mountaineering, I thinks its more of the climber's attatude toward the climb that counts. So, if your envisioning a climb of SEWS SW Buttress as a rock climb with a long approach, then that's what it is.

 

 

[Z-Man]

"Without the glaciers, it's not really alpine."

 

- Colin Haley

[ptavv]

I sport climb in my AT ski boots with crampons on and skis on my backpack. So really there's no difference to me.

Edited April 27, 2007 by ptavv

[tradclimbguy]

"Without the glaciers, it's not really alpine."

 

- Colin Haley

 

So does that mean Alpine climbing dies when all the glaciers melt?

[still_climbin]

"Without the glaciers, it's not really alpine."

 

- Colin Haley

 

So does that mean Alpine climbing dies when all the glaciers melt?

I always thought "alpine" just meant above the timerline.

[G-spotter]

"Without the glaciers, it's not really alpine."

 

- Colin Haley

 

So does that mean Alpine climbing dies when all the glaciers melt?

I always thought "alpine" just meant above the timerline.

 

Are deserts alpine then?

[miladugga]

I read something by Catherine Destiville who said she quit rock climbing for mountaineering so she could eat whatever she wanted.

So there you have it. If it helps to eat alot, it's mountaineering. If it helps to watch what you eat, it's rock climbing.

[pope]

Mountain Earring:

 

 

Raw Climbing:

 

 

Any questions?