Definition

Noun: - The sport or activity of climbing high mountains, especially those requiring technical skills with ropes, ice axes, and other specialized equipment. While the term originates from climbing in the Alps, it is not restricted to that mountain range and refers to high-altitude mountaineering in general.

Usage

• General Activity: Used to describe the practice and sport of ascending steep, high mountains.
  • His lifelong passion for alpinism took him to peaks across three continents.
  • The club focuses on teaching the fundamentals of alpinism, including glacier travel and crevasse rescue.

Advanced Usage

• Style of Climbing: Often implies a self-sufficient, lightweight style of ascent, as opposed to expeditions using extensive fixed ropes and support.
  • They attempted the peak in pure alpinism style, carrying all their gear and making a single push from base camp.

Variants and Related Words

• Alpinist (noun): A person who engages in alpinism; a mountain climber.
  • The experienced alpinist led the team through the treacherous icefall.

Synonyms

• Mountaineering
• Mountain climbing

Related Phrases/Idioms

• Alpine style: A method of climbing mountains emphasizing speed and minimal equipment, closely associated with modern alpinism.
  • Their successful ascent was a classic example of Alpine style.

Noun

1. mountain climbing (not restricted to the Alps)