What is the difference between a backpacking trip and a mountaineering climb?
Well, rock climbers are a completely different matter. These are the same heroes hanging by one finger over the abyss, whose photographs are circulated on the Internet. Usually, the climbing route is relatively easy to get to. A quite comfortable camp is set up at the foot of the rocks, and then you need to climb using ropes.
Mountaineering and mountain tourism (trekking, as they say now) are really similar to each other. In both cases, the lion's share of the work is done with the legs. But mountaineering differs from pure trekking trips in the use of ropes. This means that you were walking, walking. We came to a place that needed to be overcome by climbing. Like rock climbers. That is, a climber is something between a tourist and a rock climber.
On such routes, the part similar to a hiking trip is called the “approach”. And, depending on the route, its relationship with the entire distance may be different. Sometimes climbing routes are specially laid out along rocky paths. If you can climb to the top without ropes, then according to the mountaineering classification it is an easy way. Usually there is a more “categorical” route to such peaks, where, one might say, climbers themselves look for difficulties in order to overcome them:) Not always, of course.
And, in fact, mountain tourism at a high level is increasingly reminiscent of mountaineering. Here, too, they begin to use ropes. And, by the way, there is another type of hiking that came to us from abroad, the so-called hiking. This is when overnight stays are made not in tents, but in special huts and mini-hotels. And you don’t need to carry as much food with you as on a regular hike.
Well, on most of our tours there is no need to use ropes and, therefore, to have special knowledge and skills. Almost always these are hiking trips in their purest form.