Mountaineering | Research & Encyclopedia Articles

There are more mountains in Asia than in any other continent. Mountains form a backbone to Asia, snaking across the continent from the mountains of eastern Turkey and the Caucasus lying on the border between Europe and Asia, through Iran and Iraq to Afghanistan where they divide at the Hindu Kush. To the north, the link extends through the Pamirs, Tian Shan, and the Altai Mountains, through Mongolia, to divide again, ending at the Kamchatka and Korean peninsulas and offshore in the Japanese Alps. To the south, the chain extends through the Karakoram and the high Himalayas before fanning out into China, Myanmar, and the Malay Peninsula, and offshore into Sumatra.

Mountaineering as we know it, involving adventure, conquest, and recorded ascents, is usually considered to be a Western development, coming to Asia during the period of late colonialism in the latter part of the nineteenth century. There were earlier ascents of sacred mountains, however, and it should not be assumed that only late Victorians had a spirit of adventure. All first ascents should be noted as first recorded ascents.

Present-day mountaineering in Asia may range from rock climbing in Hong Kong and Vietnam, to tourist ascents of Mt. Fuji in Japan, to pilgrimages that complete the circuit of Kailas in Tibet, to archaeological ascents of Mount Ararat in Turkey. But the main focus is on the Karakoram and Himalayas, and especially on the fourteen peaks that exceed 8,000 meters in height. After the Caucasus, these mountains became the prime focus of exploration by mountaineers in the late nineteenth and early twentieth centuries. Several peaks up to 7,000 meters received their first recorded ascents during this period of exploration and discovery of the highest mountains in the world.

Between the two World Wars, national expeditions from Western nations focused on making the first ascents of these mountains, with the Germans concentrating on Nanga Parbat (8,126 meters) and the British on Everest (also known as Chomolungma or Sagarmatha, 8,848 meters). These national expeditions continued after World War II, with technological developments resulting from war leading to the first successes—Annapurna (8,078 meters) by the French in 1950; Nanga Parbat by the Germans and Everest by the British, both in 1953; K2 (the second highestmountain in the world, 8,611 meters) by the Italians in 1954; and Kanchenjunga (the third highest mountain in the world, 8,586 meters) by the British in 1955.

National expeditions continued for the remainder of the twentieth century, with particular emphasis by nations wishing to join the Everest club. The character of Himalayan mountaineering began to change once the major peaks had all received first ascents, and smaller self-contained expeditions that explored alternative routes to the summits became more common. Since the 1980s and 1990s, commercial or charitable interests have sponsored an increasing number of Himalayan mountaineering expeditions.

Although Asians have probably always climbed their own mountains, Western-style recorded ascents have been carried out by Indians and Pakistanis. Mountaineering is well established in Japan and Korea, and the Sherpa people of Nepal are guides to the world's highest mountains.

Peter Donnelly

Cleare, John. (1979) The World Guide to Mountains and Mountaineering. New York: Mayflower Books.

Neate, W. R. (1978) Mountaineering and Its Literature. Cumbria, U.K.: Cicerone Press.

Pyatt, Edward. (1980) The Guinness Book of Mountains and Mountaineering. London: Guinness Superlatives, Ltd.

Unsworth, Walt. (1982) Everest. Harmondsworth, U.K.: Penguin.

——. (1992) Encyclopaedia of Mountaineering. London: Hodder & Stoughton.

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