What do I need to be an alpinist?

Preparation for any ascent is always a fairly long and versatile process, the task of which is to develop the basic technical and tactical techniques that participants will encounter when climbing on the planned route. Properly drawn up the training plan requires a clear understanding of the goal, rational motivation and critical attitude to your own capabilities, which, as you know, can be developed and improved almost endlessly. To begin with, in presenting the overall picture and specifics of the goal, we get the opportunity to focus efforts on certain aspects, to tighten those weaknesses of our preparation that will surely make themselves felt at the most inopportune moment.

Of course, only a person who has encountered these difficulties and who has sufficient qualifications for the correct arrangement of training accents can make a correct idea of all the nuances of the technical task - in any case, if your goal is so far beyond your capabilities, but at the same time is desired, and in general, is achievable - you will need an expert, at least to explain those subtleties that usually remain beyond the attention of the people who do not have sufficient experience in this field.

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If we talk about mountaineering in general, without going into the nuances of the various classes of routes and the features of tactical solutions in their resolving, we can say a few general things about the most important qualities and skills that make the ascent not only pleasant for us but also safe and successful. The first and most important is the rational motivation - that is, you must clearly understand for yourself why you are engaged in mountaineering and what you are willing to sacrifice on your way to achieve the Main Goal. The second thing is to understand that mountaineering requires from you to be self-discipline and purposeful, this passion does not leave you a chance to relax and lose your tone - for after every "conquered" peak there is a new, challenging goal, to achieve which you need to reassemble all your internal resources - the will to win, the strength of spirit and resilience to ordinary human laziness. One should realize that any summit is achievable with the correct approach to organization and preparation - but do not think that in six months you will be able to do everything. And do not immediately start packing your bags for "Everest" or "K2".

At least, in order to understand the difference between the “Goal” and the usual "Wish", you need to start from small things - perhaps your way in mountaineering will end on some tiny hill, after which, the accents will shift to beach and wine-beer horizontal tourism. And so it also happens, we will not poke a finger to anybody, but the examples are around us. Summarizing what I wanted to convey here to your attention. If you begin your climber's life journey and on your horizon you have snow peaks, do not think that they will come running to you tomorrow. There is still a very long and, sometimes, very bumpy way to even the most ordinary climbing goal, which from afar looks like a toy and a trifle - they say, I run three times there before lunch .... Do not be deceived by mirages.

You will have a lot of work ahead, and in general on yourself. I have to go in for sports. And not even fitness, but a very real, sweaty and tiring sport - the basis of your success in the mountains is your ability to move. We run with skis, without skis, in the wood and hills, as you like more. We learn to accept difficulties and retreat in order to take a breath and double the pressure after failure. Without failures, there are no victories or even successes. We are learning to help those who are close to us - without this in the mountaineering you will find only complete disappointment. We learn to put our own desires in the subordination to the mutual goal, learn to respect people, mountains and the world around us. In short, we become purer and better - and this will be your first step into the shining world of the mountain peaks.

Text — Alexey Trubachev, founder of the MCS AlexClimb mountaineering and climbing school.