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Cold, Pain, Suffering, and the Other Joys of Alpinism
I am an aspiring alpinist. I do not yet consider myself an alpinist as I have not done any major ascents and am still very much an amateur. I moved from Colorado to Indiana, so I no longer have easy access to the mountains. I have to make do with ice climbing trips into Canada on winter weekends. As far as my ability goes, I am pretty much avergae. I can lead ice routes up to WI 3+/4 and I can second on upto WI 5 routes. I have done a few winter ascents in the Colorado Rockies with guides from the Colorado Mountain School, but nothing too serious or comitting. The most serious real ascent that I have done is a winter ascent of the Pinnacle on Mt. Washington with my climbing partner, Bob. I have climbed technically more challenging ice routes, but this was a long, multi-pitch alpine climb which felt quite a bit more exposed than other climbs I have done due to the severe cold and high winds that we faced.
Before I continue, I will try to provide a definition of alpinism for those not in the know. The name alpinism derrives from the french root alpine and refers to the sport of mountain climbing. Its roots can be traced to the Mont Blanc Masif in the French Alps in the mid 1800s. Since then, the sport of alpinism has become more widespread and is practiced all over the world.
Mountain climbing is a rather vague description for an activity. To further complicate the issue, there are many activities that constitute "climbing" such as rock climbing, ice climbing, big wall aid climbing, etc. But are they all forms of alpinism? The answer is no...and yes. Alpinism generally is not any one of those activities, but rather requires a skill set that reflects a mix of many different climbing disciplines.
Unlike sport rock climbing, alpinism requires a great deal of exposure to the weather(snow storms, winds, cold, etc.) and objective hazzards(avalanches, crevasses, falling rocks and ice, etc.). It is by no means a safe sport...every year many alpinists are killed in the mountains. It is HIGHLY advised that anyone interested in alpinism get instruction from qualified professionals and be comfortable with rock, ice, and mixed climbing techniques, avalanche awareness and rescue techniques.
So get out there, be safe and go climb!
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