High mountain tour

A high mountain tour (German: Hochtour) is a mountain tour that takes place in the zone that is covered by ice all year round, the nival zone. High mountain tours require special preparation and equipment.

In the Alps a high mountain tour is known in the German-speaking areas as a Hochtour where, above a height of about 3,000 metres, many mountains are at least partly glaciated. Important historic milestones in the development of high mountain touring in the Alps were the first ascents of the Ankogel (3,262 m) in 1762, Mont Blanc (4,810 m) in 1786, the Großglockner (3,798 m) in 1800 and the Ortler (3,905 m) in 1804 as well as the conquest of many high western Alpine summits during the golden age of Alpinism around the middle of the 19th century. In other parts of the world the term may be misleading. For example, in many non-Alpine areas, such as the polar regions, much lower mountains are glaciated. On the other hand, the summits of much higher peaks in the tropics are not always in the nival zone. As a result, their ascent cannot automatically be described as a high mountain tour using the Alpine definition, even if they share some of the features of Alpinism, such as requiring a certain acclimatization. Mountaineering expeditions in which elevation plays a particularly important role, especially those from about 7,000 m are no longer referred to as high mountain tours, but tend to be described by the term high altitude mountaineering.

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