Many mountaineers often believe that safety in mountaineering is ensured primarily by the use of safety equipment: a safety rope, elements of belay and self-belay, and a belay device, as well as to bet https://22bet.com/. And they spend too much time mastering the techniques of using safety equipment. To the detriment of other, more important types and areas of training. But in the list of causes of accidents in the mountains, improper belay or its absence is far from the first place. Often, an experienced soloist (not a self-important suicidal novice, but a master of solo mountaineering) without rope insurance overcomes the route with less risk and greater safety than the average climber with insurance.
There is a lot of talk about safety in mountaineering. You can constantly hear: mountaineering should be safe! But can mountaineering be safe? This is a myth. Mountains will always be a dangerous place for people. They live their own life, something is constantly happening in them: earthquakes, rock falls, rockfalls, avalanches, collapses of hanging glaciers, thunderstorms, storms, and other mud and rock flows (mudflows). And if a person finds himself in a dangerous place at this time, there will be a danger not only to his health, but also to his life.
Therefore, it is possible and necessary to reduce the level of danger of mountain climbing, foremost by studying the nature of the mountains: their origin, climate, dangers, causes of these dangers, knowing the most dangerous places, precautions. But this is not enough.
The basis of safety in the mountains is a full-fledged, comprehensive preparation of the climber for climbing! It should be comprehensive and multifaceted. Here are the main types and areas of training:
- TECHNICAL. A climber must learn to confidently and reliably move along mountain terrain: rocks (in rock shoes, in mountain boots, in crampons), snow of different types and conditions, ice (glacier, waterfall, dripstone), and mixed. At the same time, during training, a climber must be able to confidently pass sections more difficult than planned for the ascent (the so-called “safety margin”). It is necessary to remember that insurance is the last argument when you have already fallen and are flying! And it does not always save. You CANNOT FALL during an ascent! This is evidenced by the statistics of accidents over 90 years in our mountaineering: 43% of deaths are due to falls! And therefore, technical training in the rating of safety factors is in second place!
- PHYSICAL. Development of the physical capabilities of the climber’s body to function effectively and stably in high-altitude conditions for a long time. Traditionally divided into general and special. Physical training is very important, but even at the initial stage, it should not be devoted to more than 50% of training time. As skill increases, the emphasis shifts from general physical training to special physical training and technical training. Recommendations for physical training. Special physical training can also include rock climbing, dry tooling, and ice climbing on urban artificial climbing walls and ice walls.
- PRACTICAL. A mountaineer must constantly improve his skills in handling equipment, organizing belay and self-belay, search and rescue operations, organizing bivouacs on various mountain terrain, providing first aid for illnesses and injuries, radio and other types of communication, orientation in the mountains, cooking during ascents, transporting cargo, caring for equipment, etc.
- MATERIAL. Availability of funds for organizing and conducting the ascent, purchasing equipment, food, first aid kit. Here, you need to know the measure, guided by the search for the “golden mean” between the desired and the possible. So, when selecting equipment for an ascent, you want to take everything that the team members have. But you can’t take everything. Or you can take it, but very slowly! What you can do without should be left (for example, cordalets, self-belays, clamps, large cams from No. 3 and above). The philosophy of the Alpine style professed by the majority today and its derivative – “fast-n-light” states: “Mountains are an objectively dangerous place for a person, and the less time we are there (climbing), the less we expose ourselves to danger.
