Mountaineering School MCS AlexClimb
MCS AlexClimbMCS AlexClimb school of mountain climbing is not just a collection of several courses or classes.
Based on the initial level of the participants of the training program and their final goal, comprehensive preparation for serious alpine routes can last for a year or even more.
Below there is an example of our repeatedly tested practical training program for the alpine climbs of a high level of difficulty, such as Mount Dykh Tau, Mount Ushba, Nevado Alpamayo, Mount Fitzroy, Mount Cook, Matterhorn, etc.
In that schedule there is everything you will need to get prepared for the advanced and top level non-altitude alpine routes:
Spring: Rockclimbing course in Mallorca, Spain
Summer: Mountaineering course in Switzerland (Monte Rosa) - easy training climbs in the Alps
Autumn: Offline Field Navigation Course
Winter: Iceclimbing Course in Norway (Rjukan/Hemsedal), Mountaineering Techniques Course
For clear understanding of the issue, I explain what is the concept of mountaineering in the MCS AlexClimb climbing school.
Mountaineering in its civilized form has nothing to do with sport objectives. Mountain climbing is very beautiful, quite complex and extremely diverse type of active recreation in close contact with the forces of wild nature.
Mountaineering opens up completely new vast horizons for you in your travel, communication, self-development. Climbing mountains gives a good reason and opportunity to keep yourself in good healthy shape until old age.
However, any sporting tasks set in mountaineering, such as “faster, higher, stronger” lead to disappointment and troubles of varying degrees. Or even to the accidents.
Among the clients of MCS AlexClimb Alpine School there are professional athletes in the official sports - tennis, swimming, wrestling, gymnastics, etc.
These people do not come to mountaineering to prove to anyone that they are the best. They perfectly know their worth. The mountains give them something else.
Mountaineering is an activity for the soul; no records are needed in the mountains.
Practicing mountaineering we don't compete with each other, we help each other. Any achievement in mountaineering is the result of joint efforts and mutual assistance. So, there is no reason for any kind of competition in the mountaineering except going beyond your own limits.
When we are talking about “victories” in mountaineering, we do not associate this concept with physical dominance over someone or something; the main “rival” for us on the climb is the mountain itself.
In order to “conquer” the summit, first of all, we must cope with our own laziness, pride, vanity. Only then, as a result of all the efforts applied, often exposing ourselves to inhuman loads, we are given a reward that cannot be folded into our wallet or hung on our chest - several short happy seconds on the top of the mountain peak.
Mountaineering is not just a few hours of walking or scrambling to the summit. Apart of that, mountain climbing involves long time of planning, preparation, hard training. The secret of successful and safe ascents in the mountains, first of all, lies in an adequate choice of a climbing goal and thorough preliminary preparation.
Mountaineering technique is not the ability to tie climbing knots or distinguish the upper harness from the lower one. Mountaineering technique is a set of technical, physical and tactical skills that can only be learned through practice, in the real conditions of alpine routes.
I have to disappoint those who think that by learning a few knots they will be able to climb Mount Ushba or Mount Everest - don’t waste your time - my Mountaineering Course will not help you.
To do any ascents in the mountains, a fairly wide range of skills is required in addition to knowledge of the basic technical solutions.
Depending on the route, this set of special skills may change - for example, to climb Mount Elbrus, it is important to have good running physical shape, be able to use a navigator and have a basic understanding of the tactics of climbing long non-technical alpine routes.
But for climbing Mount Dykh Tau, Matterhorn, Alpamayo or Mount Ushba, you will need to be able to confidently climb ice and rocks, use your crampons and an ice ax, have confident skill of climbing up or descending a rope. These are different skills that cannot be combined into any short training course.
The author of the text and photos - Alex Trubachev
Your professional technical mountain guide
MCS EDIT 2024