# Alpine route

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{{Short description|Difficult pass through mountain terrain}}
[[File:Markierung Alpiner Wanderweg.jpg|thumb|Sign on the alpine route at [Piz Uccello](/source/Piz_Uccello), Switzerland]]
thumb|Swiss signs: hiking trails in yellow,<br />mountain path in white-red-white,<br />Alpine Route in white-blue-white

An '''alpine route''' ({{langx|de|Alpine Routen}}) or high alpine route ({{langx|de|Hochalpine Routen}}) is a [trail](/source/trail) or [climbing route](/source/climbing_route) through difficult terrain in high mountains such as the [Alps](/source/Alps), sometimes with no obvious path. In the [Alps](/source/Alps), the various [alpine club](/source/alpine_club)s define and mark an alpine route, also called ''alpinweg'' or ''alpinwanderweg'' (alpine hiking trail).  More generally, the term is used for routes of crossing the Alps, such as Roman crossings and [Napoleon crossing the Alps](/source/Napoleon_Crossing_the_Alps). It is also used to describe routes (trails, roads, and railroads) in other mountains with alpine conditions.

== Description ==

Alpine routes are typically neither built nor maintained. They grew from being used traditionally over years or decades. Occasionally, dangerous and exposed sections may be equipped with protection such as [wire cables](/source/fixed_rope), chains, [abseil](/source/abseil)ing points, and [bolt](/source/Bolt_(climbing))s. This is kept to a minimum ("die absolute Ausnahme", the absolute exception), for both the preservation of the environment and to prevent liability issues for those who install the devices.<!--<ref name="alpenverein" />--><ref name="tirol" /><!-- At particularly difficult points, climbing assistance may be provided similar to that in a [via ferrata](/source/via_ferrata), such as [piton](/source/piton)s (''Stifte'') and [clamps](/source/clamps) (''Klammern''),{{cn|date=July 2012}} will look, translated from de, no source ... --> Climber [Paul Preuss](/source/Paul_Preuss_(climber)) argued in 1911 about the use of aids such as [piton](/source/piton)s on alpine routes in his essay "[Artificial Aids on Alpine Routes](/source/Paul_Preuss_(climber))".<ref name="messner" />

[[File:Alpine Route.jpg|thumb|left|120x120px|Warning marking of Alpine routes by the [Alpine club](/source/Alpine_Club)s]]

In the [Alps](/source/Alps), the [Alpine club](/source/Alpine_club)s mark their designated "Alpine Routes" in blue and white. In Austria and Germany the signs are blue-white-blue,<ref name="tirol" /> in Switzerland the signs for the so-called "Alpinwanderwege" are marked white-blue-white signs.<ref name="swiss" /> Sometimes the routes have no signs, only [cairn](/source/cairn)s ("Steinmandl", little stone man) or poles marking the way. Some routes require climbing skills of minor levels of difficulty (I&nbsp;and II according to [UIAA](/source/Grade_(climbing))).<!--<ref name="alpenverein" />--><ref name="tirol" />

[[File:Steinmandl am Treffauer.jpg|thumb|Cairn on the [Treffauer](/source/Treffauer)]]

To hike Alpine routes, climbers need physical fitness, good equipment, [sure-footedness](/source/sure-footedness), and on some routes a [head for heights](/source/head_for_heights) as well. They also need a good sense of direction, and to know how to use maps and a compass.<ref name="tirol" /><ref name="swiss" /> If they do not have alpine experience, a mountain guide is advised. Some routes require [climbing equipment](/source/climbing_equipment) such as [ropes](/source/climbing_rope) and [ice axe](/source/ice_axe)s, some even need [crampons](/source/crampons). It is important to check weather and route conditions beforehand.<!--<ref name="alpenverein" />--><ref name="tirol" /><ref name="swiss" />

Alpine routes are [graded](/source/Grade_(climbing)) according to different systems. In Switzerland, an ''Alpinwanderweg'' is a marked hiking trail of the highest grade in difficulty according to the [Swiss Alpine Club](/source/Swiss_Alpine_Club)'s hiking grades.<ref name="swiss" />

== History ==
[[File:Paul Delaroche - Napoleon Crossing the Alps - Google Art Project 2.jpg|thumb|[Bonaparte Crossing the Alps](/source/Bonaparte_Crossing_the_Alps)]]
The first Roman road connecting Italy with today's Germany was the [Via Claudia Augusta](/source/Via_Claudia_Augusta), completed in 46–47 AD, from [Verona](/source/Verona) to the [Reschen Pass](/source/Reschen_Pass), the [Inn valley](/source/Inn_River) and the [Fern Pass](/source/Fern_Pass) to [Augusta Vindelicorum](/source/Augusta_Vindelicorum), today [Augsburg](/source/Augsburg). The most ancient pass of the Western Alps is the [Great St Bernard Pass](/source/Great_St_Bernard_Pass), used as far back as the [Bronze Age](/source/Bronze_Age) and showing traces of a [Roman road](/source/Roman_road).<ref name="hyde" />  Napoleon crossed the Alps here in May 1800, depicted in an idealized view by [Jacques-Louis David](/source/Jacques-Louis_David) in ''[Napoleon Crossing the Alps](/source/Napoleon_Crossing_the_Alps)'' and, less idealized, by [Hyppolyte Delaroche](/source/Paul_Delaroche) in ''[Bonaparte Crossing the Alps](/source/Bonaparte_Crossing_the_Alps)''.

== Notable examples ==

* [Alpine Pass Route](/source/Alpine_Pass_Route)
* [Garibaldi Provincial Park](/source/Garibaldi_Provincial_Park)
* [Mount Torment](/source/Mount_Torment)
* [Tatoosh Range](/source/Tatoosh_Range)
* [Valhalla Provincial Park](/source/Valhalla_Provincial_Park)
* [Vratsata Gorge](/source/Vratsa)

== References ==

<references>

<ref name="messner">
{{cite book
| last = Messner
| first = Reinhold
| authorlink = Reinhold Messner
| year = 1996
| title = Paul Preuss
| publisher = Verlag J. Berg bei Bruckmann
| location = Munich
| pages = 24, 43, 58
| isbn = 978-3-7654-2855-5
}}
</ref>

<ref name="hyde">
{{cite book
| last = Hyde
| first = Walter Woodburn
| year = 1935
| title = Roman Alpine Routes
| publisher = University of Pennsylvania Press
| location = Philadelphia
| pages = 353–354
}}
</ref>
<!--
<ref name="alpenverein">
{{cite web
| title = AV-Wegekonzept
| date = 28 October 2009
| language = German
| publisher = alpenverein.at
| url = http://www.alpenverein.at/portal/Huetten/Wege/Arbeitsgebiete/AV-Wegekonzept-Endversion.pdf
| format = PDF
| accessdate = 30 March 2012
}}
</ref> -->

<ref name="tirol">{{cite web
 |title      = Wander- und Bergwegekonzept des Landes Tirol / Tiroler Bergwege-Gütesiegel
 |year       = 2008
 |language   = German
 |publisher  = Amt der Tiroler Landesregierung, Abteilung Sport
 |url        = http://www.tirol.gv.at/fileadmin/www.tirol.gv.at/themen/sport/berg-und-ski/downloads_berg_und_ski/TirolerBergwegekonzept2008.PDF
 |format     = PDF
 |pages      = 9–10
 |accessdate = 30 March 2012
}}{{Dead link|date=October 2018 |bot=InternetArchiveBot |fix-attempted=yes }}</ref>

<ref name="swiss">
{{cite web
| title = Hiking in Switzerland
| publisher = Swiss-Switzerland
| url = http://www.swiss-switzerland.com/hiking-in-switzerland.html#.UANbSvVQRoE
| accessdate = 30 March 2012
}}
</ref>

</references>

<!--== External links ==
* [http://www.swisshiking.ch/index.php?id=60 ''Alpinwanderwege''] at swisshiking.ch now ref -->

Category:Climbing routes

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Adapted from the Wikipedia article [Alpine route](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Alpine_route) by Wikipedia contributors ([contributor history](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Alpine_route?action=history)). Available under [Creative Commons Attribution-ShareAlike 4.0 International](https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-sa/4.0/). Changes may have been made.