Mountaineering#Base Camp

A base camp (English basecamp ) is in mountaineering sense of Talstützpunkt for a usually multi-day or multi-week operation on a mountain. Since the term in the strict sense refers to a tent city that is remotely built roads, settlements and any form of infrastructure, it implies remoteness and dive almost always associated with non-alpine mountain ranges, such as in the Andes, Alaska, in Himalaya, Karakoram, Pamir and in Antarctica. The base camp is the starting point for most a single intention to tour on the mountain and is repeatedly used for all long operations in the high mountains as a refuge in bad weather, as well as supply and regeneration station.

The base camp for expeditions

At high altitude mountaineering expeditions and many-headed the base camp often consists of numerous tents, ie personal individual tents, washing and cooking tents. The extremely heavy in larger enterprises equipment is managed by local porters to base camp in the normal case. Since during the alpine mountain activities none of the climbers is often present at the base camp, people have to be entrusted with guarding the valuable and essential for the success of the expedition items and tents; often these are, for example, local chefs who care for the physical welfare of the expedition, expedition or a doctor who does not participate in the climb itself. It is obvious that large mountains at the foot of its various pages may have multiple base camp, according to the flank of the mountain, whose ascent of a base is required. The base camp particularly frequented and desired mountains, such as on the south side of Mount Everest, are at peak right settlements from a three-digit number of tents. The resulting inevitably resulting large pollution ( if only in terms of the faeces) is one of the major problems of high altitude mountaineering dar.

Pre- Dovetailed base camp

In some cases, the base camp is still so far away because of logistical, technical supply or safety -related reasons from the actual base of the wall, that it is necessary to establish an advanced base camp, which can be compared to the base camp pushed up to several kilometers and in the immediate vicinity of entry is located. The advanced base camp is also known as ABC (of English. Advanced basecamp ). In the further course of the Ascension another, usually two to five high camp are then usually built offering, in contrast to the / the base camp (s) as well as no comfort in the valley, but are essential as locking and protection points.

The base camp in the Alps

In the Alps there now and then happens that larger groups of climbers on a specific mountain or a specific wall to arrive, to spend long periods of time and climb a variety of routes, possibly to perform first ascents. Especially when the group arriving from abroad and / or does not have the financial ability to regularly rent a room in a valley town, but also for the reason to reduce the boarding time to the mountain, so can an improvised tent base be necessary, and one then speaks alpine context from a base camp.

Knowledge and worth mentioning

• Some base camp have held a legendary status among high altitude mountaineers, as they are on the one hand linked to numerous landmarks of the history of mountaineering and on the other hand are often located in a stunning landscape. One of these famous base camp is the so-called fairy tale meadow at eight thousand Nanga Parbat in Pakistan.
• To mountain enthusiastic people who do not possess the skills and potential, even participate in an expedition that still permit the experience of the distant mountains and the contact with the extreme mountain climbing, offer a range of tour operators treks that have the base camp of a high mountain to the destination. The most famous " base camp trekking " leads to the base camp of the south side of Mount Everest at an altitude of about 5300 meters.
• In everyday language, the term base camp is also used in a figurative or ironical sense for entities that are not part of civilization ( " We use our car as a base camp "). He is also independent of mountaineering companies as a synonym for base, base in use.

• Alpinism
• Expeditions