Mountain Climbing, also known as Mountaineering, started as a contemporary sport when Horace-Bénédict de Saussure, a Genevese scientist, visited Chamonix in the year 1760. He was determined to climb the Mont Blanc, and since then, people have taken it as an activity to set records in mountain climbing. It is an exciting activity that falls under the extreme category. In mountain climbing, participants test their ability to attain certain heights on the mountain for pleasure.

Mountain climbing requires quite a lot of training. It is considered dangerous for the inexperienced. One attribute a mountain climber must possess is competency. You must be competent in different climbing techniques. You must be able to forecast weather, not professionally, but at least enough to know when to quit climbing.

Mountain climbing is one outdoor activity that tests your stamina, courage, strength, and resourcefulness.

Equipment Needed for Mountain Climbing

Mountain climbing has its unique equipment and tools to aid your safety and ease while climbing

Some of these equipment include:

Trekking poles

Mountain climbing boots

Gloves

Jacket

Ropes

Ice ax

Crampons

Helmet

Headlamp

Backpack

Sleeping bag

Climbing harness

Water bottle

Socks

Compass

Gaiters

Benefits of Mountain Climbing

Mountain climbing has quite a number of benefits, both physical and mental.

Some of the benefits of mountain climbing are

Mountain climbing improves your cardiovascular fitness.

It helps build your arm and leg muscles.

It helps burn belly fat.

It strengthens your arms, legs, shoulders and other parts of your body.

It helps burn off excess calories as your heart rate increases.

Mountain climbing helps improve the function and performance of important organs in your body, like the heart and lungs.

It helps reduce the risk of high blood pressure.

It improves your mental agility.

It is a great way to relieve stress.

It boosts your self-esteem

It gives you a sense of achievement.

Dangers of Mountain Climbing

One major problem that comes with mountain climbing is breathing, as breathing becomes harder as you increase in altitude. Human beings aren’t built to function at an altitude of 747. The higher you go, the lesser the availability of oxygen. And your body literally begins to die.

The most common accidents that happen during mountain climbing are a result of natural disasters.

Some of which could be

Avalanche

Weather

Ice and snow slopes

Weather storms

Crevasses

10 Greatest Peaks in The World

Mount Everest (Asia) – 29,035 /8,848m

K2 / Mount Godwin Austen (China) – 28,251feet/ 8,611m

Kangchenjunga (India) – 28,169feet/ 8,586m

Lhotse (China) – 28,516feet/ 8,516m

Makalu (China) – 27,838feet /8,485m

Cho Oyu (China) – 26,864feet/ 8,188m

Dhaulagiri (Nepal) -26,795feet /8,167m

Manaslu (Nepal) – 26,781feet/ 8,163m

Nanga Parbat (Pakistan) – 26,660/ 8,126m

Annapurna (Nepal) – 26,545feet/ 8,091m

Please note that if you’re a beginner and want to go mountain climbing, you should go with more experienced and professional climbers. This way, you can learn fast, watching and getting tips from them.