What is an alpine start?
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Sometimes climbers/mountaineers will say that they are getting an alpine start.
What does this mean and why would they want to do this?
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An alpine start is when one starts a climb really early in the morning (well before sunrise). Usually the goal is to make it to the top and back down before the conditions deteriorate.
Getting too late of a start increases a number of risks including,
- Thunderstorms
- Rockfall
- Weakened snow bridges
- Crampons balling up
Other times its worth getting an alpine start just to see the sunrise from the top of a mountain.
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