Equipment of hikers in the mountains
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| sirt115. 11. 2015 08:46:22 |
In 1968, first to Triglav in pumparce, winter shirt, homemade knitted sweater and wool socks. And shoes? Such as parents could afford for a nine-year-old child in JeBeTe times. Those were "Shanghai" fabric sneakers. For all younger ones - today's "All Stars" sneakers are an improved version of those! Then we went up the Tominšek route. Slept in Stanič Hut. Second day to the summit, down past Planika, Dolič, 7 lakes all the way to the hut at Kraj (back then nobody called it Hut under Bogatin).
And there were fewer accidents then. Not because of equipment, but because parents prepared us for mountaineering! Back then, pioneer mountaineer and mountaineering school started in schools.
What about today? To BTC and get the most snobbish gear and off.....
Don't misunderstand me. Good equipment is needed that's not in the way and in which you feel good. Much more important is mountain upbringing so a person knows how to hike in mountains!
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| ločanka15. 11. 2015 09:51:05 |
In 1982 in strong wind on Mt. Blanc with wide ski pants with extended front part, warm wool sweater and ordinary thin red anorak. It didn't freeze me!
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| Trobec15. 11. 2015 10:48:21 |
Well, sometimes cars didn't have seatbelts either, yet there were fewer dead on roads...
I absolutely agree with everything sirt wrote (though personally I can't say how it was in 1968 ). But I'll never forget the group of "over-equipped" Hungarians on Triglav about 8 years ago. Great example of how modern gear can do more harm than good if you don't know how to use it properly. Namely, at the spot where the fixed rope was bolted to the wall with a piton, the Hungarian simply grabbed one carabiner on the SVK with each hand and unclipped both at once and reclipped on the other side. I grabbed my head, some older mountaineer started yelling at him in pure Gorenjska dialect and of course used a couple of juicy words too.
And to avoid misunderstanding, when leading a trip I always demand necessary gear from participants, but the basis is proper use of it.
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| dragon15. 11. 2015 12:02:53 |
In Andrej Mašera's book 55 equipped climbing routes, we find an excerpt from Planinski vestnik from 1928 describing the opening of Hanz's path on Mala Mojstrovka: "As soon as the Italians started hindering our tourists' passage over the border at Vršič, Mojstrovka became inaccessible to us... Therefore, the Central Committee decided to equip a secured tourist path over its northern border... Dr. Stanko Tominšek took over the entire action... the work was contracted to Ivan Vertelj-Hanza from Kranjska Gora, who had carried out the path on Prisojnik just over a year ago...The path is bold but extremely interesting all the time... Walls, chimneys, ledges and gullies alternate, something new and unexpected at every step... On Sunday, August 26, the new path was solemnly opened and handed over to traffic. About 100 tourists walked the entire path, almost half of them ladies..."
So people haven't been going to the mountains since yesterday with all possible climbing gear. More people traversed the mentioned path without a helmet and SVK than with it. When I did it myself five years ago, I got nothing friendly looks. Now I use a helmet on exposed spots because a rock doesn't choose whose head it falls on - experienced or inexperienced. But I don't use SVK. I'd rather avoid a path I'm not up to. That's my opinion, how others equip themselves for the hills is not my business and I don't intend to preach to anyone and ruin their mountaineering experience with it, because probably no one goes to the hills to listen to sermons.
The most important mountaineering equipment is good will, patience and a friendly attitude towards other hikers.
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| jax15. 11. 2015 14:26:20 |
But there were fewer accidents back then. Not because of equipment, but because our parents prepared us for hiking! Back then, pioneer mountaineer and mountaineering school also started in schools.
What about today? Go to BTC and get the snobbiest equipment and off we go.....
But don't get me wrong. Good equipment is needed that doesn't hinder you and in which you feel good. Much more important, however, is mountain education so that a person knows how to walk in the mountains!
This debate is not that simple. Basically, you need to know something: in these few decades, society has (well, not entirely, not everywhere and not only in this time) changed from predominantly rural (or at least one with living ties to the countryside) to predominantly urban. The consequence is also that people from childhood are much less accustomed to moving in nature, have a much poorer sense of movement on demanding terrain. And this shows in the mountains too. Let's look at a nice example of how paths created decades ago are rated today. I dare say that that snowfield on Hanzova before fifty years wasn't even worth mentioning. People knew how to move on steep snow. Today it's become a problem. People are on one hand much better trained and climb much better (just think what sports climbers are capable of), on the other hand they have a much poorer sense for crumbly terrain, steep grass, demanding unsecured sections. That's why we so often hear today that on demanding paths the technically demanding sections are usually "the easiest", more problems are in between on some easy but delicate section. After all, via ferratas are a symptom of this - simply today's person in their perception of mountains mostly wants to increase technical difficulty while also being safe. That primal contact with the unsecured world, which can also be dangerous even if easier, is becoming less and less. Now - you can claim (I partly agree myself) that the approach from before fifty years was better. But that doesn't change the fact that times have changed and those times won't come back. So I don't know if it's justified to claim that they prepared us better for the mountains back then. Simply, the demanding world was more familiar to us. We can regret those times, but - now we have what we have, and we still like going to the mountains, even if maybe a bit differently.
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| Am Shagar18. 11. 2015 13:03:49 |
Well, there's something to it that people used to know how to hike in the mountains better, since mostly those who lived under them went there. Only then did it slowly start. Also as far as I know, there weren't that many excursions etc., let alone to the mountains. Today there are always more hikers. But I think the main thing is to have sufficient endurance first and not go from nothing to high mountains. To know what to expect, check the weather forecast, look at the path in pictures, which in today's digital age is no problem. Then of course equipment is important too, with which sometimes people overdo it. In short, preparation is the most important, so you don't then go to Raduha in sneakers starting at 2 pm in the hottest heat and a little above the hut ask how much further to the top. Or be surprised in sneakers end of October by snow and ice on the path to Slemenova špica on the shady side. At the same time endangering other hikers too.
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| heinz18. 11. 2015 13:24:44 |
Endangering other people's lives due to insufficient preparation or equipment is not such a "small thing". Emphasizing the topic is completely in place, even if it has been dealt with in the past.
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| iUnknown18. 11. 2015 16:06:41 |
@Am Shagar - I think the main thing is to have sufficient endurance first and not go from nothing to high mountains.
Most paths to Kredarica are ordinary walking paths and really anyone can get up there with at least a little fitness. Just this year I took one to Triglav who had never been in the mountains before and it was a piece of cake for him. But we went practically full throttle the whole way, so my heart rate monitor showed anaerobic zone most of the way. True, he does quite a bit of marathons.
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| pikica118. 11. 2015 16:28:55 |
And does that heart rate monitor of yours maybe also show what an inflated stroller you are?
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| mailman18. 11. 2015 19:17:39 |
Most paths to Kredarica are ordinary walking paths? Maybe even pilgrimage ones, as I've heard somewhere? Well well...
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| Am Shagar18. 11. 2015 21:21:16 |
@iUnknown
Yeah congrats if you're such a pro. Otherwise I haven't spotted any cables on walking paths so far nor are they 5+ hours long. And of course you don't carry a backpack on walking paths. And scree etc. And there are people who aren't fans of cables and those who get dizzy just looking at them even at completely safe spots. So for me, they are not walking paths by accident. I assume you went from Krma (well that one is really "easy") and you had a runner with you who runs marathons. Try taking an average guy, say. My dad dragged my brother's colleague to Triglav, for whom you couldn't say he's fat but with too little fitness. Somehow he dragged himself to Kredarica, Triglav he just saw up close.
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| tinky19. 11. 2015 11:36:46 |
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