What Does a Mountain Guide Do?

Advanced Climbing is a book published by Tsinghua University Press on July 1, 2013 by Mark Houston (USA) and Kathy Cosley (USA).

Advanced climbing

Advanced Climbing is a unique climbing textbook. No similar book material can break up and shatter "intangible" things like risk, psychology, and decision-making processes, perform accurate definition and detailed analysis, and then draw a very instructive and Operational conclusions. The authors, Mark Houston and Cathy Costly, have decades of mountain guide experience and are extremely popular in the American mountaineering world. "Advanced Climbing" is so popular that it has been printed 6 times since its first edition in 2004. It is a true bestseller in climbing technology books. If you are a climber who already has a certain level of technology and experience and is pursuing a higher level, "Climbing Advanced" will definitely make you look bright and produce the feeling of meeting each other late.

Introduction What this book covers What this book does not cover Chapter 1 Become a mountaineer decide to consider risk learning Chapter 2 Alpine environment Mountain risk Mountain weather protection Alpine environment Social impact Chapter 3 Preparation and equipment Physical training Spiritual preparation and Planning and Equipment Chapter 4 Pathfinding and Navigation Route Searching and Navigation Chapter 5 Alpine Rock Climbing Mobile Skills and Protection System Retreat Chapter 6 Snow and Ice Terrain Climbing Snow and Snow Knowledge Snow Climbing Technology Snow Protection System Ice Climbing Technology Ice Protection System Hybrid Terrain Climbing Chapter VII Glacier Glacier Formation and Structure Glacier Pathfinding Risk Assessment Glacier Protection System Crack Rescue Appendix A Alpine Guidance Association Appendix B Rescue Appendix C Difficulty Rating System Appendix D Glossary Reference Bibliography

"Because the mountain is too big to eat in one bite!" This is our old friend Bruce Pratt, an early climbing partner in the Cascade Range, explaining why he loves mountain climbing so much. Why climb? Each of us has our own reasons. This reason may be the wildness and beauty of the mountain environment, or the deep climbing experience shared with partners, or the physical, spiritual, and emotional challenges that the mountain peaks pose to us, or it may not be suitable for human survival. An unparalleled sense of freedom through efficient and comfortable movement in the environment.
The techniques and knowledge introduced in "Advanced Climbing" can help you open the door to the mountains, so that you can enjoy all the benefits that mountain climbing gives you. In this book, we hope to lead readers beyond the basic introductory level, focusing on the special abilities and techniques required to successfully operate on the complex and varied terrain of mountainous areas. Over the past 50 years of climbing and guiding experience, we have helped many outdoor enthusiasts, hikers and climbers who have longed for the mountains to become qualified climbers. In this book, our goal is to focus on the special environment, equipment, technology, skills, and decision-making processes involved in "climbing"-as opposed to "hiking" or "climbing".
In order to make this book as suitable as possible for more people, we try to answer these questions as accurately and comprehensively as possible: what special equipment does mountain climbing require? What kind of expertise do climbers need on mountainous terrain that can vary in difficulty, often including rocks, snow, ice, and glaciers? What skills allow climbers to move quickly and efficiently on such complex terrains, and often over very long climbing distances? Most importantly, how can climbers learn to make complex, appropriate, and timely decisions in such a complex environment?
Although protection systems built with equipment are often necessary, they are not, on a more essential level, guaranteeing our safety. The safety and smoothness of mountaineering depend on the following skills and qualities that can be cultivated: good climbing ability, with particular emphasis on accurate and confident movement skills; good decision-making ability, in rugged and often exposed terrain Safe and efficient long-distance climbing becomes possible; good physical fitness, which is also necessary for mountaineering. The main purpose of this book is to help you develop the physical, technical and psychological skills needed for safe and efficient climbing in alpine environments.
There are not many types of technical protection systems used during mountaineering, and the operation is not difficult to learn. However, to truly master these technologies, you need to know where and when to apply what technology, which is much more difficult to learn than the technical operation itself. To build the ability to choose the most reasonable of many options, it is not just enough to be familiar with them. This requires flexible and creative decision-making capabilities, and to establish such decision-making capabilities requires a thorough understanding of what complex scenarios the options are in, and what series of results each option will lead to.
What this book covers This book focuses on medium to high altitude (around 5,000 meters or less) mountainous terrain, including rocks, snow, ice, and glaciers, such as many mountains in the United States, the Canadian Rockies, European Alps, New Zealand's Southern Alps, etc. The equipment, capabilities and techniques presented here are best suited for climbing on such terrain.
We first discuss decision-making and risk in Chapter 1, which is the basis for the rational use of the knowledge, technology, and capabilities described in the following chapters. The second chapter introduces the mountain environment, the mountain risks (including the objective risks of the mountain itself and the subjective risks caused by human activities), the weather in the mountain, and the environmental protection of the mountain. The third chapter deals with many aspects of mountaineering preparation, including equipment selection. The fourth chapter explains how to find a route in a mountainous area, including how to use maps, compasses, altimeters, GPS receivers and other equipment to navigate in extremely poor visibility environments. Chapter 5 covers techniques for efficient action on mountainous rocky terrain, including a series of protection strategies, from short rope knots to multiple climbs on steep terrain. Chapter 6 is about snow and ice climbing, including travel skills, climbing skills, protection systems and strategies. Chapter 7 discusses glaciers and glaciers, emphasizing how to use various protection equipment and technologies flexibly in order to cope with the complex and changing risks on glaciers.
What this book does not cover is intended for intermediate climbers with some climbing experience. We assume that the reader already has basic knowledge of climbing techniques. Foundation knotting, protection, descent, construction of rock protection stations, lead climbing, protection point setting and climbing techniques are best learned on a more controlled low-altitude rock wall. There are many guidance materials available in this regard (see the bibliography attached to this book). However, this book will introduce some of these techniques that are particularly valuable for mountaineering.
We also assume that readers have some knowledge of outdoor activities, including backpacking and camping, and basic mountain navigation using maps, compasses and altimeters.
This book does not cover important topics that may be of interest to some climbers, including winter climbing, extreme altitude climbing and more. In these respects, other authors have written many informative and comprehensive reference books, and we will list a few of them in the attached bibliography.