Broadly speaking, in mountaineering any distance or height covered by our four limbs are divided into three major categories which are hiking, trekking and climbing. We would not talk about crawling and walking as we already know a lot about it however, there is lot of confusion between hiking & trekking.
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| Hiking in Odisha |
Technically, hiking means a long walk on the trail through the woods or countryside. It is generally a one day activity and also called as bushwalking, tramping etc. However, trekking means a little more strenuous walk usually with a night camp in the forest or mountains.
In mountaineering trekking is divided into two types:-
- 1. High Altitude Trek: which means trekking at or above 8-9000 fts approx. in the hills or mountains. Generally high altitude treks are covered with snow in the mountain areas.
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| High Altitude Trek |
- 2. Low Altitude Trek: is a trek which is lower than 8-9000 fts approx. and generally within green line of the hills or mountains.
Low Altitude Trek
By this we must understand that any trek close to sea level should not be considered as a low altitude trek and rather just a trek.
We all know climbing like 'stair climbing' or 'climbing a ladder' etc. but there is a very clear definition about climbing in mountaineering. Any height achieved by using maximum three points (from two hand and two legs) of our body is called climbing. There are majorly three types of climbing in mountaineering
- 1. Rock Craft: The act of ascending the face of a rock by using three points of our body is called rock climbing. During rock climbing trainings the climbers are advised not to create more than three points touching the rock face by lying over it or by bending the knees/ ankles on the rock face. There are different types of rock climbing too like aid climbing etc. which we would discuss in a separate article.
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| 3 Point Rock Climbing |
2. Ice-craft: The act of ascending an ice-wall by using three points of our body is called ice-climbing. Here, people often ask how do we use our hands and legs on the ice-wall and the answer is very simple, we use ice-axe and crampons instead of our hands and legs to get a hold on the ice wall. Ice-axe is device with several teeth on its long pointed nail. Each tooth when nailed on the ice-wall has the capacity to hold certain weight which is based on it quality, design, and angle in which it is nailed and the angle in which body weight is hanged on it. Generally the angle of tooth, body weight and pressure applied on it should be in the same line for safe climbing. Whereas crampon is a device with lower and front pointed nails which is fixed on the climbing shoes before climbing. So, instead of feet the front nails of the crampons are hooked on the ice wall. In this way a climber pulls up his/her body by fixing at-least three points on the ice-wall.
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| 3 Point Ice Climbing |
- 3. Snow craft: To put it in the simplest way, it is an act of negotiating the snow while ascending the mountain. There are several devices which helps in opening the snow route and negotiating the snow challenges.
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| Ice-Axe |
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| Crampon tied to the shoes and front nails hooked on the ice wall. |
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