Mountaineering
Mountaineering means adventure: Away from well-marked trails and comfortable benches at every turn, you're going high up with full body effort. Whether you're looking for a via ferrata, a high-altitude tour or alpine climbing - with Outdooractive you're sure to find exciting tours and valuable tips from the community.
So get out of your comfort zone and up the mountain!
The best regions
Mountaineering adventure
What is the difference between hiking and mountaineering?
Hiking, mountain hiking, and mountaineering—many people get confused by these terms. The distinction isn’t always clear, as many mountain activities, especially in alpine terrain, blend elements of both hiking and mountaineering.
The key difference between hiking and mountaineering that most agree on is this: Hiking follows marked and secure trails, requiring no technical skills or equipment. Mountaineering, however, often takes you into pathless terrain. The conditions are more challenging, typically involving scree, rocks, snow, ice, and sometimes crevasses. In mountaineering, you may encounter easy scrambles or more difficult climbing passages in exposed areas, and you’ll often use technical equipment like ropes, ice axes, or crampons.
To sum it up: Classic mountaineering takes place in pathless, alpine environments and often involves short sections of climbing. The difficulty can range from relatively easy rocky tours with minor scrambles to steep alpine climbs on vertical rock faces.
It's important to note that mountaineering is generally more technically demanding than hiking. Even if you're an experienced hiker, beginners in mountaineering should start with easier routes and gradually progress to more challenging ones. Take it slow and don’t push yourself too hard!
The varieties of mountaineering
Mountaineering includes classic mountain tours, via ferrata, alpine climbing and high altitude tours. You will need special equipment and aids to support you on your adventures. Of course, the amount of equipment depends on the activity. You can find more information, tips and tour suggestions - for beginners and advanced hikers on the respective activity pages at Outdooractive:
A sport at the limit
The dangers of mountaineering
One thing should be clear from the start: climbing a peak is no easy feat! Especially in high mountain ranges, mountain sports come with a variety of risks. These risks are typically categorized into two types:
Subjective Dangers
These risks are within the mountaineer's control. Subjective dangers include factors like lack of fitness, poor climbing technique, improper map reading, overconfidence, inadequate food, fear of heights, lack of experience, and misjudging the difficulty or weather conditions.
To mitigate these subjective dangers, proper preparation is crucial. Avoid starting with difficult mountain tours; instead, gradually increase the difficulty as you gain experience. Keep in mind that most beginners focus primarily on the ascent, but the descent can be just as perilous. A good head for heights, surefootedness, and stamina are essential! Also, remember that the higher you climb, the thinner the air, which means lower oxygen levels.
Objective Dangers
These are risks beyond the athlete's control, such as snowfall, cold, rain, solar radiation, rockfall, rockslides, mudflows, avalanches, thunderstorms, and crevasses.
To prepare for these objective dangers, make sure to check weather and conditions in advance, plan your route carefully, and be aware of emergency descent options. Comprehensive equipment is a must, and it’s always safer to climb with a companion rather than going alone in rough terrain.
In our community you will find many enthusiastic mountaineers. Here you can find some testimonials and interviews:
Safe on the road with Outdooractive
Mountaineering with the features of Outdooractive
With Outdooractive you can plan your tours perfectly and are always safe on the road - here we have put together some highlights for you:
- Professional map material with all relevant information, available offline for orientation and navigation
- Comprehensive map layerr with different safety-relevant information, e.g. trail types, slope gradient, avalanche situation or snow cover
- Weather information
- Display of current conditions such as notices of closures
- Sending the live location via Buddy Beacon
- Tour search with consideration of individual preferences and difficulty level
- Emergency call button, which enables immediate help through our cooperation with search and rescue services
Offers and discounts from our partners
Enjoy exclusive offers from our partners
As a Pro and Pro+ member not only do you have access to additional features and the best maps at your disposal, but you can also benefit from exclusive offers from our partners, ensuring you are always fully equipped for the outdoors!
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