A base camp is a staging area used by mountaineers to prepare for a climb, typically established at a safe elevation below the technical sections of a mountain.
Base camps serve as operational hubs where climbers acclimatise to altitude, organise equipment, monitor weather conditions and plan their ascent routes. On major expeditions, particularly in the Himalayas and other high-altitude ranges, base camps may be occupied for weeks or months while teams make incremental pushes higher up the mountain, often establishing additional camps at higher elevations. The location of a base camp balances accessibility for supplies with proximity to the climbing objective, usually positioned where terrain is stable enough for semi-permanent occupation. Unlike most sports, mountaineering operates without formal governance, relying instead on a variety of techniques and philosophies developed through alpine club networks and coordinated internationally by the International Climbing and Mountaineering Federation. The environmental impact of base camps and mountaineering activity varies by altitude and zone, though the sector’s shift from agriculture to mountain tourism generally reduces land disturbance in these regions.
