The basics of Damavand trek that you can benefit
July 12, 2020
Etiquette for mountain bikers, hikers & runners
July 25, 2020
There are 1,000.809 mountains on earth. Some of the mountains are giant and some of them are small.
Small mountains seem more approachable are but the problem is that most of them don’t have a trail to the top.
That’s a challenge for adventures.
Hiking off-trail can become extremely dangerous if you do it without proper planning and execution.
If you climb even the smallest hills always there is a possibility to reach the top but don’t find a way back down.
In order to avoid such troubles, you should consider the slope angle and gradient. If you are going for hiking off-trails, first of all you should understand the slope angle and gradient. In other words, you should consider how steep a slope is in certain spots.
By doing so, you can climb the mountain more easy and safe and you can avoid putting yourself in a situation that there is no way down the mountain.
Ignoring to measure the angle and gradient of mountain slops is a common mistake made by new climbers or those who are about to climb a mountain by just using a map. The slope, itself will tell you how to approach it.
When I was a kid, my father took me to the mountain. While climbing, he told me, always choose the easiest way to the top of the mountain. This formula simply works for those who intend to climb a mountain off-trail. The lowest angle slope.
Also my grandfather once told me never trust your eyes while climbing a mountain what he meant. He meant a 40 degree slope is too much for climbing and never under it.
If you take a 40 degree slope in your ascend, then you should spend lots of energy ti reach yourself to the top and one of the main reasons of mountains accidents is lack of energy or being too much exhausted.
So, for every mountain there are many slopes and always take the lowest angle slope.
How to know the angle of the slope? You can use topographic maps or useful apps such as Gaia GPS or starva.
On topographic maps, the closer the lines are, the gradient is steeper. For laptop there is CalTopo program that you can use it for trip planning.
Mountaineering begins with climbing the mountains off-trails. While doing so, equip yourself with at least one Z pole and ice axes.
https://www.blueridgeoutdoors.com/hiking/debate-hiking-off-trail-cool-not-cool/
https://www.backpacker.com/skills/master-class-off-trail-hiking
