Key Characteristics of the High Altitude Mountainous Environment – The characteristics that will be covered here will be the ones most obvious to those of us who explore this environment as follows:
Probably the most majestic sight you will ever see in the backcountry wilderness will be high altitude mountains. Although there are many common traits shared by all mountains, high altitude mountains threaten hikers and climbers with the additional hazards of high altitude illness. To truly enjoy your high altitude experience, you need to plan and prepare for any and all eventualities in the high altitude environment.
Key Characteristics of the High Altitude Mountainous Environment – The characteristics that will be covered here will be the ones most obvious to those of us who explore this environment as follows:
*Timberline – One of the first things we notice as we look at the mountains from a lower altitude, is the woods and where the woods stop and where we see the rest of the bare mountain looming higher. The timberline is the upper limit of trees on the mountain, or surrounding mountain range. The timberline will normally exist from 8,000 feet and lower. Trees and the timberline may be our only refuge when it comes to unexpected severe weather.
*Weather System – One of the most unique characteristics of the high altitude mountainous environment is it’s ability to create it’s own weather system from existing weather patterns in other locations. The bigger the mountain, the more the weather system gets radical. Radical weather in the mountains has killed more people than falls or avalanches. It is important to maintain contact with local weather experts because they maintain records of mountain weather based on past trends. Before heading out on your high mountain adventure, calibrate your barometer and have a good plan in the case of an imminent weather emergency.
*Potentially Dangerous Terrain – One of the things we always think about when hiking/climbing in the mountains is the risk of injury or death because of a fall. In order to minimize the risks of dangerous terrain, we should determine a route that all members of the group can negotiate. Mountaineering systems must be continuously developed and rehearsed to mitigate the risk of falls during movement through potentially dangerous terrain.
*Physiological Effects – For individuals trekking through the high altitude mountainous environment, consideration must be given to the susceptibility of high altitude illness. Most of us will be different when it comes to living and moving at high altitude. A person can be as healthy as a horse, possess superhuman strength, and still come down with a debilitating illness because of some pre-existing malady. The most common high altitude illnesses are as follows:
Acute Mountain Sickness (AMS) – An illness that occurs in half of all people that live at sea level who travel rapidly to moderate altitude – (8,000 to 14,000 feet). Symptoms are nonspecific and can resemble the flu. Signs of acute mountain sickness are headaches, insomnia, listlessness, loss of coordination and nausea to name a few. Descent is the treatment for anyone stricken with AMS.
High Altitude Pulmonary Edema (HAPE) – Body fluids leak into the lungs to a degree that interferes with respiratory function. If not treated, breathing will require effort and will include bubbling noises. Lips and nail beds will appear dusky or tinged with blue, reflecting the body’s inability to transfer oxygen into arterial blood due to the water barrier in the lungs. The key to treating HAPE is to descend at least 3,000 feet.
High Altitude Cerebral Edema (HACE) – Usually develops in non-acclimatized climbers above 10,000 feet, although it can occur as low as 8,500 feet. Vessels in the brain respond to the stress of high altitude by becoming leaky, resulting in the brain swelling with increased fluid. Ultimately the brain swells within the skull. Symptoms include deteriorating coordination (ataxia), headache and loss of energy. Immediate descent is critical to survival.
*Mitigating the Adverse Physiological Effects of High Altitude – For those of us to be at our peak of performance when preparing to live and move in a high altitude mountainous, each of us must plan and prepare to deal with the rigors of living, and moving in this environment as follows:
Physical Fitness – Each of us must be physically fit in order to enjoy our time in high altitude mountainous areas. Cardio-vascular fitness is very important in order to deal with the lowered percentages of oxygen. Muscular strength is required in order to carry the additional equipment required to survive in cold temperatures in addition to any specialized climbing equipment you will need.
Acclimatization – Acclimatization runs neck and neck with good physical fitness. As with other environments, you must acclimatize yourself in the high altitude to the adverse effects of reduced percentages of oxygen. High altitude illness can strike anyone at elevations of only 8,000 feet above sea level. In locations like Colorado, you will already be in populated areas of over a mile high and you will feel the difference. Start out low and slow gradually increasing physical exertion at lower altitudes and working your way higher. The longer your acclimatization program, the better your chances are of reducing the likelihood of high altitude illness as you ascend in elevation. You may feel in great shape as you start your ascent up to higher altitudes…KEEP IT THAT WAY. Utilize a gradual ascent route plan that will figure in additional acclimatization as you go higher than you’ve ever been. A common practice is to work high and sleep low. In larger mountain ranges where expeditions will spend weeks at high altitude, the route plan normally calls for movement of expedition supplies higher on the mountain where they are cached and everyone moves back to the lower camp to rest. This route plan is repeated until the expedition is within striking distance of a summit.
Diet – While ascending large mountains, you need to hydrate frequently and you need to eat enough food to provide the calories and nutrients you will need to help you battle the adverse effects of high altitude. Carbohydrates are very important in aiding endurance and staying warm in cold weather. Protein is equally important in maintaining strength. Most freeze-dried meals will provide most of your daily requirements for most people. Only you know what your food intake should be based on the way you’re performing or feeling. If you’re feeling sapped and weak, then you need to increase the intake of good food. Before loading up with groceries for your expedition, read the labels of the food you’re purchasing and cross reference it with the amount of calories, carbs and protein that you will need per day. It may be necessary to beef up your freeze-dried meals with extra servings of noodles, rice, butter, cheese, beef…etc. On especially long expeditions of two weeks or more, give yourself a treat and have a “happy meal” every 4 or 5 days. A tasty happy meal may take a little more preparation time than a freeze-dried meal but it’s good for morale.
Drugs - A drug called Diamox has been helpful in mitigating the adverse physiological effects of altitude. Another drug Decadron can be utilized for victims of HACE to help relieve pressure on their brain as they are evacuated down the mountain.
Key Terrain Features as they Appear on the Map and on the Ground – Navigating in a mountainous environment can be easy as well as challenging. It is difficult at times to match features taken off of a map and try to envision them on the ground. Many times we will do a careful map and area study based off topographical maps and overhead imagery only to find out later that the terrain on the ground can be confusing. Getting used to reading various terrain features on the map and being able to envision how the terrain will look on the ground is a good first step. Having an altimeter to double check your position helps as well. The five major terrain features on a topographical map are as follows:
*Hilltop – Otherwise known as a summit, or a peak.
*Valley – Flat area usually surrounded by higher ground. Smaller and/or tighter versions of the way valleys look on the map are known as ravines, draws or re-entrants because the water flows down through these features from high ground.
*Saddle – Also known as a pass or gap, this feature is characterized as the low point between two high points. Saddles are easily recognized and are a good feature, which can be used as a reset point for navigation.
*Ridgelines – The high ground that can connect many peaks and saddles through mountain range areas. Smaller versions of ridgelines are also known as spurs or fingers that are separated by ravines or draws.
*Depression – A hole in the earth. This feature is rare in most mountain areas, but rounds out that last of the 5 major terrain features on a topo map.
Navigating in Mountainous Terrain – Being able to get from Point A to Point B in the mountains can be a challenging evolution, but, with exposure and experience just about anyone can become relatively proficient in utilizing the terrain to aid them in navigating. The primary factor is in envisioning how a particular route plan will look once everyone is on the ground. As your group conducts the map and area study through good topographic maps and overhead imagery, (if available), everyone in the group begins to get an idea of how the terrain will look once they’re on the ground. It is important to link all aspects of terrain and the weather forecast into the route plan in order to make the route as safe and expedient for all members of the group as possible. Before planning primary and secondary routes prepare the planning map as follows:
*Determine the start and end points of your journey.
*Based on information you receive from local knowledge and official agencies highlight all natural dangers, such as rock slide/avalanche zones, exposed areas receiving high winds, steep terrain etc.
*Tentative Camp Sites that are recommended by knowledgeable locals and park officials.
Now you have a prepared canvas for your route plan. Study possible route plans that will get all members from point to point within a flexible time schedule. Concentrate on terrain that will satisfy consistent and steady movement. Avoid terrain areas that will cause the group to bottleneck while at the same time monitoring the possibility of splitting up the group to avoid bottlenecking. What all members want to envision on the ground is good steady movement with little to no waiting around.
Just get in single file and Rock Steady up the Mountain
Although terrain navigation is the primary method by which high mountain trekkers navigate through mountainous terrain, it is backed up with a comprehensive route plan that includes compass bearings, and distances between prominent reset points. This will help in the case of imminent adverse weather conditions such as sudden fog, whiteout conditions or any other situation where it is difficult to identify terrain features and hazards. In these extreme cases of immediate hazardous weather changes, identify a sheltered area where you and your group can dig in and wait out the storm. As long as you know precisely where are, it will be easier to wait out the storm until calmer weather returns and you can resume your trek.
Minimum Special equipment – Although many tall mountains usually have a route that people can hike up, there are still precautions to take to help preclude common hazards of hiking or climbing up even the seemingly easy routes. In addition to each individual’s cold weather clothing and winter equipment there are additional equipment items for mountaineering needed to assist everyone in climbing up steeper pitches, to enhance safety precautions or to aid in rescue efforts for anyone that has fallen. The minimum special mountaineering equipment that each individual needs to carry in the high altitude mountainous environment is as follows:
*Sit Harness/Chest Harness – Everyone in the group should either wear, or have handy to put on as necessary, a sit harness and in most cases a chest harness as well. These harnesses can be factory made or can be put together using tubular nylon. When it is necessary for groups to break down into 3 to 5 person rope teams, the sit and chest harnesses are essential in maximizing the safety factor while traveling up and down high altitude mountainous terrain. The climbing teams rope will be connected to each individual via a figure 8 or butterfly knot to a locking carabiner located at the front portion of their sit harness and running through a carabiner connected to their chest harness. This will aid immeasurably in arresting falls as well as in self, buddy or team rescue.
*Minimum of 2 locking carabiners and 4 non-locking carabiners per person – Carabiners are versatile and the more each person brings the more possibilities there are for resolutions to issues that may crop up while trekking through mountainous terrain.
*Figure 8 – Normally utilized for rappeling, this piece of equipment can be used in other ways when on the mountain for belays and as an aid in rescue.
*Avalanche Transceiver – An absolute must for each and every person who moves through a snow covered mountainous environment. Although it is used primarily for locating avalanche victims, teams have also used this equipment for locating buried caches.
*Prusik loops – In the absence of mechanical ascenders, each person should have a minimum of 4 prusik loops on their person and handy to get to. Prusik loops are fashioned from 3mm to 7mm kernmantle lines. They are girth-hitched or double girth-hitched to a climbing line and are used to aid a climber in ascending a larger climbing line. Prusik loops are also use as back-ups to anchors in climbing and rescue systems.
Team Equipment – A group will distribute the following equipment to members within the rope teams. These equipment items are primarily carried as safety and possible rescue equipment for everyone moving in mountainous terrain, as follows:
*Climbing rope per 2 – 5 person rope team – Ideally, this rope will be an 8 to 11mm x 165 to 200 foot long kernmantle rope.
*Snow saw per team – A snow saw or any long bladed tool that can saw or cut through snow can be utilized to cut out a snow pit to check avalanche threats, or snow blocks for expedient shelters.
*2 ice pickets and 2 snow flukes per team – These items are used primarily as expedient anchors for protection or to aid in rescue. They are also used to stake down items of equipment or tents/shelters. There are lighter types of snow anchors made from nylon but need to be buried in the snow to work properly.
*2 pair of mechanical ascenders per team – Commonly referred to as jugs, these items are primarily used to ascend climbing lines in a more expedient manner than with the use of prusiks.
Group Movement Strategies – As the group plans and prepares for a high altitude adventure, there are many different factors to consider. The first and foremost will be the individual skill and/or experience level of each of the participants in the group. If everyone is determined to go on this adventure together but have varying skill/experience levels, there will definitely need to be some creative jockeying of participants within the group to make up each of the rope teams. An example would be that there are 6 people in the group that are yearning to share a high altitude adventure together; there should be at least a minimum of two strong and very experienced members of the group that will act as leader for each of the 3 person rope teams. Then you get into who will be in the two rope teams. The two rope teams can either split up into a fast team and a slow team with communications via walkie talkie radios to coordinate or to communicate coordination on where the two rope teams will link up or whether the two rope teams will always remain in sight of each other. In any case, be sure that the group…individual to individual is happy and confident with their placement within the group. Once the teams have been established look at the overall movement plan as follows:
At the Start Point – If you are all traveling to the trailhead by vehicle, make sure your vehicle will be weatherized for the time you’re all out there on the mountain. Be sure that where you’re all parked will be good for you to get out whether you need to shovel your vehicle(s) out and/or if a plow comes through to clear the way. When utilizing air support, the start point will already be pre-determined and will usually be where most everyone else who utilizes air will start from, such as the Kahiltna Airport Base Camp at around 7200 feet in the Alaska Range.
Daily Movement – The group will most likely move in a single file, especially if roped up. Follow the lead person’s track, and/or the lead person in your rope team. Probably the most important aspect of each day’s movement is the movement plan and the route. The route should allow for good, steady movement throughout the rope teams and group. Position members of the group in order of skill level as well as physical fitness, for example, the most experienced person in a 3-person rope team should be at the end or the last person on the rope. He/she will have oversight of the rope team as they all move through the chosen route. The second most experienced person will lead the rope team on the route. Communication must be open and understood between all members of the rope team as movement progresses. All members of a rope team should be similar in physical condition so as not to slow each other down, however, should that happen; NO ONE in the rope team should go faster than the slowest member. Do not bunch up or allow too much slack to occur with the rope. ROCK STEADY.
High Altitude Camps – On many popular mountains such as Mt. Whitney, Mt. Rainier and Mt. McKinley there are well known and established camps that have stood the test of time and will normally be occupied during peak mountain climbing seasons. If you and your group are hitting any of the 54 fourteeners in Colorado, do your homework when determining your routes and where the group will camp on these mountains. A great book to reference that information is Colorado’s Fourteeners by Gerry Roach. If you’re out on any of the other high altitude mountains that will be 8,000 feet in elevation or higher, seek the latest and greatest information from park rangers, outfitting stores and the locals for routes and suitable camping areas. Make sure that your route plan has plenty of bailout options in case the weather turns nasty in a hurry.
Basic mountain rescue – all members of the group that will participate in a high altitude mountainous environment must become proficient in basic mountain rescue and casevac techniques, especially in snow-covered terrain. Most basic mountain rescues will probably derive from travel through hazardous terrain. In this case, preventative measures must be taken to mitigate the risk of injury or death. The group will divide up into 2 to 5 person rope teams. Each person will have a sit harness, an optional chest harness, which can be fashioned from 1-inch tubular nylon, and a locking carabiner. Each person, positioned at either end and in the middle of the climbing rope, will tie a figure eight or butterfly loop into the climbing line and carabiner in. That will make up a rope team. The two to three persons in the rope team is there to act as safeties for each other from possible falls. The members of each rope team will always maintain clear visual and audible communications between one another. ALL OF YOU IN THE ROPE TEAM ARE THERE TO SAVE EACH OTHER IN THE EVENT OF A FALL…STAY SWITCHED ON.
If anyone is falling it will be on ALL members of the rope team to help arrest his/her fall INCLUDING the one who is falling. Once the fall has been arrested, careful thought and the implementation of the contingency plan has to be started. In most cases of crevasse falls, the rope team members will anchor the line and are either able to assist the fallen climber, and/or the climber can conduct self-rescue until he/she is out of the crevasse. The same goes for any fall that has been successfully arrested. In the case of rescuing an unconscious or seriously injured climber, it may be necessary for the surviving members of the rope team to put together a pulley system to get the unconscious climber up. There are several SOLID rescue systems that can be employed for just about any situation. It is not enough to look them up in a great climbing book such as “Mountaineering, The Freedom of the Hills” by The Mountaineers. YOU MUST PRACTICE THESE SYSTEMS. The entire group must know these systems PRIOR to going on the mountain.
It is absolutely essential to practice self-rescue techniques PRIOR to requiring them
In the event of a climbing injury or death, it will be obviously necessary for EVERYONE in the group regardless of the number of rope teams to consolidate and lend a hand in the eventual medical/casualty evacuation. All rope teams will link up and as a group will determine who is needed to help with getting the victim down and/or to an area where a helicopter or bush plane can arrive and evacuate the victim to the hospital. There are many options for getting victims down off of the mountain. If they are immobile, then they will have to be assisted down the mountain by means of a BUDDY CARRY, STRETCHER, PULK/OCHIO/SKED, or a HJELPER Sledge system that enables the rescuers to be able to move an unconscious/immobile victim down off of the mountain and to an area where the victim can be evacuated.
It can never be over-emphasized that the need to provide the means for rescue and to practice the techniques that you may require in the case of any contingency situation be plugged into your group’s plan prior to departing for the mountain. Everyone should practice the techniques for self-arrest, self-rescue, rescue systems, and medical/casualty evacuation methods that each rope team/everyone in the group may need in the event of any accident that can possibly occur while on the mountain.
As you and your group reviews your plan for the mountain, look at everything that can go RIGHT with your expedition and then plug into the plan EVERYTHING THAT CAN POSSIBLY GO WRONG…WHY AND WHERE. There are a lot of intricate details to mountaineering if one is to do it right and safely.
It’s great being on the top, but you’re only halfway there!