Alpine climbing

Alpinist on the Hinterstoisser traverse on the classic Eiger north face climbing route, the 1938 Heckmair Route (graded ED2, V−, A0, 60° snow).

Alpine climbing (German: Alpinklettern) is a type of mountaineering that uses any of a broad range of advanced climbing techniques, including rock climbing, ice climbing, and/or mixed climbing, to summit typically large rock, ice, or snow-covered climbing routes (e.g., multi-pitch or big wall climbs) in mountainous environments. Alpine climbing began in the European Alps, but is now performed in any remote mountainous area, including in the Himalayas and Patagonia. To climb alpine style is to do so in small lightly-equipped teams who carry all their equipment (e.g., no porters are used) and do all of the climbing themselves (e.g., no sherpas or reserve teams).

Alpinists face many additional risks beyond the risks of falling that is associated with the activity of rock and ice climbing. These risks include major rockfalls (common with large sheer rock faces in alpine environments), of avalanches (especially in couloirs), of falling seracs and of falling into crevasses, of violent storms on exposed mountain faces, of altitude effects (dehydration, edema, frostbite), of complex navigation and route finding, of long dangerous abseils, and of the difficulty of rescue or retreat due to the remoteness of the setting. Long routes may require alpinists to move simultaneously to maintain speed (e.g., in simul climbing or as rope teams), which carries its own risks.

The first "golden age" of modern alpine-climbing saw the first free ascents – in summer, in winter, and as solo – of the great north faces of the Alps by pioneers such as Walter Bonatti, Riccardo Cassin and Gaston Rebuffat. Today's subsequent era focuses on the ascents and enchainments of the ice and snow-covered faces and ridges of major Himalayan peaks (e.g., the eight-thousanders, Latok, and The Ogre in Pakistan) and Patagonian peaks (e.g., Cerro Torre Group, Fitz Roy Group in South America) in "alpine style" by pioneers such as Hermann Buhl, Reinhold Messner and Doug Scott, and latterly by alpinists such as Ueli Steck, Mick Fowler, Paul Ramsden, and Marko Prezelj. The annual Piolets d'Or – the "Oscars of mountaineering" – are awarded for the year's best achievements in alpine climbing.

Description

Moving together on Kuffner Ridge (D, UIAA V, French 4c), Mont Maudit.

Alpine climbing involves small unsupported teams tackling large multi-pitch (or big wall) climbing routes that can involve various combinations of rock climbing, ice climbing, and mixed climbing, in alpine-type mountain environments. Alpine routes are often long and require a full day of climbing, or even several days. Because of the length of the routes, and the danger of alpine environments (e.g. rockfall, avalanche, altitude, weather, etc.), alpine climbers (or "alpinists") typically try routes that are well within their technical rock, ice, and mixed climbing abilities.

While parts of an alpine route will involve a lead climber tackling difficult rock, ice, or mixed sections while being belayed by a stationary second climber below, parts will involve both climbers moving simultaneously together as a rope team, particularly on large snow slopes or easier rock sections. Simultaneous climbing (or simul climbing) is riskier but is necessary to ensure that the climbers can move quickly through what is often a very dangerous and exposed environment (e.g. rockfall on open ice fields), and complete the long alpine climbing routes in a reasonable timeframe.

Alpine climbing can involve aid climbing, particularly if high up on a route, aid is needed to make progress and avoid a dangerous retreat. It can also involve multiple and complex abseils, either on the descent or in a retreat from a route. Classic alpine climbing routes often take at least a full day of climbing which necessitates the early "alpine start" (and helps to avoid the afternoon rockfalls), and may need a bivouac. It often involves traveling on glaciers and bergschrunds to get to and from the route (and in the dark for "alpine starts").

Due to the greater complexity and risks of alpine climbing, alpinists need to be much more familiar with and confident in each team member's abilities and skill level. Alpine climbing involves exercising judgment and decision-making to adapt to the constantly changing alpine weather and route conditions (e.g. changing snow and ice levels), and where good initial progress can quickly turn into a fight for the team's very survival (e.g. as chronicled during many famous alpine climbs of north-faces, such as in The White Spider that recounts the 1936 Eiger climbing disaster).

Alpine style

Ueli Steck making a rapid 'alpine style' one-day ascent of North Couloir Direct (VI, Al 6+, M8) a major alpine climbing route on Les Drus, which normally requires several days climbing.

The derived term "alpine style" alludes to the fashion of alpine climbing to be in small fast-moving teams – or even as solo climbing – all of whom carry their own equipment (e.g. no porters), and do all of the climbing (e.g. no Sherpas or reserve teams laying down fixed ropes). Alpine-style is the opposite of expedition style (which is sometimes also pejoratively called "siege style" climbing), and is often considered a "purer" form of climbing and mountaineering.

Alpine style also means being lightly equipped; this can mean no supplementary oxygen, no major tenting or overnight equipment, and limited food and fuel supplies. It also means having minimal or no fixed ropes on the route (an important safety feature of expedition-style mountaineering). While these attributes enable alpine climbers to move quickly and take advantage of good conditions and "weather windows", it also makes alpine climbing far more dangerous. In situations where the habitually unstable high-altitude weather turns, alpine climbers will not have the provisions to "sit-out" the storm, and will not have the fixed ropes in place to retreat safely and quickly; such forced retreats in poor conditions are dangerous.

Types of routes

Types of alpine climbing routes
Matterhorn Hörnli Ridge (1,220 m, AD III) of the Matterhorn
Grandes Jorasses North Face: Routes include couloirs, rock-pillars / buttresses, and open faces.
Eiger North Face: The original 1938 Heckmair Route (blue-line #2) contrasts with the 1966 Harlin Direttissima
Cerro Torre Compressor Route SE Ridge

Alpine climbing encompasses a broad range of climbing routes, not all of which reach the peak of the mountain. They are typically long multi-pitch routes with a mixture of rock, ice and/or snow surfaces. The most straightforward route to the peak is often the easiest and thus the busiest, is called the voie normale. These routes generally follow a ridge that rises at a less steeper angle then other options to the top (e.g., the Hörnli Ridge on the Matterhorn), or an easier angled slope that rises to a col that can then follow a summit-ridge to the top (e.g., the Boccalatte-Pointe Walker route on the Grandes Jorasses).

After the first ascent, climbers will look to ascend via the main ridges and the main faces of the mountain. While face-routes are typically more severe due to their greater steepness, there are many notable ridge-routes that are equally serious undertakings due to their length and complexity (e.g., Everest's North East Ridge, Nanga Parbat's Mazeno Ridge or the Compressor Route on Cerro Torre's South East Ridge ). Climbers will also look to climb prominent features on the faces such as couloirs (e.g., the SuperCouloir), and ribs, spurs or pillars of rock (e.g., the Bonatti Pillar or the Walker Spur).

In alpine climbing, north-face routes are often the most challenging as their northerly aspect means that that they are more ice-covered and avalanche prone all year round, and they are hit by more serious weather systems than the other faces (e.g, the famous 1938 Heckmair Route on the Eiger). The Great north faces of the Alps are considered major testpieces for alpine climbers. Major alpine climbing peaks will have many routes on all their faces, some following different crack systems or physical features, and others being harder technical refinements of earlier routes such as direttissimas.

Equipment

Czech alpinists Marek Holeček and Tomáš Petreček [cs] wearing their full gear, about to start their unsuccessful 2015 alpine-style ascent of the southwest face of Gasherbrum I

While alpine climbers are lightly equipped due to the fact that they must carry all of their equipment while climbing, the range of climbing equipment needed can be considerable due to the diverse range of climbing techniques required on major alpine routes, and the harsh conditions encountered.

Risks

Alpinist crossing a large snow field underneath a dangerous hanging serac, on the Grand Pilier d'Angle.

Alpinists face a number of additional risks to the risks of rock climbing, ice climbing, and mixed climbing, making it one of the most dangerous forms of climbing. In 2019, Francis Sanzaro writing in the New York Times said of modern alpinism: "The routes are becoming more technically demanding, in more remote areas, and the method of "light and fast" — minimal gear, no fixed ropes, doing the route in a single push — is now regarded as the best style. These trends, and others, have made the sport of alpine climbing very, very dangerous". In 2021, the New York Times called the Piolets d'Or, alpine climbing's most important award, "A Climbing Award That May Be a Winner's Last", due to the number of fatalities of past winners.

Additional risks faced by alpinists to the risks of rock climbing, ice climbing, and mixed climbing, are:

The deadly White Spider ice field on the north face of the Eiger into which avalanches and rockfalls are funneled from several directions; alpine climbers move through it as quickly as possible.

Grading

Cosmiques Ridge (AD, French 4c UIAA V, 300-metre), Aiguille du Midi.
Chéré Couloir (D+, Ice WI4, Mix M3, 400-metre), Triangle du Tacul.

Due to the complexity of routes in alpine climbing, the "overall" grade denotes the general level of seriousness of the route to which is added additional specific grade(s) for any rock climbing (usually the French, American, or UIAA grades for free climbing, and the A-grade for aid climbing), ice climbing (the WI-grade), and mixed climbing (the M-grade) involved. In addition, alpine grades will quote the inclination of the main snow slopes encountered (e.g. 50–60 degrees), as these are often not graded ice climbs, but contribute significantly to the overall risk.

The most widely used "overall" grades are the acronyms of the UIAA Scale of Overall Difficulty, also known as the International French Adjectival System (IFAS). The UIAA warns against aligning their acronyms with equivalent rock and ice climbing grades, as the objective dangers can vary dramatically on routes with similar rock and ice climbing grades. For example, the famous 1,800-metre Eiger North Face 1938 Heckmair Route is graded ED2 even though the rock climbing is graded UIAA V− and the ice climbing is only at 60 degrees (i.e. both typically a D grade), due to the exceptional length and danger of the route. In spite of this, attempts have been made to ascribe a "typical" range of rock and ice climbing grades for to each acronym:

Note: A "+" (pronounced Sup for supérieur) or a "−" (pronounced Inf for inférieur) is placed after the acronym to indicate if a climb is at the lower or upper end of that grade (e.g., a climb slightly harder than "PD+" might be "AD−"). The term ABO for abominable is explicitly not recognized by the UIAA.

Milestones

The following are the most notable milestones in alpine climbing (and latterly, alpine-style climbing as applied worldwide):

European Alps

  • 1938. A team led by Anderl Heckmair completed the greatest prize in European alpine climbing, the first ascent of the north face of the Eiger. Even today, the 1938 Route (as it is known), carries a grade of ED2, due to its extreme danger beyond its technical grades of V A0 60-degree slopes.
  • 1938–1949. Gaston Rébuffat became the first alpinist to complete the six great north faces of the Alps.
  • 1955. Walter Bonatti completed a 5-day solo of a new route on the southwest face of the Petit Dru, which became known as the Bonatti Pillar, one of the hardest feats of alpine climbing at the time; much of the pillar fell off in 2005 and the route no longer exists.
  • 1977–1978. Ivano Ghirardini became the first alpinist to climb the "Trilogy" in winter, and solo; Catherine Destivelle was the first female to complete the solo winter Trilogy in 1992–1994.

High Mountains in Asia (Himalayas, Karakoram, Hindu Kush, Pamir)

  • 1975. Reinhold Messner and Peter Habeler made the first ascent of the Northwest Face of Gasherbrum I in pure alpine style; the first alpine-style ascent of an eight-thousander, which climbers previously believed could only be summited in expedition style.
  • 1976. After 25 days of climbing, Peter Boardman and Joe Tasker summit the west wall of Changabang in alpine style; their integration of big wall climbing techniques was revolutionary. Boardman's account, The Shining Mountain, became a classic in mountain literature.
  • 1977. A small team led by Doug Scott and Chris Bonington made the first ascent of The Ogre in pure alpine style; the descent turned into a struggle for survival as Scott and Bonnington were severely injured on the abseil; the ascent attracted worldwide interest for its boldness.
  • 1978. After 26 days of climbing, a small team led by Jeff Lowe gets to within 500 feet of the summit Latok I via the north ridge in pure alpine style; the route would not be climbed until 2022 but Lowe's bold attempt increased worldwide interest in "pure alpine style" climbing.
  • 1985. Wojciech Kurtyka and Robert Schauer [de] traverse the Shining Wall of Gasherbrum IV. The cititation of Kurtyka's 2016 Piolet d'Or Lifetime Achievement award, called their climb the "most remarkable alpine style ascent of the 20th century".
  • 2013. Ueli Steck soloed in pure alpine style the Lafaille Route on the enormous south face of Annapurna in just 28-hours, for which he won the 2013 Piolets d'Or; the provenance of the climb was initially questioned, but upheld by witnesses.

Patagonia

In film

A number of notable climbing films have been made about alpine climbing (and alpine climbing routes), including:

See also