Traverse (climbing)

The term has broad application, and its use can range from describing a brief section of lateral movement on a pitch of a climbing route, to large multi-pitch climbing routes that almost entirely consist of lateral movement such as girdle traverses that span the entire rock face of a crag, to mountain traverses that span entire ridges connecting chains of mountain peaks.

Long traverses also place increased pressure on the abilities of the following climber than in a normal climb.

The term 'direttissima' (or 'direct') is used for refinements of climbing routes that dispense with traverses and rise vertically upward in the straightest possible line from the ground to the top.

[4][5] Long traverses require specific pieces of equipment and protection to handle the resulting 'pendulum falls' where a fallen climber (both the lead and following climber) can end up so far off-route that climbing back up is impossible and they will have to jumar back up to the route using ascenders.

[9] As in rock climbing, mountaineering also uses the term 'traverse' for sections of routes that require horizontal or lateral movement.

A classic example of a 'mountain traverse' is Peter Croft's Evolution Traverse (VI, 5.9, 8-miles, over 3,000 metres of cumulative elevation gain CAG) in the Evolution Basin of the Sierra Nevada, which follows a rocky ridge that crosses nine peaks of over 13,000 feet in elevation, and takes circa 1–2 days to complete.

A notable example of the distinction involves Everest and Lhotse: the 'Everest-Lhotse enchainment', was first completed in 2011 by American guide Michael Horst,[15] but the harder 'Everest-Lhotse traverse' (which follows the crest of the sharp rocky ridge connecting the two peaks) remains an unsolved problem in mountaineering.

[21][22] The climbers who made the first ascents of these extreme 'mountain traverse' routes won the Piolets d'Or, which is the highest award in mountaineering.