Locations
Mountaineering has become a popular sport throughout the world. In Europe the sport largely originated in the Alps, and is still immensely popular there. Other notable mountain ranges frequented by climbers include the Caucasus, the Pyrenees, Rila mountains, the Tatra Mountains and Carpathian Mountains. In North America climbers frequent the Rocky Mountains, the Sierra Nevada of California, the Cascades of the Pacific Northwest, the high peaks of The Alaska Range and Saint Elias Mountains.
There has been a long tradition of climbers going on expeditions to the Greater Ranges, a term generally used for the Andes and the high peaks of Asia including the Himalayas, Karakoram, Pamir Mountains and Tien Shan. The Poles, with a strong track record in high mountains, call climbing in the Himalayas and Karakoram himalaism. In the past this was often on exploratory trips or to make first ascents. With the advent of cheaper, long-haul air travel, mountaineering holidays in the Greater Ranges are now undertaken much more frequently and ascents of even Everest and Vinson Massif (the highest mountain in Antarctica) are offered as a "package holiday".
Other mountaineering areas of interest include the Southern Alps of New Zealand, the Japanese Alps, the South Korean mountains, the Coast Mountains of British Columbia, the Scottish Highlands, and the mountains of Scandinavia, especially Norway.
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