Types of the mountaineering in Russia

kamalove

Sorry for speaking not about India. I want to say some words about mountaineering in Russia. I hope it will be interesting for somebody.
We have, like in other countries, rock climbing and classic mountaineering (ascenting to the particular mountain), and high altitude mountaineering.
But we have a specific type of activity too. We call it "sportive tourism". I think, it comes into being because the very large territory of Russia and numerous wild places here. There is three basic types of sportive tourism: "on foot" tourism (I can not find correct word for that because it is not hiking only), "mountain" tourism and "water" tourism. All these types have graded obstacles and routes graded from 1st category (easiest) to 6st (hardest). You must begin from the 1st category routes. If you passed the 1st, you may intend 2nd. If you passed 2nd as a member, you may intend 3rd as the member or 1st as a leader, and so on... You are taking a certificate on every step from some "tourism club" registered in "sport and tourism" department. So that type of activity is promoted from government. You may get sometimes some money from government for a hardest and unique trip.
"On foot" tourism: This is something about hiking or trekking, sometimes with elements of climbing. For 1st category you may pass about 130km over the easy terrain - woods or hills. For highest categories you must pass more kilometers over the rough terrain - usually mountains with difficult passages and river crossing. You must use ropes and other gear. An indispensable condition is a full autonomy for some weeks.
"Mountain" tourism: You must pass some mountain passages and climb some peaks various difficulty grades. You must sometimes climb such the mountain walls, where you need to stay overnight...
"Water" tourism: floating down mountain rivers using various types of boats.
All these types of activity, including classic mountaineering and rock climbing, are official types of sport (like, say, football or wrestling), there are championships, ranks and so on.
You may, ofcourse, just walk anywhere you please, but you may not be registered in the rescue service, and so the rescue is not guaranteed. I think, that system is very useful, doesn't?

p.s. I beg english-speaking people to correct my lapses.