Lesson summary: “What did the mountains tell you?” lesson plan on the surrounding world (senior group) on the topic. Interesting facts about mountains What you can tell children about mountains

To go to the mountains, you don’t have to be a climber; even in hard-to-reach mountains there is always a path that will be accessible to people of any age and with any level of training. For a hill to be considered a mountain, it must have a height of more than 500 meters; there are many such places - mountainous landforms occupy about 40 percent of the land area. Introducing interesting facts about the mountains.

Bastei Bridge in Saxon Switzerland

Records

The most high mountain The solar system is located on Mars. The summit of Olympus has a height of more than 21 kilometers from the base; if we count from the conditional “level of the Martian sea”, then the height of this mountain is 26 kilometers. The tallest mountain from top to bottom is Rheasilvia, located on the asteroid Vesta.

The highest peak on earth is Chomolungma, 8848 meters. If you count not from sea level, but from the base to the top, then the most high mountain is Hawaiian volcano Mauna Kea, it rises 4205 meters above sea level, but part of the mountain is hidden under water, the height from the base is 10203 meters.

The mountain ranges have about a hundred peaks over 7,000 meters high. There are two peaks in the world that have not yet been conquered by climbers - Gangkhar Puensum (Bhutan), 7570 meters and Saser Kangri II (India), 7518 meters.

In the Himalayas, 30 peaks have an altitude above 7500 meters, 14 peaks have an altitude above 8000 meters.

Peak of Ama Dablam in Nepal

Mount Monadnock in the United States has a small height of 965 meters, but is known for being the most climbed mountain by climbers.

The highest camp site, which looks like a village, is located at the foot of Everest, at an altitude of 6330 meters. Despite the fact that all the buildings are tents, there is a hospital, a kitchen, and sleeping places. Smaller camps are located at altitudes of 5900, 6400, 7300, 7950 meters. Climbers stop in them for a while so that the body gets used to the altitude.

The Sherpa people of the Himalayas are accustomed to altitude. They help tourists make ascents. One of the Sherpas reached the top of Everest in 8 hours 56 minutes.

The most famous climber is Reinhold Messner. He conquered 14 peaks higher than 8 kilometers. In 1978, he and Peter Habeler climbed Everest without oxygen tanks for the first time. In 1980, he climbed Everest alone for the first time. In 1980, he conquered three 8,000-meter peaks in one year.

Everest was first conquered in 1953 by New Zealander Edmund Hillary and his Sherpa guide Tenzing Norgay.

The highest mountain in Africa is Mount Kilimanjaro (5895 meters). Despite the fact that the mountain is located in a hot area, its top is always covered with snow.

The Alps occupy two-thirds of the area of Switzerland.

Most high waterfall- Angel (Venezuelan state of Bolivar), its height is 979 meters, the height of the continuous fall is 807 meters.

The highest active volcano is the Chilean mountain Ojos del Salado, its height is almost 7 kilometers.

High mountain settlements

Fun facts about high mountain cities. La Paz is the highest capital in the world, with an average altitude of 3,600 meters (buildings are located at an altitude of 3 to 4 kilometers). In fact, the capital of Bolivia is not La Paz, but Sucre, but La Paz hosts the majority government agencies. El Alto Airport is located at an altitude of 4061 meters, ranking second in height in the world (the highest airport is in China, height - 4411 meters). The water in La Paz boils at 88 degrees Celsius. The local stadium is the highest certified by the International Football Federation; for other stadiums there is a rule that they should not be located at an altitude of more than 2.5 kilometers if they want to organize international matches. Interestingly, the central bus station of this city was designed by Gustav Eiffel, an architect Eiffel Tower in Paris.

If we assume that La Paz is not the capital, then the highest capital of the world is Lhasa (Tibet), altitude 3650 meters. Lhasa is the capital of the Chinese Autonomous Region, until 1951 the city was the capital independent state Tibet.

Peru has the highest mountain city in the world - La Riconada, the central part is at an altitude of 5100 meters. The population is quite significant, about 30 thousand inhabitants.

The highest mountain city in the world with a population of more than 50 thousand people is Cerro de Pasco, Peru. Central part is located at an altitude of 4380 meters, the population is about 70 thousand people.

The highest metropolis is El Alto, with a population of more than 1 million people. The height of the central part is 4100 meters.

The highest mountainous city in the territory of the former USSR is Murghab, Tajikistan, population - 6300 people, height of the central part - 3612 meters.

The Dagestan settlement of Kurush is located at an altitude of 2600 meters. It is considered the highest in the Caucasus and Europe, the population is 830 people.

Danger

The weather can be deceiving - it can be hot during the day, but the temperature can plummet at night. You need to be careful, since hypothermia, which can lead to serious health consequences and even death, can occur even at a temperature of 10 degrees Celsius. And this temperature can be in normal summer, so you should always take warm clothes with you to the mountains and take care in advance of the possibility of making a fire and preparing warm food.

In winter, it is easy to get frostbite in the mountains. Contrary to popular belief, alcoholic drinks do not warm you up, but contribute to rapid hypothermia, and, if there is severe frost outside, then frostbite of the extremities. Alcohol dilates blood vessels, and heat leaves the body faster. So in the cold it is better not to drink alcohol, but to warm up with quick movements. In addition, alcoholic drinks dull vigilance; under their influence a person can even fall asleep, which is very dangerous in the mountains, where frost can come suddenly even in the summer.

Avalanches pose a great danger. In order for a dangerous wave of snow to fall, it is not necessary that the slope be steep; under certain conditions, when a layer of melted water forms between the snow and the ground, an avalanche can fall on a slope of only 8 degrees. So a gentle mountain may seem completely harmless in appearance, but in fact it is fraught with mortal danger. It is very difficult for a person stuck in an avalanche to get out, since the snow compressed by the avalanche has almost the same density as concrete, so you need to be very careful and try not to climb snow-covered slopes. Sports climbers should have the most reliable insurance and third-party observers who can help if problems arise.

Nowadays, a popular wingsuit sport is flying, when an athlete glides in a special suit with small wings, this clothing is called a wing suit. Despite the spectacular nature of this sport, it is very dangerous; according to statistics, about 2 jumps out of 1000 end in death, as athletes jump from cliffs; most deaths occur due to impacts on a rock (about a third of tragic cases). When jumping from an airplane, the mortality rate is lower, but also significant - up to 30 tragic cases per 100,000 jumps.

Mountaineering is also dangerous, especially when it comes to the Himalayan peaks. Most dangerous mountain Annapurna is considered, every fourth climber dies during the ascent. The world's highest mountain, Qomolungma (Everest), has similar statistics. Since it is very difficult and dangerous to bring the bodies of the dead down from this mountain, the dead remain on the slopes, this is an eerie reminder that you should not take too many risks, even for significant sporting achievements. Here it is impossible to refer to the inexperience of the athletes, since the most experienced climbers, the strongest and most courageous people, climb eight-thousanders, but probably also the most reckless, because even if they manage to descend safely, it is very often with frostbite, which can result in amputation of limbs . Mountaineering is a great sport, but you need to be extremely careful when climbing difficult peaks.

At the Russian ski resort of Dombay in 2013, a large Zorb ball, in which there were two people, rolled into a deep mountain gorge. There were two people in the balloon - one tourist suffered a compression fracture of the spine and died on the way to the hospital, the other received a concussion. The cause of the tragedy was non-compliance with safety rules - one person was catching the ball at the bottom of the long route, there were no barriers on the side of the cliff. After the attraction employee did not catch the ball, it rolled (actually flew) down the rocky slope for another one and a half kilometers and ended up in such a hard to reach place that even trained rescuers found it difficult to reach him.

There are many “mountain” sports - mountaineering, rock climbing, ice climbing, hiking, alpine skiing, snowboarding, sledding, mountain biking, sledding through volcanic ash, zorbing (descent on a ball from a mountain), hang gliding, paragliding, kite flying (often combined with skiing), wingsuit, bungee jumping, speleology, rafting ( rafting and other floating means), canyoning (traversing canyons without equipment). All mountain views Sports are dangerous, but this does not mean that they should not be practiced. You need to follow safety precautions, be careful, and not drink alcohol, then entertainment associated with a high level of adrenaline in the blood may not become completely safe, but at least it will be safer. Remember, unnecessary risk is always unacceptable, do not do anything that could threaten your health and life.

Mountaineering is a rewarding activity. An example of “folk mountaineering” can be South Korea. In South Korea, the most common entertainment among people of any age is hiking in the mountains. It is not surprising if after the holiday people do not sleep off, but get together and go to the mountains in a group. Perhaps this tradition exists due to the fact that vacations in this country are very short and can only be a few days a year. Public holidays also few - about 10 days a year, and if they fall on Sunday, they are not transferred to Monday. People use every possible moment to relax in nature. And mountains in South Korea are almost everywhere - this is a country with complex but very picturesque terrain.

Everyday life, bustle, reinforced concrete cities prevent us from observing the beauty with which we are surrounded, megacities buzz like a beehive. Hurry and running around negate attention to the world around you and your own thoughts. Mountaineering provides an opportunity to get away from it all and, willy-nilly, forces you to take your time, observe the weather and nature, and be measured in your thoughts and actions. Apparently, this is why I am so attracted to this sport (Ivan Kvashnin).

On July 14, 2017, employees of the AlpIndustry store in the Moscow Aviapark shopping center Ivan Kvashnin and Alexey Preobrazhensky climbed to the top of Kazbek, realizing their dream. From the ascent, the guys brought several films of amazing photographs and a sea of impressions, two different views on the ascent. So, about mountains and thoughts.

Alexey Preobrazhensky

What does a person think about at an altitude of 3000 meters, walking up the mountain step by step with a heavy backpack on his back? For me, perhaps, this was the most important and decisive question on this journey.

In July 2017, my colleague Vanya and I climbed Kazbek from the Georgian side. I don’t want to talk about the technical aspects of our ascent, give exact numbers and describe how and what equipment we used. Something else was important to me - thoughts. And how they can affect perception environment and human behavior in extreme conditions.

It was the power of thought that helped me rise higher and realize why it was necessary. There is plenty of time for reflection and self-reflection on such a journey. A monotonous climb with a precise step is something akin to meditation. The brain gives commands to the muscles: “Go”, “Go”, “Another step”, “Second”. And at the same time it sets the mood: “You must!”, “You can do it!”, “You can handle it!”.

Losing myself, I thought about life below, about some small joys and about the fact that we do not notice the beauty around us at all and take for granted what we have. I thought about the people close to me, about how I could make them happier by simply giving a little more of my attention... And as I gained altitude, it seemed to me that my thoughts were becoming more pure and correct.

When an exhausted, weakened body alarmingly signals to the brain “That’s it! Stop! This is beyond my strength. If you continue like this, you will break,” the power of thought comes into play: “This is not the limit! You can do it! You are no worse than others! You must get there! And you go through the same amount of time.

The hardest thing was in parking lots, when the brain realized that physical activity ended, and no longer kept the muscles in good shape. The body relaxed and did not obey when they wanted to occupy it with some household chores. There, in the parking lots, altitude sickness, caused by a lack of oxygen, made itself felt, and I constantly had a headache. At these moments, did I want to go down into comfort, into civilization? No. I understood that this was my conscious choice, that this was happening here and now and, perhaps, would never happen again. All these thoughts, securely recorded in the mind, helped to move forward and filled the climb to the top with meaning. Although for me the end point of our ascent was not so important as the process itself. Maybe that’s why the biggest impression on me was made by the Maili-Khokh peak, which we climbed on the eve of the assault on the summit. The four of us went there and were the first to climb there. last days. Interesting route and the stunning view from the top will remain in my memory for a long time and will remind me of our entire journey.

As for the most important and long-awaited event - the assault - as I already said, the summit was not an end in itself. The end point of my journey was somewhere deep inside me, hidden behind prejudices and limitations that I had to rise above and look at everything from a new height.

Ivan Kvashnin

Lyosha is a big romantic, and the mountains encourage him even more. It really does a good job of describing what happens inside almost every person when they are at altitude.

But I want to immerse you not in the spiritual world, but, probably, to bring you closer to reality and how I saw the “real” Lyokha, and not that romantic who flies in his thoughts and searches for the truth. Well, as Gagarin said, let's go!

Day #1

Having crossed the border at Upper Lars, we arrived in the town of Stepantsminda (Kazbegi). On the very first evening we plunged headlong into Georgian cuisine, with the thought that for the next ten days we would eat only sublimates and porridges.

We ate everything and a lot. As my friend’s grandmother said, if it itches, scratch it, there will be joy for the soul! After these words, Lyokha ordered himself a double portion of vegetables on the grill and lemonade.

On the way up to our hostel, Kazbek revealed himself in all his glory. The night was starry. From Stepantsminda the mountain looks very menacing and powerful. In the hostel I got a room with a view of the peak, and I couldn’t fall asleep until 3:00, looking at it through the window in anticipation. Then the alarm clock rang disgustingly and the next day arrived.

Day #2

We agreed with the locals about a transfer to the Gergeti Church. The transfer turned out to be a Mitsubishi Delica. Actually, Stepantsminda is the city of these machines. All along the road we admired the scenery, and cliffs a few centimeters from the sides of the car sometimes tickled our nerves and added spice to our adventures.

Having reached the place, we, without thinking twice, threw on our backpacks and went to the first place for the night called Zelenka or, as they also call it, Green Hotel. Having gained a little height, we entered the clouds. The humidity rose and it became cool. Step by step we moved away from Georgian cuisine and immersed ourselves in the realities of alpine-style climbing.

When we got to Zelenka, the wind picked up and it started to drizzle. We quickly set up the tent and began to cook. Fortunately, everything here has been furnished by tourists for “centuries”. There is a small spring, there are windbreaks for tents and “kitchens”. We threw a fleece over ourselves and began to cook. While they were cooking, they told funny stories. We ate buckwheat with dried vegetables, drank a couple of cups of hot tea, and settled down after a day of walking.

Day #3

This morning it was not the alarm clock that woke us up, but the sun. We were faced with magnificent clear weather with beautiful views and the snowy peak of Kazbek.

I asked Lyokha how he slept. The answer was not the most cheerful: “I hardly slept.” I chalked it all up to the fact that the first night in the wild is always like this, and what’s more, he didn’t get the most level place in the tent. Lyokha waved his hand with the words “It will happen again!” Optimism and love of life flow out of him like freshly squeezed juice...

Basked in the sun, had breakfast with a view of the mountain landscapes and set off to the weather station. On the way up from the parking lot, we had a view of the tongue of the Gergeti glacier and the Chkheri River, which originated from it and washed out the gorge. This view makes a lasting impression, giving you goosebumps.

After wading mountain river, flowing like a waterfall into Chkheri, we ran into the first obstacle - the Gergeti glacier. It turned out to be completely open and did not conceal insidious dangers in the form of unreliable bridges and closed cracks. The sun was burning hot. Having crossed the glacier, avoiding the cracks, we ended up at the weather station. Here the altitude can already be felt, but not critically, 3600 m. Exhausted by the sun and walking in crampons on the glacier, we set up a tent and went to register with the weather service. We had dinner and decided that we would not storm with 3600 - it would be long and tedious. Let's get to 3800, look at the condition and, if everything is good, we'll go further to 4200. We turned off the flashlights and started listening to rockfalls until we woke up from the stuffiness in the tent.

Day #4

The weather is whispering. We woke up at 6 in the morning, there was nothing to breathe in the tent, we opened the zipper - the sun burned our eyes. The air is fresh, you can sit back and think about the day.

With all sincerity, I nicknamed Lyokha the beekeeper, since the altitude was reflected on his face in the form of one continuous tumor.

The morning goes by like Groundhog Day: we pack up our gear, oatmeal, sir, tea and hit the road.

We reached 3800 quickly. The condition is good. The weather is good. Without hesitation we move to 4200. On the way we stopped for a snack. It’s clear from Lyokha that the altitude takes its toll, the body struggles, as does its inner ego. Due to the fact that they had been preparing for a long time, the sun came out on the slopes and stones flew down. We are on the edge of the glacier. In my head are the words of V. Vysotsky:

You're walking along the edge of a glacier,
Without taking your eyes off the top.
The mountains are sleeping, breathing in the clouds,
Exhaling snow avalanches.
But they don't take their eyes off you
As if you were promised peace,
Warning every time
Rockfall and grinning cracks.

We run through this dangerous section and set up camp at 4200. The sun is simply scorching. We are actually in the lens. We need to dig in and set up camp. I give Lyokha a shovel: we need to cheer him up a little. And physical activity is better for acclimation. In general, I always try to avoid doing something during acclimatization, so I decided to give him a shovel, thereby instilling the same habit :) And I sat down to melt the snow.

We set up camp, drank compote and had a snack. There was still a long time until the end of the sunny day, so they whiled away the time by playing cards and sunbathing.

While preparing dinner from sublimates, we recalled with sighs chakhokhbili, ajapsandali, ojakhuri on ketsi and other culinary delights of Georgia. The evening of the fourth day ended with these thoughts.

Day #5

We wake up. I leave the tent, understand that the sun will still have at least 2 hours to creep up the slope before us, I dress in everything warm and start preparing breakfast. While we were melting the snow and getting ready for the radial exit, the sun reached us and showed itself in all its glory.

We had an acclimatization hike to the top of Spartak. We did not cut the excess path without gaining height and decided to go straight, going around it with right side, where we began our ascent. It was then that the same beautiful sun that we had been waiting for all morning began to burn us out like ants with a lens.

We reached the top of Spartak quite quickly, with one stop. After sitting at the top (about 4500) and admiring the beauty, we decided to go to Miley, since there was still a lot of time left. On the way back, Lyokha fell waist-deep into a crack. We were in sync and worked this moment out technically. Lyokha flew out of the crack like a champagne cork, but the oppressive feeling of danger intensified.

We arrived at the assault camp a couple of hours before dark. The scorching sun made me very tired. Lyokha is all emotional after he got stuck waist-deep in a crack. During dinner we looked at the forecast for the next few days - it made us think. Having weighed the strength, the bad forecast and the desire to climb, we decided to storm the summit tomorrow.

Day #6

Get up at 4 am. It’s cold, very cold... Somehow we start preparing breakfast. A couple of spoons of oatmeal and a glass of hot tea are a must. It’s good that the thermoses were filled yesterday. While the snow is melting, we're getting ready. The night is beautiful, starry, calm. For a long time I waited for this feeling, as if everything had frozen. There is no wind, no smells, no movement, as if the planet had stopped rotating...

By the time I began to actively get ready, Lyokha had already cooked porridge and heated the remains of yesterday’s tea in the pot. We had a snack, checked our equipment, and were on our way. We warmed up only when we started walking. The first steps were difficult: still sleepy, the porridge had not completely sunk, and Lyokha complained of a headache.

We are gradually gaining altitude. We met Poles going on an assault without acclimatization from 3600. I definitely didn’t envy their condition.

Lyokha and I walked at the same pace, stopping every 40 minutes. Around 4500 I was lucky enough to see the sunrise. The views are, of course, breathtaking. This makes me want to return to the mountains again and again.

While we were walking, there were two funny moments: first, the inscription on the snow “I’m still alive, your Tonya,” then someone went on air on our wavelength with the words “Dzhamshut! Quickly to the gate!

At 4900 there was a very beautiful bergschrund, we were able to walk inside it. After rest we moved on. We reached the jumper. The weather is just great, there are no clouds, you can see everything to the horizon! The pre-summit takeoff remains. We walk along the traverse and reach the stones that lie on the right side. Next is ice. Without thinking twice, we threw two ropes of the railing. The last steps - and we are at the top at 11:08. Joy filled us from head to toe. But we don’t rejoice for long: the window quickly closes and we run downstairs.

With enough determination, any idiot can climb this mountain,” Hall noted. “But the trick is to get back down alive.”

Jon Krakauer

Crushed ice hits your face, mixed with strong wind and poor visibility, and there is ice under your feet. I closed and removed the railings. Lyokha still had a headache. To myself, everything, I think, the main thing is to go down to the lintel, the main thing is to go down to the lintel, and then we’ll get there.

A dense impenetrable cloud awaited us at the col, the wind died down, and the snow crumbs stopped burning. We stopped to catch our breath and have a snack. And then down, down and down again. Step by step, slowly and surely, through fatigue. Around 15:00 we were at the assault camp at 4200. We ate, drank, and warmed up. The realization that you were at the top has not yet come. So far only fatigue and thirst. We couldn’t fall asleep quickly, we talked about everything. Then, when it got dark, I fell asleep.

Day #7

We collect our things and run down before the sun comes out on the slopes. The descent was long and quite tiring, since we fell straight into Stepantsminda from 4200. At 16:00 we were at the hostel, dirty, burnt, but happy.

In conclusion, I want to say, go to the mountains, love the mountains. But keep it clean. The planet gives us life, it is our home. Take care of her!

For many years now I have been collecting interesting quotes from travelers, climbers, and researchers on outdoor topics.

All this is mostly accumulated “on the table”, although sometimes it finds use.

So, for example, we made packaging for ours with some quotes from my collection.

But still, the bulk lies as “dead weight” and does not work, although many quotes, as the quintessence of the experience and views on life of people who are great and have first-hand knowledge of issues of travel, mountaineering, human interaction with wild nature and mountains, can be useful and interesting to many.

Some quotes can make you smile with their naivety, for example, I liked Maurice Herzog’s statement about Annapurna, and I took it to my collection. Words about the mountain were spoken even before the expedition to this eight-thousander began; in Russian translation they sound like this:

“As for Annapurna... this peak is easily accessible and is therefore of only limited sporting interest.”© Maurice Herzog

It is difficult to agree with this statement now, knowing that Annapurna is one of the most difficult and dangerous eight-thousanders on the planet.

Some quotes bear the imprint of an era, are a product of their time and personify the development and ideas of society, which we can look at through the prism of achievements known to us. As an example, an openly racist quote from Robert Peary

“One intelligent white man should be at the head, two whites, invited to the expedition because of their courage, determination, physical endurance and devotion to the leader, should form the hands, and the dog drivers and others local residents– body and legs of the expedition. For the peace of mind of men, it is necessary to take women on the trip; besides this, they are in many respects as useful as men, and in strength and endurance they are often almost equal to them.”

But I think the thoughts expressed by great travelers, climbers and investigators on issues of preparation, organization and safety are of particular value. Very often, one apt and strong phrase uttered by a distinguished person can give much more to understanding the essence of the issue than voluminous articles and verbose explanations.

My favorite quote of these comes from Roald Amundsen and goes:

"An expedition is preparation"

In just three words, the great polar explorer was able to express the main success of any business.

Quotes about mountains and mountaineering

“In the mountains you need to depend only on yourself, on your own strength, so expecting that someone will help at high altitude is immoral.” © Anatoly Bukreev

“Mountains are not stadiums where I satisfy my ambitions, they are temples where I practice my religion.” © Anatoly Bukreev

“The mountains have the power to call us to their lands, this is no longer a passion, this is my destiny...” © Anatoly Bukreev

“Only mountains can be better than mountains,
Which I haven’t been to before.”

“Every person needs something exceptional in an era when money can have everything.” © Reinhold Messner

“A person learns through defeats, not victories, as it may seem. To correctly assess the situation, you need to know your limit and it can only be determined in practice. I have failed on thirteen 8000m peaks and I want to be remembered as the climber who has failed the most. I wasn't interested in records. If I had not failed at Dhaulagiri, Makalu and Lhotse at one time, I would have died long ago. I love challenges, but I know how to retreat in time.” © Reinhold Messner

“If you go to mountains where there is no danger, you are not a real mountaineer.” © Reinhold Messner

“Mountaineering is an archaic world, devoid of rules, and that is why the cost of error here is very high. The anarchy that reigns all around forces the climber to be responsible for his own life. Each difficult climb is deadly, and in this sense, mountaineering is a deeply selfish activity.” © Reinhold Messner

“Nor was I of the opinion that a climber who dies while climbing automatically becomes a hero. The death of a climber is a tragedy. No more, no less. And the only thing that can be done for the victims is to help their loved ones.” © Reinhold Messner

“For a person suffering from stress, lost in an expanding civilization, the mountains have become a kind of “play space” in which he can enrich himself with experiences and experiences that are not available to him in ordinary, everyday life. Game space, game, rules of the game. Owning them is the only condition for fully enjoying the exciting lifestyle: mountaineering.” © Reinhold Messner

“Only climbers know how much willpower and courage it takes to retreat where there is at least something that would justify moving up.” © Reinhold Messner

“I'm a happy person. I had a dream and it came true, and that doesn’t happen very often to a person. Climbing Everest - my people call it Chomolungma - was the deepest desire of my whole life. Seven times I got down to business; I failed and started again, again and again, not with the feeling of bitterness that drives a soldier against the enemy, but with love, like a child climbing onto its mother’s lap.” © Tenzing Norgay

“I hate grumbling and fighting over trifles when we are talking about great things. When people go to the mountains, they should forget about molehills. Whoever goes for a big job must have a big soul" © Tenzing Norgay

“For the opportunity to go to Everest, I would accept any job, from a dishwasher to a Yeti driver.” © Tenzing Norgay

“... I trained hard, trying to regain my shape. I got up early in the morning, loaded my backpack with stones, and took long walks in the hills around the city - this was my routine for a number of years before large expeditions. I did not smoke, did not drink, and avoided parties, which I usually love very much. And all this time I was thinking, planning, speculating how my seventh trip to Everest would go. “This time you have to conquer the peak,” I told myself, “Succeed or perish...” © Tenzing Norgay

“Future generations will ask: “Who were the first people to reach the top of the world?” And I would like the answer to be one that I don’t have to be ashamed of. Everest: the highest point not of just one country, but of the whole world. It was taken by the people of the East and the West together. It belongs to us all. And I also want to belong to everyone, to be a brother to all people...” © Tenzing Norgay

“The peak cannot be conquered. You stand on it for a few minutes, and then the wind sweeps away your traces.” © Arlen Bloom

“You never conquer a mountain. You just stand on the top a few moments. Then the wind blows your footprints away." © Arlene Blum

“For most people, mountains are something majestic, but far from everyday life, that is, ideal harmony.” © Ueli Steck

“I am often scared, although no one believes it. But when is a person not afraid? When he doesn’t know something or overestimates his abilities. Fortunately, such a thing - for me to overestimate myself - has never happened to me...” © Ueli Steck

“First of all, love the mountains. You need to know the mountains, respect them and not think that you will throw your hats at them. You need to be on friendly terms with mountains. Whether it’s a 1b category peak or a higher category route.” © Vladimir Shataev

“I can look up at the mountain for hours. It may seem strange, but I am talking to the mountain. I’m trying to understand whether she’s waiting for me or not, whether she’ll let me in or not.” © Gerlinde Kaltenbrunner

“Sometimes I think that’s why I go to the mountains, to understand how precious gray everyday life is for me. Returning to experience the taste of a cup of hot tea after days of thirst, sleep after many sleepless nights, meeting friends after a long solitude, silence after hours spent in a terrible storm.” © Wanda Rutkevich

“I’m not going to conquer the mountains - they are as much a part of the world as people. I’m conquering myself.” © Wanda Rutkevich

“Mountains are a way, but the goal is the person himself. The ultimate meaning is not to reach mountain peaks, but to improve man. Climbing takes on meaning only if the person remains the focus of attention.” © Walter Bonnati

“I think every climber has many reasons to climb the Matterhorn. But everyone has the same main reason: to climb the Matterhorn" © Gaston Rebbufa

“By rising to the top, a person elevates himself and his soul, his heart and his dream. As far as the eye can see, a country of snow and rocks stretches out before him in silence and mystery. Mountains are a special world, they form part of the planet, like a mysterious, isolated kingdom, where the symbol of life is will and love" © Gaston Rebbufa

“Tien Shan is not a place for mountaineering fun!” © Gottfried Merzbacher

“A woman is the main danger for a climber. We all know this undiligent truth." © Maurice Herzog

“Having crossed the limits of our strength, having known the boundaries of the human world, we realized the true greatness of Man” © Maurice Herzog

“No victory could justify deliberately playing with human lives.” © Maurice Herzog

“As for Annapurna... this peak is easily accessible and is therefore of only limited sporting interest.” © Maurice Herzog 1950

“I live as if in a dream. Death is near, I feel it. What a wonderful death for a climber! How it harmonizes with the noble passion that rules our souls! I am grateful to the peak for making it so beautiful today. Its silence resembles the grandeur of a cathedral. I don't suffer or worry at all. My peace of mind is terrible." © Maurice Herzog June 4, 1950.

“From time to time, at least for cheerfulness, it is useful to look up. On the contrary, it is not recommended to look down, since the sight of these terrifying abysses can shake the fortitude of any optimist.” © Maurice Herzog

“The mountains call those whose souls are their height!” © V.L. Belilovsky

“A good climber should not only be healthy, he should be resourceful and cunning, guided by one thought - to survive...” © Vitaly Gorelik

“My partners had to be strong, humble, fast and always optimistic.” © Simone Moro

“Accidents and risk are part of our life. In love, work, sports, etc. we take risks every day throughout our lives. Climbing mountains is, of course, much riskier than working in an office, but I am not attracted to a safe life instead of a deep and fulfilling one... I would rather be happy every day of my 36 years than to be happy on Sundays for 80 years...” © Simone Moro

“It’s important to me to come back safe and sound, whether I win or lose, although that term doesn’t really apply to those coming down from above.” © Simone Moro

“Even if I have to use it, I hate climbing with oxygen. These are dishonest and unsportsmanlike climbs, and that’s why I’m going back to those mountains where I climbed with oxygen...” © Simone Moro

“Easy, fast style and a small team - that’s what I love about climbing. Why? This is a more sporting and fair game between the climber and the mountain. I respect, but I don’t like, attacking peaks with big teams...” © Simone Moro

“An ice ax and crampons instead of claws, boots and clothing complement the fur and fat, a tent instead of a cave or hole. And oxygen is a change in nature itself, the environment... And one more comparison - about divers. Can you dive 200 meters without scuba gear? That's right - no. And no one can, however, everyone admits that this is ABSOLUTELY different types sports But for some reason everyone is sure about mountaineering that there is no big difference. Paradox?" © Denis Urubko

“In general, all the most difficult moments in the mountains, as in ordinary life, occur in consciousness, in overcoming oneself and in relationships between people. Frost, wind, height - all these are just attributes, the specifics of the sport, which is only a background for learning about yourself and your friends. Everything “extreme” changes and is forgotten, but experience and feelings remain.” © Denis Urubko

“We will all be THERE... but I want to push back the date of departure to “as far as possible.” And to do this, you need to control every step, act correctly, and learn from the masters.” © Denis Urubko

“I believe that mountaineering should be fun, even when the going gets tough, and even when someone has to pay for the challenge. After all, if we are willing to pay such a price, then mountaineering really brings pleasure.” © Chris Bonington

“Society is very unfair to female climbers and mountaineering mothers. There is no such attitude towards male climbers who risk their lives in the mountains, leaving their families at home - and the public often condemns mothers who want to climb. In my opinion, both parents are equally important for a child, and therefore I see no difference whether the father or mother is a mountaineer!” © Edurne Pasaban

“Turning around in a situation where, it would seem, there is nothing particularly dangerous is sometimes a heroic act. Such feats are only for you. Do them. Turn back, but get the opportunity to come back here again. No mountain is worth a single pinky fingernail!” © Nikolay Totmyanin

"Mountains! Their snow-white, dazzling domes against the backdrop of unimaginably blue and deep blue - aren’t they a symbol of the human dream, the call of which has been disturbing daring souls for centuries? And isn’t each of us given his own height in his chosen task?” © Mikhail Turkevich

“The higher and more difficult the peak, the more friends you meet on its slopes, no matter in what region of the globe it is located.” © Mikhail Turkevich

“We stood on the highest peak on the planet. We climbed this high, overcoming frost and wind, lack of oxygen and low pressure. We climbed here, risking every minute to fall, to fall under a rockfall, under an avalanche. We gave our comrades the last sip of water that was so coveted here, we conceded the most to each other in the tents. convenient place, warmed our neighbor in the bivouac with their warmth, joked and sang songs when the wind tried to tear the tents together with us into the abyss... For the sake of such moments, for the sake of the opportunity to test yourself, get to know your friends better, reach the limit of the possible and look beyond this limit - for the sake of all this It's worth going to the mountains." © Mikhail Turkevich

“Stars the size of fists pulsated above us. They broke down and fell to the ground towards us. Fantastic starfall! The moon hung just above your head, and it seemed very easy to reach it with your hand..." © Mikhail Turkevich

“What a pleasure it is to contemplate the majestic mountain ranges and be above the clouds! What else in the world can be so whole, so complete, as climbing mountains.” © Konrad Gesner

“There is the concept of front-line brotherhood, there is also the concept of mountaineering brotherhood. This is true. I have a lot of teaching practice. When the newcomers begin to leave after a 20-day stay in the mountain camp, they literally leave in tears. Why? People being in tough climatic conditions United by a common idea, they communicate and solve a common problem. Help, mutual assistance, just being together - unites people to such an extent that the phenomenon is called brotherhood. Like in a war, when in the most difficult conditions people united, doing a significant thing, winning, losing, fighting, dying, etc.

This is an integral part of mountaineering, it is good and pleasing. I am happy that I know all the people that mountaineering has given me. That we were united by an idea. Although it happened in different years, in different areas, we haven’t met for a long time, but you can’t throw out what happened from your destiny.” © Sergey Bogomolov

“When you stand at the top, especially if it’s the top of an eight-thousander, mountains stretch in all directions as far as the eye can see. It seems that the whole world is ridges covered with eternal snow and nothing else. But we know that this is not so. There, further away, there are seas and oceans, forests and gardens, beautiful cities... That’s how it is in my life. Mountaineering is a favorite thing, a profession, but besides it there is family and friends, songs and books, theaters and exhibitions. All this is also very interesting and dear to me. All this is my life." © Sergey Bershov

“Always keep a clear head and be prepared to work in any conditions and face any surprises. To do this, you need to prepare comprehensively and constantly. And then you can enjoy the beauty of the mountains and enjoy the climb itself.” © Evgeniy Vinogradsky

“I can’t give you a new answer why people strive for the mountains. Most people still go just to get to the top.” © Edmund Hillary

“...A person’s struggle with the peak goes beyond the scope of mountaineering in its purely sporting sense. In my eyes, she is a symbol of man's struggle with the forces of nature; it clearly expresses the continuity of this difficult battle and the unity of all who took part in it. …Shortly after our return from Everest, some of us had to talk to a group of students. One of them asked me: “What is the point of climbing Everest? Were you financially interested or was this just some kind of madness?” © John Hunt

“Long attempts to conquer a difficult peak can be compared to a relay race, where each team member, having completed his part of the path, passes the baton to the next one until the entire distance is completed.” © John Hunt

“As long as the climber adapts to the mountain, it is mountaineering. When he begins to adapt the mountain for his purposes, this is construction work.” © John Hunt

“I love peaks as individuals, as equal parts of a larger whole.” © Herbert Tichy

“The risk must always be justified in some way.” © Vitaly Abalakov

“Mountaineering is a complex and dangerous multifaceted human activity. A rare combination of sophisticated mental and physical work in a very challenging environment." © Vitaly Abalakov

“What does mountaineering give to an individual? - a prominent Western mountaineer asked half a century ago and answered this way: - It returns us to nature, that element with which most of us have lost direct contact. The upward striving, boundless, elemental - doesn’t it carry us, as if on magical wings, somewhere far from the usual level, and with it from ordinary thoughts?” © Evgeniy Abalakov

“Now sparkling, joyful, calling, now menacing and angry, challenging to single combat, now mysterious, hiding itself with an elusive curtain and only for a moment revealing itself with wonderful fantastic visions of a special world, the harsh, beautiful, eternally calling element of mountain peaks.” © Evgeniy Abalakov

“You can be the greatest climber in the world and at the same time be a selfish asshole who doesn't care about his family and friends. Or you may be someone who tries to learn something from the rivers and mountains, who becomes a better person when they return. I'm trying to be that person." © Doug Ammons.

“Climbing for me is one of the forms of knowledge that inspires me and helps me contrast my inner world with nature. It is a means of experiencing a state of consciousness where there is no distraction or expectation. This is an intuitive state of being, something that gives me the opportunity to experience moments of true freedom and harmony.” © Lynn Hill

“The colors of mountain sunsets are bright and unique - sometimes scarlet, purple, crimson and crimson, sometimes full of royal splendor, when it seems that half the sky is filled with molten gold.” © Konstantin Rototaev

“Mountaineering begins where the paths end, and does not end even at the top, because it’s not enough to go up, you also have to go down. On the descent, the climber is often faced with difficult trials.” © Nikolay Tikhonov

The path to the top is open to anyone

Who loves heights fearlessly

Where the ice ax rings and where the heart rings

There the friendship of the brave is born!

“...it is important how you climb, not where you climb. You know, many years ago in Yosemite we realized that there was nothing up there. You climb out, and there are stones and a path down. Therefore, even then it became clear that what matters is not where you climbed, but how you did it! And it is precisely this process of “how?” compromised by the unrestrained use of bolts. Or take Everest for example. The most terrifying example of a “dead end” in mountaineering development! Dozens of almost permanently installed aluminum stairs, kilometers of railings... Having climbed up, you have climbed “something”, but not the Top of the World - Everest.” © Yvon Chainard

“What matters is what you do here and now. It is important to climb the route having fun and it is not at all important to leave a mark for centuries. Who needs it, this trace of yours on this rock wall that is not needed by humanity? © Yvon Chainard

“What space! What enchanting beauty in all these snow giants towering into the sky! What a variety of colors and tones in these fabulous cliffs of an endless chain of mountains, lost somewhere far, far away. How deeply all this touches the soul and heart of a person! He is overcome by such a feeling of delight, which is beyond human power to describe.” © Sergey Kirov

"I'm only afraid in the mountains bad weather. This is the only thing in the mountains that does not depend on us.” © Junko Tabei

“We have to go to the mountain. It’s difficult, but we have to meet them halfway; the mountain itself will not come to the base camp.” © Vladislav Terzyul

“There at the height, closer to God, a person becomes purer and nobler” © Vladislav Terzyul

“Mountains, mountains! What kind of magnetism is hidden in you! What a symbol of tranquility is contained in each sparkling peak! The bravest legends are born near the mountains. The most humane words come from the snowy heights. Some people are afraid of mountains and claim that mountains choke them. Aren’t these people afraid of big things?” © Nicholas Roerich

“The mountains are the only place where I can relax.” © Igor Tamm

“Untouched nature brings incomparable spiritual peace. Added to this is the deep satisfaction of overcoming obstacles. In the mountains, friendships with comrades, cemented by dangers, are born and remain for life.” © Igor Tamm

“High-altitude mountaineering is the closest sport to astronautics” © Terman Titov

“Everest is the highest pole of the earth. Getting to the top on foot, relying on my own legs and the power of my mind, turned out to be only slightly easier than landing a man on the moon. Only 16 years separated these two events.” ©

F.M. Sveshnikov

“Mountaineering is a sport of difficult decisions. In the mountains you cannot hide behind empty words; here only action is valued. A person in mountaineering is worth exactly as much as he really is.” © F.M. Sveshnikov

“At any age, you have to keep dreaming. You must try to make dreams come true. I know well that if you have a strong heart and take one small step after another, you will reach the top of the world.” © Iyuchiro Miuro

“Believe in yourself in the face of death. Fear won't do anything to you. It doesn't matter if you live or die when your heart beats faster than 100 beats per minute. Fears go away when you just start climbing.” © Iyuchiro Miuro

“I realized very early that someone who goes with a strong partner may never experience the very essence of mountaineering, and in any case will receive only part of the emotions from climbing... In the end, he is only a follower... if he leads, he takes takes responsibility for the success of the enterprise, then something more opens up for him... I see no reason why women could not lead in serious ascents... but I also realize that if a woman takes on this role, then the participation of men in the project cannot out of the question." © Miriam O'Brien Underhill

“Whoever does not get confused in the snowy mountains will not be afraid in battle.” This is the slogan of the Soviet climber. Cowardice is a lack of confidence in oneself, in one’s knowledge. Such qualities as caution, attentiveness, accuracy, and sometimes slowness due to careful control of the path, security and self-preservation should not be confused with cowardice.
Brave is considered to be the one who, having weighed all the difficulties and prepared accordingly to overcome them, decisively and energetically fights for the implementation of the task, who does not get lost in difficult times; whoever calmly and patiently seeks the path to victory will always find it...” © Physical training of climbers I. Yukhin, 1939.

“The only opportunity to compensate for my inferiority, my lack of confidence in my own abilities, was to practice mountaineering. Surrendering myself completely to this was my only salvation. Now the natural course of events in my life was to conquer one peak after another - first in Japan, and then abroad.” © Naomi Uemura

“Mountaineering is more of a mental sport than a physical one. If you really really want to do something, what's a little more pain for you? Just go with it." © Mark Inglis

“The call of the high mountains... Maybe this is part of the eternal quest of man, a certain excess of that vital energy that moves humanity from century to century in its attempt to always reach an ever higher peak of human aspirations?.. Even if the conquest of Everest becomes an ordinary event, always there will be more high Everests; even if in the distant future our Earth becomes a place without secrets, there will always be other peaks to climb and other worlds to explore. For those willing to venture fearlessly into uncharted seas and the unconquered peaks of human endeavor, there will never be a shortage of adventure for mind and body.” © Jawaharlal Nehru

“Let them not, however, think that climbing highest peaks- just hard, tedious work. There are no words to describe the impression made by these giants, or to convey the feeling of a climber who finds himself on the verge of a dead kingdom, where the violent wind, the scorching sun and the merciless frost, as well as the thinness of the air, make all life impossible.” © Charles Evans, Inviolable Kanchenjunga, M., Physical Education and Sports, 1961

“What made both man and animal strive for these barren heights? Dr. James Chapin, who spent many years studying the birds of the Congo, once found the skeleton of the Hamlin's monkey on the top of Karisimbi, many miles from its native forests. And recently I read interesting note about a pack of hyena dogs that was seen in the glaciers of Kilimanjaro, at an altitude of almost twenty thousand feet. Perhaps man is not the only creature in this world who climbs a mountain just because it stands in front of him.” © George Schaller Year under the sign of the gorilla. M., Mysl, 1968.

“...When I crossed the ridge into Georgia, I abandoned the cart and began to ride a horse: I climbed the snowy mountain (Krestovaya) to the very top, which is not at all easy; From there you can see half of Georgia as if on a silver platter, and, really, I don’t undertake to explain or describe this amazing feeling; For me, mountain air is a balm; the blues be damned, the heart is beating, the chest is breathing high - nothing is needed at this moment; I could sit and watch like that for the rest of my life.” © Mikhail Lermontov

“I am far from self-praise, far from ambition and competition, I just want to say that mountaineering should be considered as a beautiful game in which every accident is either a mistake or carelessness, and death is a real tragedy. In order to avoid a demonstration of heroism, I, like most of us, believe that it is better to wait than to rush and take risks, it is better to slow down than to be out of breath, it is better to sing than to shout...” © Jean Franco “Makalu”

“We have entered into a grandiose and wonderful battle with nature, and we are putting all our physical, mental and moral strength into achieving victory. In a few weeks the battle, which took place in an atmosphere of passionate intensity and brotherly friendship, raised us above human mediocrity." © Jean Franco “The Battle of Joan”

“When you look from the height of Pobeda Peak, it seems that the other peaks are squatting.” © Lyudmila Agranovskaya

“Mountains are made to show a person what a dream can look like..” © Yuri Vizbor

“Life is a continuous ascent along an untrodden path that winds along the mountain slopes... I stand on a white mountain and look into the blue distance of the roads traveled. Ahead rises a peak under a blue hat of snow. If I manage to climb it, I will see new distances..." © A. Keshokov story View from the White Mountain

“Great things are done when men and mountains meet...” © William Blake

“Something inside me kills my interest in playing at low limits. For me, it's either a high stake or nothing. And it's eating me up." © Jerzy Kukuczka

“Mountains are a place where you can exchange life for endless bliss.” © Milarepa Shepa Dorje

“Mountaineering in my life was not just a sport that gave me a good mood. It is a worldview that affirms simple truths, glorifying good things: courage and comradeship, the desire to learn and the desire to help, devotion to purpose, the meaning and joy of daring, sensitivity and amazing courage.” © Boris Delaunay

“Loving means not looking at each other, but looking together in the same direction. Comrades are only those who, holding on to one rope, climb onto the mountain peak and in this they find their intimacy.” © Antoine de Saint-Exupéry

“Winter high altitude climbing is a sophisticated way of suffering in the mountains.” © Wojtek Kurtyka

“Winter expeditions are the only mountaineering without the struggle of “stars”, rivalry, competition with each other. The mountain in winter is so difficult that everyone rallies for a common goal in an atmosphere of partnership, mutual assistance and goodwill. This atmosphere has now been preserved only in speleology and in winter Himalayan ascents. This is no longer possible to find in the summer in alpine ascents.” © Wojtek Kurtyka

“The essence of winter Himalayan ascents is overcoming your own pain caused by cold, discomfort and other reasons. You can believe me, it's true. I believe that winter Himalayan ascents have little in common with the essence of real mountaineering, which begins where ordinary tourism ends, and a person is forced to overcome technical difficulties with the help of his hands. In winter you cannot take off your mittens, so there is no question of difficult technical climbs. The combination of very low temperatures and 8000 m makes true mountaineering impossible.” © Wojtek Kurtyka

“The maxim that there is either only good things about the deceased, or nothing, plays an extremely negative role in understanding the disaster that occurred. The unembellished truth of what happened is the last gift of the departed to the living. We often ignore it (the gift), supposedly for moral reasons. But this is really immoral.” © Igor Komarov

"Freeride - martial art, the stake in which is life.” © Igor Komarov

“Going first is a special job. Here you are alone with the wall. Your comrades are with you in spirit, but there is no one nearby. Only the rope pulls you down a lot, connecting you with the world of people, and the rock hangs above your head. Often the next section of the route seems impassable, and there is no longer any confidence in success, and anxiety hangs over the wall like a cloud. Then, like a convenient shelf, you grab onto the thought: you’ve made up your mind, accepted the challenge - so drive away doubts, turn off everything extraneous from your consciousness, focus on the goal, you have to get through” © Vitaly Bodnik

“Victory in mountaineering generously gives a person the joy of victory over himself. And she also makes your teammate your brother, and this male brotherhood is stronger than granite" © Vitaly Bodnik

“Many people are afraid of mountains, but this is due to their ignorance. The unknown is always scary. The mountains are, of course, formidable, but they are not treacherous or malicious. Hurry to the mountains! A discovery of pristine nature awaits you. Self-discovery awaits you." © Vasily Kovtun

“The Caucasus Mountains are much more beautiful, their peaks are pointed; the abysses separating the peaks from each other give the impression of immeasurable depth.” © Douglas Freshfield

“The strongest fear arises in those moments when you realize that you are still alive and well, but you are already finished... that is, the brain manages to fully realize that you have practically no chance of surviving.” © Valery Rozov

“I have no respect for people who rope walk using a harness. I don't really like the fact that if you fall you die, but that's part of what they call tightrope walking." © Philippe Petit

“The snow is hiding and waiting. Waiting for our mistake. One has only to cut the layer, maybe even shout loudly, and the slope will disappear from under one’s feet. We know how it happens: first a quiet crackling sound, then a rustling sound, and then a roar. Just a second. Before you have time to look back, you will be buried under many meters of cold and heavy snow, like cast iron.” © A. Kuznetsov “Below Svaneti”

“...From edge to edge, along the entire horizon, in glaciers and snow there is the great Tien Shan system. It all burns with the golden-orange and red tones of sunset, and Khan Tengri floats above like a giant faceted ruby set in the dark turquoise sky.” © Semenov-Tien-Shansky.”

“The forces of untamed nature - wind, clouds, storm and cold - find their most powerful expression on mountaintops, endowing the heights with the aura of wild nature in its most extreme and undisturbed state.” © Bernbaum Edwin

“Snow is snow no matter where it falls, and avalanches speak the universal language of violence...” © Montgomery Otwater

“...After all, as long as there are mountains, there will be traces on their slopes, there will be notes on the tops... This is the law of man’s struggle with the mountains. And in everyone’s life, sooner or later there comes a moment when he must meet nature face to face and feel that man, even in small numbers, is stronger than it. Humanity has existed for twenty thousand generations, of which nineteen thousand eight hundred generations - ninety-nine percent - fought with nature without the help of electricity, machines and science. In today's generations there is still quite a bit of disturbing blood left from their ancestors. The word “feat” means an action that not everyone can accomplish. But those who go to the mountains, as a rule, do not think about the feat, dreaming only of enjoying the incomparable feeling of pioneers, they want to see entire countries lying at their feet under the clouds, so that the shadow of the hand stretches for hundreds of kilometers and the purple sky is towards them a little closer than to other people... And for a while, let the voices disappear from the whirlwind and leave people alone with the mountains. For mountains and people are a continuous battle.” © Evgeniy Iordanishvili

“I only know three real sports: bullfighting, mountaineering and auto racing. The rest of the sports are games.” © Ernest Hemingway

“In the struggle with the peak, in the pursuit of the immensity, a person wins, finds and affirms, first of all, himself. In the extreme tension of struggle, on the verge of death, the Universe disappears and ends next to us. Space, time, fear, suffering no longer exist. And then everything can be accessible. Like on the crest of a wave, when during a furious storm a strange, great calm suddenly reigns within us. This is not spiritual emptiness; on the contrary, it is the heat of the soul, its impulse and desire. And then we realize with confidence that there is something indestructible in us, a force that nothing can resist.” © Lucien Devi

“They don’t walk in the mountains with their feet, they walk in the mountains with their heads.” © folk wisdom

“A bad road is one from which a traveler will definitely fall, and his body cannot be found. A good road is one from which a traveler falls, but his corpse can be found and buried. And a beautiful road is one from which a traveler may not fall” © folk wisdom

Quotes about travel, expeditions and wildlife

“Willpower is the first and most important quality a skilled researcher. Only by knowing how to control his will can he hope to overcome the difficulties that nature places in his path.” © Amundsen Roald

“What is still unknown to us on our planet puts some kind of pressure on the consciousness of most people. This unknown is something that man has not yet conquered, some constant proof of our powerlessness, some unpleasant challenge to mastery over nature.” © Amundsen Roald

“Forethought and caution are equally important: foresight is to notice difficulties in time, and caution is to prepare most thoroughly to meet them.” © Amundsen Roald

“It’s bad to linger around one fire for a long time: your eyes get tired of looking at the same thing, your ears become deaf. We have to go. The turbidity does not stick in fast water..."© Ulukitkan

“When people ask me why I go on this or that trip, I usually answer: I don’t know, but that’s really true. After all, if I knew what awaited me, I would not have set off.” © Jacques Cousteau

“It’s a dark, cold night, wrapped in a blanket, I sit motionless on the shore and listen to the right whales letting out fountains. They are very close. Although it is difficult to distinguish their massive forms in the dark, I know that they swim not far from the shore, sometimes touching the bottom in shallow water with their bellies. But they jump out about two hundred meters from me. Their huge bodies fall into the water with a terrible noise. In the intervals between splashes, the deep breaths of whales can be heard: for me, this powerful choral concert is the most beautiful music in the ocean. This is how my first night in Patagonia goes..." © Philippe Cousteau

“I believe that there are neither heights nor depths that a person could not achieve with the help of Reason.” © John Hunt

“Polar night, you look like a woman, amazing, beautiful woman with the noble features of an antique statue, but also with its marble coldness. On your high brow, clear as pure ether, there is not a trace of sympathy for the petty sorrows of the human race, on your pale beautiful cheeks - not a trace of feeling... I am exhausted by your cold beauty, I thirst for life, warmth, light! Let me return either as a winner or as a beggar - It doesn’t matter to me! But let me go back and start living again" © Fridtjof Nansen

“With our experience, we should agree that true wealth cannot be achieved with the help of an army, it cannot be won with the help of a sling or a bomb, which is capable of flying around the world fifteen times and hitting us, and not just our enemies, in the back of the head. True valuables are found on enemy soil and not in a bank. You can’t put them on scales and see them with the naked eye, because you have to look for them inside your own head. What is stored in the soul cannot be taken away.” © Thor Heirdal

“Really, why make a fuss about something that’s been done? I never just remember the past. There is too much to do in the future! © Edmund Hillary

“Many of us in our youth try to prove to ourselves that we are capable of overcoming unusual situations. For me, such a situation was autonomous life in the forest. I soon realized that I could kill an animal or a bird, use mushrooms and berries, but why? Everything turned out more challenging task: you need to shoot what you see, turn what you see into visible images. So I’ve been photographing nature all my life.” © Vadim Gippenreiter

“Romance is necessary in a person’s life. It is this that gives a person divine strength to travel beyond the ordinary.” © Fridtjof Nansen

“Winter is not an enemy, it is a great helper, throwing bridges across the seas, covering the bare rocks of the mountains and smoothing out chasms. And as soon as the sleigh ride makes the trip possible, you are irresistibly drawn into the distance, new plans are born, and you just wait impatiently for the frost to get stronger.” © Knud Rasmussen

“...if water is more important than food, then hope for a person is more important and necessary than water.” © Alain Bombard

“Victims of legendary shipwrecks who died prematurely, I know: it was not the sea that killed you, it was not hunger that killed you, it was not thirst that killed you! Rocking on the waves to the plaintive cries of the seagulls, you died of fear.” © Alain Bombard

“One intelligent white man should be at the head, two whites, invited to the expedition because of their courage, determination, physical endurance and loyalty to the leader, should form the arms, and dog drivers and other local residents should form the body and legs of the expedition. For the peace of mind of men, it is necessary to take women on the trip; besides this, they are in many respects as useful as men, and in strength and endurance they are often almost equal to them.” © Robert Peary

"The romance of distant travels, contemplation surrounding nature, immersion in it is combined in me with the desire for sports records" © Marina Galkina

“Travelling alone without any means of communication is an exciting thing. It is without means of communication, I emphasize. There is an undoubted share of risk in this and the thrill of sensations and fullness of life are guaranteed. Everything depends on you, on your strengths, your skills, your dexterity. You are given the right to choose any path, you have the final say. You feel real freedom. Only on such a journey do you completely break away from civilization, merge more closely with nature, understand your insignificance and defenselessness” © Marina Galkina

“Frankly speaking, one must be born a traveler, and one should venture into the distance only in the years of full strength” © Peter Kozlov

"The most favorite place both in Russia and in the world - this is Kamchatka. The nature there is unique. In general, I am more interested in traveling around the country than abroad....a person cannot love without knowing. All our lives we love the place where we grew up, because we absorbed it from childhood, grew up with these trees and this grass. Very few people know Russia - I discover it for myself every time.” © Yuri Senkevich

“Rivers are a gift to us. Water is a metaphor for the passage of time, and everyone has their place in the flow.” © Doug Ammons.

“My worst enemy on the path to my goal is fear. I am a very cowardly person and, like all cowardly people, I strive to overcome my fear. Victory over fear makes me happy….. I want to be stronger than my own fear, for this I look for danger again and again.” © Reinhold Messner

“I am Sisyphus, that all my life I can roll up my stone, that is, myself, without reaching the top, since there can be no top in knowing oneself.” © Reinhold Messner

“I don’t remember when I freed myself from religious feelings, I only know one thing: since then it has become more difficult for me to convince myself that I am not alone in the world, not abandoned.” © Reinhold Messner

“Adventures give us joy. But joy, after all, is the purpose of life. We do not live to eat or make money. We eat and earn money so that we can be happy. This is the meaning of life, and this is what it is given for.” © George Mallory

“Deep diving is always solo, it’s comparable to climbing eight-thousanders and all responsibility lies only with you. Complete self-sufficiency." © Pascal Bernabe

“Travelling has been, is and will be. And in a hundred years, and in two hundred, and in a thousand. They will change - they will become different, only the word will remain the same. You can no longer be like Miklouho-Maclay or Sedov. Continents and islands are not being discovered now. You discover your spirituality." © Fedor Konyukhov

“For a true traveler there is only one goal - to overcome difficulties. And only one desire – to break through the horizon.” © Nick Tendi

“Why do people love wild places? For the sake of the mountains? They may not exist. For the sake of forests, lakes and rivers? But it could be a desert, and people would still love it. Desert, monotonous ocean, untouched snowy plains north, all the deserted expanses, no matter how sad they are, are the only places on earth where freedom lives.” © Rockwell Kent

“The sparkling immaculate whiteness of the high mountain snows, untouched and perhaps unattainable; the beauty of the mountains, covered with a foggy haze, because of which you cannot distinguish whether it is earth or a cloud; distant, clear, impassive mountains - all this symbolizes the highest aspirations of the spirit. The Universe appears to people in all its glory and grandeur, they are seized with anxiety, the thirst for adventure characteristic of their ancestors awakens in them, and they leave... It is not at all a conscious choice that forces people to exchange comfort and safety for adventure and adversity - most likely, there is an impulse more active here. deeper and stronger than consciousness and reason" © Rockwell Kent

“Speleology requires a lot of patience, and not impotent patience, but the persistence of long-term effort.” © Norbert Casteret

“A climber can study the mountain of his dreams, looking at it through binoculars, and with his eyes outline the route of ascent among the paths and rocks. The caver, when making assumptions, is almost always mistaken due to surprises and incredible difficulties. underworld. Alas! All his hypotheses are shattered when faced with insurmountable obstacles. Collapses of vaults, impassable cracks, dead ends, lakes, siphons every now and then mercilessly stop the speleologist on his path.” © Norbert Casteret

“It’s uncomfortable underground. Everything is harsh, sometimes ominous, always majestic and full of threats. Of course, this is why humans and animals instinctively avoid and fear the underworld. Only a few adapt to this realm of death and develop an interest, even passion, in exploring it. These are speleologists." © Norbert Casteret

“Abyss, you almost destroyed me and, perhaps, you will yet become my grave! But how many sublime moments of happiness you gave me among all the suffering! Here I learned the delight of searching and the intoxication of discovery.” © Michel Cifr

"On geographical maps there are no longer vast white patches, nor are virgin lands to be found. Only three areas are still of interest for research: space, but only a select few have access there, then the ocean, which provides limitless space for scientists, and, finally, the bowels of the earth with its caves, grottoes and abysses. This is my world." © Michel Cifr

“For a speleologist, the most sticky, viscous, unsteady clay that covers everything with its layer is never just dirt, but always remains a noble substance with which he is completely saturated, which covers him from head to toe, and sometimes turns him into ice, but which ultimately account to such an extent inevitable and familiar that it becomes, as it were, classical, characteristic feature caves All smeared with clay, this time, let’s say, just mud, doesn’t the speleologist have the right to proudly say, like Cyrano de Bergerac: “I am morally elegant!” © Norbert Casteret

“All extreme activity is a tribute to life. After all, how can you say “I love you” to your life if you spent it all on the couch?” © Den Osman

“I've always been different. People look at me and say “you're crazy!” . But what I do, I do for myself, not for anyone else. I'm not suicidal. When you sit on the couch, staring at a box, you die. I feel most alive when I'm face to face with my fears." © Den Osman

“Man goes to the mountains again and again, just as man goes into the stormy sea again and again, because only among the wild elements of nature can man challenge his deep abilities, as our ancestors did in ancient times. Modern life is a type of artificial existence. Most of the real qualities are simply turned off as unnecessary, and most of us don’t even imagine that they actually exist, we don’t know the full power of our own capabilities. And precisely in wildlife everyone's true essence comes out." © Abram T. Collier

“What's the point of buying a car to drive on asphalt? Where there is asphalt, there is nothing interesting, and where it is interesting, there is no asphalt.” © Strugatsky brothers

“When a journey is aimed at exploring a country that is difficult to access, when it introduces us to nature that was known only from superficial and inaccurate descriptions, then the difficulty disappears...

A person is able to overcome many of the inconveniences of life... he will find black bread soaked in spring water tastier best dishes, if only he is inspired by curiosity, if the goal he wants to achieve arouses a keen interest in him.”

Quotes about ecology

“We float toxic chemicals and all sorts of waste into the ocean, just like a careless housewife sweeps garbage under the carpet.” © Thor Heirdal

“We don’t notice the air, but without it we suffocate. So it is with living nature. Only when we lose it completely will we realize that we have lost...” © Nikolai Sladkov.

“At the beginning of the 21st century, reckless faith in progress seems utopian. We know that the resources of our planet are partially depleted, we know that we are disturbing the balance of both the climate and the subsoil, and now we ourselves, compared to those who lived before us, are also depleted in our own way - we do not know how to endure pain, endure hardships, work tirelessly.” © Leonid Kruglov

Quotes about running

“I ran at night once or twice a week because... After working as a mason, I didn’t have the strength to train at all.” © Pasang Dawa Sherpa

“Running every day is not a luxury, but a way of life. And I can’t give it up just because I’m so busy with other things. If other things were a sufficient reason for me, I would have stopped running a long time ago. The reasons that motivate me to run are one or two, but the reasons to end this activity are a carriage and a small cart. The only thing that remains for me in such a situation is to continue to care for and cherish those who are “one or two too many.” © Haruki Murakami

Quotes about the Urals (Ural Mountains)

“The Ural Mountains are the most noble in the entire Empire and by vocation are understood to be those that the first descriptors called Hyperboreans and Repheas. The Tatars call them the Urals” © V.N. Tatishchev, 1744

“... the highest mountains extend to its very shores, the peaks of which... are completely devoid of any forest and almost even grass. Although they are in different places have different names, but are generally called the Peace Belt. And in the possession of the sovereign of Moscow you can see only these mountains, which the ancients probably thought were Riphean or Hyperborean.” © Sigismund Herberstein 1549 (Indicator of the way to Pechora, Ugra and the Ob River)

A story about the mountains

In the mountains they don’t like loud words. Mountains are an anti-world. People there admire the rainbow UNDER THEIR FEET, cook porridge from the rope, live high in the magnetic field of the peaks, and there is also a wind blowing in the face - the WIND FROM THE EARTH'S ROTATION.

There is the COOLEST SUPERSHOW in high-altitude mountaineering. It's called the EMISSION TEST. This is when they drop you from a helicopter onto a moraine near base camp grub, heavy equipment, barrels of fuel, camp kitchen utensils, hefty shipping bags. It turned out that the gas stove was flying down with the squeal of a half-cut pig.

Wrapped in foam rubber gas cylinders fall onto the moraine like bombs, but they don’t explode. But harmless flour in bags EXPLODES when it hits the ground: a durable jute bag breaksto pieces! The melted butter in the tin cans was tightly sealed, but the lid was knocked out... The marmots spent a long time licking the fatty stones; The marmots obviously liked the ghee. The biggest miracle: after a strong blow to the moraine, the gas stove WORKED!

Our favorite roach passed the ejection test best of all - she deserves a damn! But Dr. Alexey Shindyaykin let us down... He saw boxes with a red cross falling on the glacier and shouted to the whole Pamir: “My optics are there! "KODAK" WITH PENTAPRISM! What are you doing... mother...!!!” Calm down, Doc! When you hit a glacier, your pentaprism will become a SEXIPRISM!

Getting out of the tent under EVEREST, at an altitude of about 8000 m, is like going into outer space. The astronauts wear a pressure helmet with light filters on their heads, while the climbers wear a motorcycle helmet and dark glasses. They both have oxygen in their backpacks. Cosmonauts have a strong halyard, climbers have a nylon “magpie” rope.

The doctors stuck a needle into my vein, but the BLOOD PUSHED THE NEEDLE OUT! It turns out that at altitude, all your blood is in circulation. On the plain, one third of it is usually located in a reserve depot - in the liver. However, William Shakespeare guessed about this four hundred years ago: “Squeeze all your veins, let all your blood go into battle. Let your great spirit rise to its full height!”

On the Pamir firn plateau I suddenly saw butterflies in the snow. Golden, motley, but they were dead. What brought them to the ice-snow desert at an altitude of 6000 m? A gust of wind? The beauty of the icefall or just curiosity? Ernest Hemingway wrote in the book " green hills Africa" how he saw the skeleton of a tiger on the top of Kilimanjaro.

What is this strange climbing tiger? Maybe he was tired of the heat in the savannah and that's why he got to highest point continent, to where the snow lies? High altitude climber from Moscow Boris Korshunov told me that among the snow and ice at altitudes of about seven kilometers, there are quite a lot of living creatures: dragonflies, flies, butterflies, spiders. Aubiquitous crows visit garbage dumps at climbers’ sites.

Mountains are the cuisine of the weather. Right behind the tent canopy, a storm front is forming before our eyes: tomorrow’s clouds are gaining moisture. I see how the “snow - ice” or “rocks - snow” thermocouple works. Any couloir (hollow in the slope) acts like a wind tunnel: it directs the wind. However, the great German Goethe knew about all this about 250 years ago: “On the plain we receive the weather ready-made, in the mountains we are present at its birth.”

A story about the mountains - near the Becho Pass in the Caucasus, a rescue squad was caught in a thunderstorm. At the tip of my ice ax, bluish-green lights suddenly flashed - the fires of St. Elmo... Electric discharges funny nibbled my earlobes. It wasn't scary at all. However, I am afraid of ball lightning: it is smart and alive. This fireball flies into the tent where three people are resting. He will simply circle over two of them, not touch them, but will burn the third. In a word, I LOVE A STORM WHEN IT'S DOWN.

Doctors told the master of sports, the “snow leopard” from Dushanbe Vladimir Mashkov: “You have a micro-infarction. You are already over fifty, lie still, move carefully... The nanny will bring the duck. It will get worse, swallow nitroglycerin.” On the third day after being discharged from the hospital, Mashkov flew to the Pamirs. And immediately, without acclimatization, he rushed to the Pamir firn plateau, there was his scientific base-laboratory - business!

Vladimir overcame the climb to 5800 m quite easily: residual acclimatization took its toll. Vladimir “forgot” his medications at home. A month later, after several ascents to a height of 7495 m (former Communism Peak), Mashkov returned to Dushanbe and visited his cardiologist. “Excuse me, where are your scars?!” - “I threw them down there in one corner...” Doctors still do not know much about human resources, especially ABOUT SPIRITUAL RESOURCES.

One day, 15 young Sherpanis - porters - appeared in the bamboo thickets under the eight-thousand-meter Kanchenjunga peak. These were just girls, about 13-14 years old, citizens of Nepal. Each confidently carried a load of 15 kilograms behind her shoulders. The Sherpanis made their way through the dense jungle, deftly wielding curved Nepalese knives - kukri. They were all dressed... in black naval overcoats with anchors on buttons, each with a badge of the Leningrad Nakhimov School on their shoulders.

Mountains occupy about 40% of the Earth's surface* They are on every continent and large island* Even stretched along the bottom of the oceans mountain ranges, individual peaks of which rise above the water, forming islands or chains of islands* Australia has the fewest mountains, and most of the mountains of Antarctica are hidden under ice.

The youngest mountain system on our planet is the Himalayas, the longest is the Andes (about 7560 km long), and the oldest mountains are those belonging to the Nuvvuagittuq mountain formation, located in the vicinity of Hudson Bay (age approximately 4.28 billion years ).

The mountains are very diverse. According to the shape of the top There are peak-shaped, dome-shaped, plateau-shaped and other mountains. Mountains and by origin: tectonodenudation, volcanic, etc. In the Sayans, Transbaikalia and Far East dominated by a special type of mountain - hills. The hills are distinguished by their conical shape and rocky or flattened top.

In rock formations there are often individual peaks, rising high above the surrounding, even high-mountain, landscape. Such peaks include Mount Chomolungma in the Himalayas, Elbrus in the Caucasus, and Belukha in Altai.

The relief of mountainous areas is characterized by the presence mountain ranges– elongated mountain formations with a clearly defined axis along which the highest mountains are located. This axis is often the watershed of a given area.

In the case when the height of the mountain range is small and the mountain tops are rounded, then such a chain of mountains is called mountain ridge. Mountain ranges, as a rule, are the remains of ancient destroyed mountains (in Russia - Timan Ridge, Yenisei Ridge, etc.)

The mountain range has two slope, often different from one another. While one slope is gentle, another may be steep (Ural Mountains).

The top part of mountain ranges is called mountain ridge. The crest of the ridge can be pointed (in young mountains) or rounded and plateau-shaped (in old mountains).

Wide depressions with gentle slopes are called mountain passes.

A mountain uplift approximately equal in both length and width, which is characterized by weak dissection, is called mountain range . (Putorana plateau in Eastern Siberia, Russia).

The intersection of two mountain ranges is called mountain node. Mountain nodes consist of high, inaccessible mountains (the Tabyk-Bogdo-Ola mountain node in Altai).

Mountain ranges that are identical in origin and arranged in the same order (linear or radial) are called mountain systems. Outskirts mountain systems, characterized by small heights, are called foothills.

Africa is characterized by a special type of mountains called canteens. They are characterized by flat tops and stepped slopes. The formation of these mountains is associated with the action of water from rivers cutting through the stratified valley.

The presence of mountains is characteristic not only of land. The ocean floor is also replete with various kinds of rock formations. Single mountains are scattered here and there along the ocean floor volcanic origin. Active volcanoes emit lava, ash and rock fragments and have pointed peaks. The peaks of extinct volcanoes are smoothed by waves and currents. The summits of many underwater volcanoes form islands. Iceland is an example of such an island.

There are at the bottom of the oceans and mountain ranges. The most important discovery of recent years in oceanology has been the discovery mid-ocean ridges. They run almost through the middle of every ocean, forming a huge single chain. You can read more about mid-ocean ridges