Peak bagging

Peak bagging, also known as hill bagging, mountain bagging, Munro bagging[1] or simply bagging, is an activity in which hikers, hillwalkers and mountaineers attempt to reach the summits of a collection of peaks, usually those above some height or prominence in a particular region, or having a particular feature.

Styles

The generally accepted convention for peak baggers to consider a peak summited is to reach its highest point by any route using only human power (e.g., hiking, climbing, skiing, biking). However, for some peak baggers, simply being present at the highest point is sufficient to check the summit off the list. This allows for driving to car-accessible summits and declaring the summit "climbed". Drive-ups are allowed by the U.S. State Highpointers club and by the County Highpointers club, whose members are collectively attempting to reach the highest point in all 3,142 U.S. counties.

Some peak baggers increase the challenge of summiting a list of peaks in various ways, such as by requiring a minimum vertical climb per peak, climbing within a time limit, climbing in different seasons (such as winter), or climbing the same peak multiple times by different routes.

Various organizations have adopted rules for what to do when a peak is on private land or otherwise inaccessible, whether off-road vehicles may be used, etc.

Peak bagging lists

Peak lists are the backbone of peak bagging. Peak lists motivate many peak baggers to summit a specific collection of peaks, usually but not always defined by objective criteria such as elevation, prominence, and region. Many popular peak lists are club-sponsored by climbing clubs around the world. Two examples of peak bagging lists are Colorado's 55 fourteeners and New Hampshire's 48 four-thousand footers. For a list of notable peak bagging lists, see Lists of mountains.

Comparison to other mountain climbing pursuits

Peak bagging can be distinguished from highpointing. In peak bagging, the targets are the peaks of mountains or hills, and the popular lists usually require that the target pass some threshold of elevation or prominence. In highpointing, the goal is only to reach the highest point in some geographic area (e.g. county, state, or country), whether or not it is a peak.

Peak bagging and climbing share some overlap in final objectives, but the mentality of peak baggers is different than climbers in that the route to the top usually matters less to a peak bagger than it does to a climber. Peak baggers may opt for the easiest route to the top to check the peak off a peak list, while climbers will intentionally strive to take the most difficult route within their ability.

Peak bagging and mountaineering also overlap in intention, with mountaineering being a subset of peak bagging on peaks that require some technical skills beyond hiking or scrambling.

Summit logs

In some parts of the world, a summit register or summit log may be located in a watertight container such as a jar or can, stashed in a protected spot. Peak baggers often will write a note or log entry and leave it in the "summit log" as a record of their accomplishment. Increasingly, peak baggers are also logging their summits online by signing virtual summit logs.[2]

Arguments for and against

Traditional climbers or adventurers may argue that peak bagging devalues the experience of climbing in favour of the achievement of reaching an arbitrary point on a map; that bagging reduces climbing to the status of stamp collecting or train spotting; or that is seen as obsessive and beside the point. For example, in explaining why he chose to remove some minor peaks from his guidebook, climber Steve Roper wrote:

Most of the peaks had as their first ascenders those who in a former day would have been called explorers but now could only be thought of as peakbaggers, interested primarily in trudging endlessly over heaps of stones, building cairns, and inserting their business cards into specifically designed canisters especially carried for this purpose. But perhaps I am being too harsh. They’re having their fun.[3]

Some baggers say peak bagging is a motivation to keep reaching new summits. For mountain range peak lists, attaining the goal provides the peak bagger with a deeper appreciation for the topography of the range. For example, each peak is typically enjoyed from multiple aspects as the peak bagger also climbs the major neighboring summits.

There is also concern that encouraging the climbing of certain mountains has caused trail damage from erosion through heavy use and, where mountains have no trails, created trails. Proponents note that many peak baggers become active in maintaining trails and more aware about mitigating damage than casual hikers.

References

  1. ↑ In Scotland; see, for example, Muriel Gray (May 1993). The First Fifty: Munro-bagging Without a Beard. ISBN 0-552-13937-8.
  2. ↑ Andrew Becker. "I Was Here - A High Sierra search for the voices of climbers past - Sierra Club, Sierra Magazine, July/August 2008". Retrieved 2008-10-30.
  3. ↑ Steve Roper, The Climber’s Guide to the High Sierra, copyright ©1976 by Sierra Club Books

See also

External links

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