Most young people enjoy physical activities, like walking, cycling, football, or mountaineering.
Those who have a passion for climbing high and difficult mountains are often looked upon with astonishment. Why are men and women willing to suffer cold and hardship, and to take a risk on high mountains? This astonishment is caused, probably, by the differences between mountaineering and other forms of activities to which men give their leisure.
There are man-made rules in many sports, such as n golf and football. There are, of course, rules of a different kind which it would be dangerous to ignore, but it is this freedom from man-made rules that makes mountaineering attractive to many people. Those who climb mountains are free to use their own methods.
If we contrast mountaineering with other more familiar sports, we might think that one big difference is that in mountaineering there is no “teamwork”. However, this is only a misunderstanding. There are, in fact, no “matches” between “teams” of climbers, but when climbers are on a rock face linked by a rope on which their lives may depend obviously, there is teamwork.
A mountain climber knows that he may have to fight with natural forces that are stronger and more powerful than man. His sport requires high mental and physical qualities.
A mountain climber continues to improve his skill year after year. A skier is probably past his best by the age of thirty, and most international tennis champions are in their early twenties. But it is not unusual for men of fifty or sixty to climb the highest mountains in the Alps. They may spend more time than younger men, but they probably climb mountains with more skills and less waste of effort, and they certainly experience equal enjoyment.

大多数的年轻人爱好运动, 像散步、骑自行车兜风、踢足球或者登山。

人们惊讶于那些酷爱攀登奇峰、险峰的探险者，为何愿意冒险--在高峰上经受严寒困苦的考验。这也就是登山爱好者与其它运动爱好者存在异议的地方。

许多的运动项目，比如高尔夫和足球都有制定好了的规则。登山与那些按照相关规定进行活动的项目不同的是没有设定相关的规定，这就是登山爱好者酷爱这项运动的所在。他们可以按照自己的方式来进行活动。

如果我们对比登山以及与之相近的活动，就会认为他们之间最大的不同点是登山活动没有团队合作，其实这只是种误解。实际上是有合作的：当登山者依靠绳索攀登时，不管你是个人还是团体，显然存在合作关系。

登山爱好者知道，自己必定会与那些强过人类的自然力量做斗争，需要大量的脑力和体力。

登山爱好者年复一年地提高他们的技能，而滑雪者一般在三十岁之前达到最佳状态，甚至大多数的国际网球冠军是在他们二十多岁。但让一个五六十岁的男人爬阿尔卑斯山脉中最高的山是件很平常的事情。他们可能比年轻人花的时间多，但不需那么多的技能和努力就能获取同样的乐趣