Mountaineering

Mountaineering (or alpinism) is the sport of climbing mountains, from single-day alpine snow and rock routes to expedition-length assaults on the fourteen 8,000 m peaks of the Himalaya and Karakoram. The Piolet d'Or awards recognise the year's most significant ascents; Reinhold Messner became the first person to climb all fourteen 8,000ers in 1986.