mountaineer - Hutchinson encyclopedia article about mountaineer Printer Friendly
Dictionary, Encyclopedia and Thesaurus - The Free Dictionary
1,734,730,371 visitors served.
forum mailing list For webmasters
?
New: Language forums
Dictionary/
thesaurus
Medical
dictionary
Legal
dictionary
Financial
dictionary
Acronyms
 
Idioms
Encyclopedia
Wikipedia
encyclopedia
?

mountaineering
(redirected from mountaineer)

   Also found in: Dictionary/thesaurus, Encyclopedia, Wikipedia 0.01 sec.

mountaineering

Enlarge picture
Ice climbing, Canada. Ice climbing is an increasingly popular sport. The ability to scale massive glaciers and ice-covered slopes is an essential skill in mountain climbing at high altitudes and latitudes.
Enlarge picture
Ice climbing, Canada. Ice climbing is often a necessary part of alpine mountaineering at high altitudes, but is increasingly a popular sport in its own right.

Art and practice of mountain climbing. For major peaks of the Himalayas it was formerly thought necessary to have elaborate support from the native Sherpas, fixed ropes, and oxygen at high altitudes (siege-style climbing). In the 1980s the Alpine style was introduced. This dispenses with these aids, and relies on human ability to adapt to high altitude.

In 1854 Wetterhorn, Switzerland, was climbed by Alfred Wills, thereby founding the sport; 1865 Matterhorn, Switzerland–Italy, by Edward Whymper; 1897 Cerro Aconcagua, Argentina, by Zurbriggen; 1938 Eiger (north face), Switzerland, by Heinrich Harrer; 1953 Everest, Nepal–Tibet, by Edmund Hillary and Norgay Tenzing; 1981 Kongur, China, by Chris Bonington.


mountaineering - events

1854EuropeThe British climber Alfred Wills climbs the Wetterhorn from Grindelwald in the Alps, an event which is regarded as the start of mountaineering as a sport. Within the next 11 years all the Alpine peaks are reached except La Meije.
29 May 1953NepalEdmund Hilary from New Zealand and Sherpa Norkey Tenzing from Nepal, as part of John Hunt's British expedition, complete the first successful ascent of Mount Everest, the world's highest mountain (8,848 m/29,028 ft) in the Himalayas, Nepal.
16 May 1975Japan, AsiaJunko Tabei of Japan becomes the first woman to climb Mount Everest, the world's highest mountain.
8 May 1978AsiaReinhold Messner of Italy and Peter Habeler of Austria become the first climbers to reach the summit of Mount Everest, the world's highest mountain, without bottled oxygen.
20 August 1980AsiaReinhold Messner of Italy completes the first entirely solo ascent of Mount Everest, the world's highest mountain.


How to thank TFD for its existence? Tell a friend about us, add a link to this page, add the site to iGoogle, or visit webmaster's page for free fun content.
?Page tools
Printer friendly
Cite / link
Email
Feedback
?Sign in SSL protected
Email:
Password:
Register

? Mentioned in
 
Hutchinson browser? ? Full browser
 
 
Hutchinson Encyclopedia
?

Disclaimer | Privacy policy | Feedback | Copyright © 2009 Farlex, Inc.
All content on this website, including dictionary, thesaurus, literature, geography, and other reference data is for informational purposes only. This information should not be considered complete, up to date, and is not intended to be used in place of a visit, consultation, or advice of a legal, medical, or any other professional. Terms of Use.