12 Abode of Gods
pike which is hammered in to tiny cracks in the rock to afford
support to hand, foot or rope, the latter is a snap ring which
when attached to a piton, rope or sling helps the mountaineer
to make ingenious manipulation on the rope. Rope forms an
Important part of a mountaineer's equipment with which two
major manoeuvers belay a stance allowing you to protect and
pull other climbers by tying up four or six persons in a rope
,and secondly rapple which permits you to get down quickly
through bodily articulation. Rope also provides protection for
the porters who move up and down with heavy loads. Ropes
are differentiated as climbing and manihi rope.
Aluminium ladder has also come in use for climbing, cro-
ssing crevasses and negotiating rivers.
'Requisites for trekking
Initial trekking and subsequent climbing demands good
health and a measure of aptitude, strength, agility, endurance,
co-ordination of the body, soul and of the nerves, and a certain
amount of the technical knowledge derived from experience.
•One should ensure following before embarking on any trekk-
ing, climbing or mountaineering venture:
Recormaisance : The leader must collect all information!
data about the area of climb. It is well to bear in rnindj
MaJIory's remark, "Reconnaisance, reconnoitre, reconnoi-i
tre** and besides reconnaisance one can always take advan-j
tage of previous experience because final victories belong]
not only to those who climb the peaks but also to those!
who went before. ;
Members of the party : Companionship i.e. esprit-de-j
corps, is one of the strange motivations for mountaineering
since shared adversity has a lot to do. The members of the;
party should be selected after careful examination of their:
past performance and climbing experience,
Health : An alert man with good physique can go any^
where since he knows the struggle of the heart, lung and;
limb on the long upward pull and the sharp, sudden thrill
of negotiating a cliff or cornice and after day*s hard work
•snug in a bed roll or sleeping bag under constant discom-'
fort of falling snow and wind. 1