 However, the highest mountains were rarely visited early on, and were often associated with supernatural or religious concepts.Nonetheless, there are many documented examples of people climbing mountains prior to the formal development of the sport in the 19th century, although many of these stories are sometimes considered fictional or legendary.The famous poet Petrarch describes his 26 April 1336 ascent of Mount Ventoux () in one of his "epistolae familiares", claiming to be inspired by Philip V of Macedon's ascent of Mount Haemo.