For many people, the mountains are home. We all know that living in the mountains has great health benefits, but what about climbing to the top? Here are 10 benefits of mountaineering.
Mountaineering is good for your health
Not only will you get amazing strength and endurance from climbing, but your diet will get better and better. There are no KFC and McDonald's in the high mountains, so you have to prepare all your meals by yourself.
As you climb, you may find that unhealthy foods don't provide enough energy. Hiking and mountaineering require a proper diet, and elevation training makes your lungs stronger. As you hike and climb, you'll become more and more comfortable. Plus, there's a lot to learn from exercising in nature.
2. You see things that no one else sees
We may have seen many pictures of the summit and longed to go there ourselves, but few of us have actually been there. For many people, mountain climbing requires a lot of time, energy and financial resources, especially at high altitudes, which is a very difficult task.
When you reach the summit, you will find that there are not many people like you and you can enjoy the rare mountain view without distractions (except for the smoggy weather of course).
3. You'll make great friends
Hikers and mountaineers are a wonderful group of people. You'll find some similarities between them: positive, strong, confident and optimistic.
The good thing about mountain climbing is that we all have similar goals: to reach the top, see the smaller mountains, and enjoy the physical exercise and beauty of nature. You can make lifelong friends this way because you usually spend a lot of time together.
4. Will you understand why the mountains call and you must go
Mountains are so special and magical, perhaps because they are so dangerous and majestic that they make us feel small. Even if you don't climb mountains, when you see them, you feel they call to you.
You may find that when you are in the mountains, all the problems in your life fade away or the pace of life slows down. And after you've spent a long time climbing the mountain, even when you go back to the city, you keep wanting to come back.
5. Mountaineering will teach you patience, persistence and gratitude
Climbing the mountain is the most difficult thing. Long, sustained vertical climbing is probably the most exhausting and difficult thing you'll ever do. Not only the physical difficulties, but also the psychological tests.
Complex climbs and routes are created to put your intelligence to best use. You learn to never give up, and you learn that everything is worth it in the end.
Climbing can take hours, days or even months, and you may have to make many attempts to make a successful ascent. Once you're successful, you'll see what all the fuss is about. It's just like in life, you make up your mind to achieve a goal, or realize a dream, and go all out until you reach the goal, and mountaineering can reinforce your firm belief. It's an addictive feeling, you can't explain it, but you enjoy it.
Mountaineering teaches you the importance of environmental protection
After seeing the unexplored land for yourself, you want to protect it. For you, development and human intervention in these beautiful places is the worst thing you can do. You'll also understand why there are so many rules in national parks, and you'll appreciate them from the bottom of your heart.
Beautiful places can become people's tourism punch points, and only by protecting them can everyone enjoy its beauty better. After climbing, you have more respect for the mountain resources we have. So in the rest of your life, you'll start practicing green living, consuming less, recycling more, and protecting the environment in whatever way you can.
Mountaineering teaches you to be positive
If you keep thinking negative thoughts during your climb, it could be your one-way ticket to failure. It doesn't help to tell yourself that you can't do it or that it's impossible, and if you're positive, even if the climb is impossible at the moment, you'll keep trying.
If you don't believe you can climb this mountain, then you probably never will. You will always be stronger than you think, you just have to believe in yourself, believe in yourself, and do it bit by bit, and before you know it, you are on the top.
8. Mountaineering teaches you to enjoy life's small pleasures
After hours of sweaty vertical climbing, you'll stop to drink what may be the best water you've ever had in your life. So we ignore the little things in life that we take for granted, like water.
You realize how cold the wind can make you when you get to the top and forget your coat. You don't realize the importance of the little things when they don't show up. It's only when you've been through the mill that you realize the value of the little things. This also makes us more prepared, more respectful of what makes us comfortable, and more appreciative of the small blessings of the moment.
9. What has mountaineering taught you about change and being ready for it
If you've ever spent time in the mountains, you know the weather can change quickly, so being prepared is key. Every mountain is different, so a lot of times you have to be prepared to change as well.
There is more than one way to climb a mountain, and there is more than one way to climb a mountain. But the mountains also teach you that nothing is guaranteed, that things are constantly changing, and that you need to find different strategies to deal with that change.
10. Every mountain has something to teach you
Every mountain offers at least one important lesson. If you need a waterproof cover for your camera when you climb a mountain on a rainy day, or wear different shoes when you climb a different mountain, you learn something different every time you climb.
You may find it exhausting, but there is no doubt that it is also a great thing, and you will grow and learn more and want to go there more.