U.S. Army Guide to Military Mountaineering

by U.S. Department of the Army

Overview

Mountains exist in almost every country in the world and almost every war has included some type of mountain operations. This pattern will not change, and soldiers will continue to fight in mountainous terrain in future conflicts. Although mountain operations have not changed, several advancements in equipment and transportation have increased the soldiers’ capabilities. The helicopter now allows access to terrain that was once unreachable or could be reached only by slow methodical climbing. Inclement weather, however, may place various restrictions on the capabilities of air assets available to a commander. The unit must then possess the necessary mountaineering skills to overcome adverse terrain to reach an objective.

The U.S. Army Guide to Military Mountaineering details techniques soldiers and leaders must know to cope with mountainous terrain. These techniques are the foundation upon which the mountaineer must build. They must be applied to the various situations encountered to include river crossings, glaciers, snow-covered mountains, ice climbing, rock climbing, and urban vertical environments. The degree to which this training is applied must be varied to conform to known enemy doctrine, tactics, and actions. This guide also discusses basic and advanced techniques to include acclimatization, illness and injury, equipment, anchors, evacuation, movement on glaciers, and training.

Product Details

ISBN-13:	9781629140797
Publisher:	Skyhorse
Publication date:	06/10/2014
Series:	US Army Survival
Sold by:	SIMON & SCHUSTER
Format:	eBook
Pages:	328
File size:	14 MB
Note:	This product may take a few minutes to download.

About the Author

The  Department of the Army  (DA) is one of the three military departments within the  Department of Defense of the United States of America. Its mission is to fight and win our Nation’ s wars by providing prompt, sustained land dominance across the full range of military operations and spectrum of conflict in support of combatant commanders.

Table of Contents

Preface vii

Chapter 1 Mountain Terrain, Weather, and Hazards

Section I Mountain Terrain 1-1

1-1 Definition 1-1

1-2 Composition 1-1

1-3 Rock and Slope Types 1-1

1-4 Rock Classifications 1-2

1-5 Mountain Building 1-4

1-6 Route Classification 1-5

1-7 Cross-Country Movement 1-9

1-8 Cover and Concealment 1-10

1-9 Observation 1-10

1-10 Fields of Fire 1-11

Section II Mountain Weather 1-11

1-11 Considerations for Planning 1-11

1-12 Mountain Air 1-12

1-13 Weather Characteristics 1-12

1-14 Wind 1-13

1-15 Humidity 1-14

1-16 Cloud Formation 1-14

1-17 Types of Clouds 1-15

1-18 Fronts 1-23

1-19 Temperature 1-23

1-20 Weather Forecasting 1-24

1-21 Recording Data 1-25

Section III Mountain Hazards 1-27

1-22 Subjective Hazards 1-27

1-23 Objective Hazards 1-27

1-24 Weather Hazards 1-28

1-25 Avalanche Hazards 1-29

Chapter 2 Mountain Living

Section I Survival 2-1

2-1 Water Supply 2-1

2-2 Nutrition 2-2

2-3 Personal Hygiene and Sanitation 2-5

Section n Acclimatization and Conditioning 2-6

2-4 Symptoms and Adjustments 2-6

2-5 Physical and Psychological Conditioning 2-7

Section TIT Medical Considerations 2-9

2-6 Illness and Injury 2-9

2-7 Treatment and Evacuation 2-10

2-8 Solar Injuries 2-10

2-9 Cold-Weather Injuries 2-11

2-10 Heat Injuries 2-20

2-11 Acute Mountain Sickness 2-21

2-12 Chronic Mountain Sickness 2-22

2-13 Understanding High-Altitude Illnesses 2-22

2-14 High-Altitude Pulmonary Edema 2-23

2-15 High-Altitude Cerebral Edema 2-24

2-16 Hydration in HAPE and HACE 2-25

Chapter 3 Mountaineering Equipment

Section I Equipment Description and Maintenance 3-1

3-1 Footwear 3-1

3-2 Clothing 3-2

3-3 Climbing Software 3-8

3-4 Climbing Hardware 3-11

3-5 Snow and Ice Climbing Hardware 3-21

3-6 Sustainability Equipment 3-26

Section II Equipment Packing 3-30

3-7 Choice of Equipment 3-30

3-8 Tips on Packing 3-33

Chapter 4 Rope Management and Knots

Section I Preparation, Care and Maintenance, Inspection, Terminology 4-1

4-1 Preparation 4-1

4-2 Care and Maintenance 4-1

4-3 Inspection 4-3

4-4 Terminology 4-3

Section II Coiling, Carrying, Throwing 4-4

4-5 Coiling and Carrying the Rope 4-4

4-6 Throwing the Rope 4-8

Section III Knots 4-8

4-7 Square Knot 4-9

4-8 Fisherman's Knot. 4-9

4-9 Double Fisherman's Knot 4-10

4-10 Figure-Eight Bend 4-11

4-11 Water Knot 4-12

4-12 Bowline 4-13

4-13 Round Turn and Two Half Hitches 4-14

4-14 Figure-Eight Retrace (Rerouted Figure-Eight) 4-15

4-15 Clove Hitch 4-16

4-16 Wireman's Knot 4-17

4-17 Directional Figure-Eight 4-18

4-18 Bowline-on-a-Bight (Two-Loop Bowline) 4-19

4-19 Two-Loop Figure-Fight 4-20

4-20 Figure-Eight Loop (Figure-Eight-on-a-Bight) 4-21

4-21 Prusik Knot 4-22

4-22 Bachman Knot 4-23

4-23 Bowline-on-a-Coil 4-24

4-24 Three-Loop Bowline 4-25

4-25 Figure-Eight Slip Knot 4-26

4-26 Transport Knot (Overhand Slip Knot/Mule Knot) 4-27

4-27 Kleimhiest Knot 4-28

4-28 Fran Knot 4-29

4-29 Girth Hitch 4-30

4-30 Munter Hitch 4-30

4-31 Ruppel Seat 4-31

4-32 Guarde Knot 4-32

Chapter 5 Ancuors

Section I Natural Anchors 5-1

5-1 Trees 5-1

5-2 Boulders 5-2

5-3 Chockstones 5-2

5-4 Rock Projections 5-3

5-5 Tunnels and Arches 5-4

5-6 Bushes and Shrubs 5-4

5-7 Slinging Techniques 5-4

Section II Anchoring With the Rope 5-7

5-8 Rope Anchor 5-7

5-9 Tensionless Anchor 5-7

Section III Artificial Anchors 5-8

5-10 Deadman 5-8

5-11 Pitoos 5-9

5-12 Chocks 5-11

5-13 Spring-Loaded Camming Device 5-13

5-14 Bolts 5-14

5-15 Equalizing Anchors 5-15

Chapter 6 Climbing

Section I Climbing Fundamentals 6-1

6-1 Route Selection 6-1

6-2 Terrain Selection for Training 6-1

6-3 Preparation 6-2

6-4 Spotting 6-2

6-5 Climbing Technique 6-3

6-6 Safety Precautions 6-8

6-7 Margin of Safety 6-9

Section II Use of Holds 6-10

6-8 Climbing With the Feet 6-10

6-9 Using the Hands 6-13

6-10 Combination Techniques 6-19

Section TTT Roped Climbing 6-27

6-11 Tying-in to the Climbing Rope 6-27

6-12 Presewn Harnesses 6-28

6-13 Improvised Harnesses 6-32

Section IV Belay Techniques 6-33

6-14 Procedure for Managing the Rope 6-34

6-15 Choosing a Belay Technique 6-39

6-16 Establishing a Belay 6-40

6-17 Setting Up a Belay 6-43

6-18 Top-Rope Belay 6-43

Section V Climbing Commands 6-43

6-19 Verbal Commands 6-44

6-20 Rope Tug Commands 6-45

Section VI Roped Climbing Methods 6-45

6-21 Top-Roped Climbing 6-45

6-22 Lead Climbing 6-45

6-23 Aid Climbing 6-54

6-24 Three-Man Climbing Team 6-57

Chapter 7 Rope Installations

Section I Fixed Rope 7-1

7-1 Installation 7-1

7-2 Utilization 7-1

7-3 Retrieval 7-2

7-4 Fixed Rope With Intermediate Anchors 7-3

Section II Rappelling 7-5

7-5 Selection of a Rappel Point 7-6

7-6 Installation of the Rappel Point 7-6

7-7 Operation of the Rappel Point 7-6

7-8 Recovery of the Rappel Point 7-8

7-9 Types of Rappels 7-9

Section III One-Rope Bridge 7-14

7-10 Site Selection 7-15

7-11 Installation Using Transport Tightening System 7-15

7-12 Installation Using Z-Pulley Tightening System 7-18

7-13 Utilization 7-19

7-14 Hauling Line 7-21

7-15 Retrieval 7-22

Section IV Suspension Traverse 7-22

7-16 Site Selection 7-23

7-17 Installation 7-23

7-18 Retrieval 7-27

Section V Vertical Hauling Line 7-27

7-19 Site Selection 7-27

7-20 Installation 7-28

7-21 Retrieval 7-29

Section VI Simple Raising Systems 7-29

7-22 Z-Pulley System 7-29

7-23 U-Pulley System 7-31

Chapter 8 Mountain Walking Techniques

8-1 Basic Principles 8-1

8-2 Techniques 8-2

8-3 Safety Considerations 8-5

8-4 Navigation 8-5

8-5 Route Planning 8-10

8-6 Route Selection 8-13

Chapter 9 Mountain Stream Crossing

9-1 Reconnaissance 9-1

9-2 Preparation of Troops and Equipment 9-3

9-3 Individual Crossings 9-3

9-4 Team Crossing 9-4

9-5 Rope Installations 9-5

9-6 Safety 9-8

9-7 Swimming 9-8

Chapter 10 Movement Over Snow and Ice

10-1 Movement Over Snow 10-1

10-2 Movement Over Ice 10-2

10-3 Use of Ice Ax and Crampons 10-2

10-4 Glissading 10-13

10-5 Snow and Ice Anchors 10-14

10-6 Roped Climbing on Ice and Snow 10-18

10-7 Movement on Glaciers 10-19

10-8 Glacier Bivouac Procedures 10-33

Chapter 11 Mountain Rescue and Evacuation

11-1 Considerations 11-1

11-2 Planning Rescue Operations 11-2

11-3 Mass Casualties 11-3

11-4 Special Training 11-4

11-5 Preparation for Evacuation 11-4

11-6 Manual Carries 11-4

11-7 Litters 11-7

11-8 Rescue Systems 11-9

11-9 Low-Angle Evacuation 11-10

11-10 High-Angle Evacuation 11-12

Appendix A Levels of Military Mountaineering A-1

Appendix B Measurement Conversion Factors B-1

Appendix C Avalanche Search and Rescue Techniques C-1

Glossary Glossary-1

References References-1

Index Index-1