Mountaineering or alpinism is the set of activities that involves traversing mountainous terrain. This terrain, constituting both natural and man-made landscapes, contains steep slopes that may be rocky or covered with ice and snow. The classic mountaineering activity is ascending summits; this is often referred to as peak bagging. Today, the sport encompasses a wide variety of disciplines and endeavors, each requiring various degrees of experience, athletic ability, and technical knowledge. Recreational climbing, skiing, and snow travel are the disciplines most intricately linked to mountaineering. Hiking, camping, and navigation are also a major part of the sport. At its highest level, it is one of the extreme sports, among which it is sometimes cited as an archetypal example.Unlike most sports, mountaineering lacks widely-applied formal rules, regulations, and governance; mountaineers adhere to a large variety of techniques and philosophies when climbing mountains. Numerous local alpine clubs support mountaineers by hosting resources and social activities. A federation of alpine clubs, the International Climbing and Mountaineering Federation (UIAA), is the International Olympic Committee-recognized world organization for mountaineering and climbing.