Technical Rope Rescue Comprehensive

Students will demonstrate proficiency in both self and team-rescue on multiple terrain types, including – but not limited to – steep and high-angle rock, snow and ice.

Students Will Learn:

• Team Rescue Hauling Systems – 3:1, 6:1 and 9:1
• Self-Rescue Hauling Systems on Rock and on Snow and Ice – 3:1. 5:1, 6:1
• Pulley Systems – simple, compound and complex
• Lowering Systems – with a break rack, scarab, munter-hitch, super-munter, tube-style device, and autoblocking device
• Anchor Systems – for team rescue and self-rescue on high-angle terrain, steep-angle terrain and on snow and ice.
• Lowering Systems with a Litter
• Use of a Guiding Line
• Use of High Lines and Reeving Systems
• Patent Packaging – with and without a harness
• Specialized Rescue Equipment – including discussions of Class I-III harnesses, chest harnesses, rigging plates, pulleys, swivels, edge protection, and tripods
• Improvised Rescue Equipment – waist and chest harnesses, improvised tri-pods and bipods, high points, and improvised anchors
• Rope Climbing Techniques – with a friction-hitch system, with an autoblocking device, with an assisted breaking device
• Belay Escapes – off an autoblocking device and off the body
• Belays – tandem prusik belays, body belays, belay plates, mechanical belays
• Passing Knots – in both a multi-pitch self-rescue setting as well as in a team rescue setting with a litter
• Scene Management – command structure
• Special Considerations for Mountain Rescue
• Crevasse Rescue – critical procedures for team and self-rescue
• Multi-Pitch Descents with a Patient in a Self-Rescue Setting
• Helicopter Operations
• Pick-Offs – patient pickoffs for rope rescue teams and self-rescue
• Physics of Rescue Systems on Anchors and on Equipment
• Rappelling – classic rappel, extended rappel, tandem rappel, and counterbalance rappel techniques
• Knots – figure-eight family, overhand, double-overhand-on-a-bite, bowline, double bowline, long-tail bowline, butterfly, high tension tie-off, wrap-three-pull-two, and wrap-two-pull-one
• Bends – double-fisherman’s, overhand flat bend, water bend, double sheet bend, frost bend
• Hitches – prusik, kliemheist, autoblock, clove, munter, and garda
• Load Releasable Hitches – munter-mule and radium-release

​Textbook: Technical Rescue Riggers Guide by Rick Lipke

This text may be purchased at the American Alpine Institute Shop or online.

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Prerequisites

• Good physical fitness
• Experience with traditional climbing.
• Experience building anchors on snow and rock.
• Mountaineering experience
• Knowledge of crevasse rescue systems.

Inclusions and Exclusions

Inclusions: Included with the tuition are instructors, group equipment (both rescue and climbing), classroom location, permit fees, and transportation to and from field program locations.  There is also a complementary gear consult.

Exclusions: Excluded are front-country lodging, personal climbing equipment, transportation to the classroom, food, trip insurance, camping equipment, and guide gratuities.

Mountain Rescue Association (MRA)

The MRA oversees a patchwork of volunteer and professional rescue teams in the United States and Canada. They develop standards and accredit local mountain rescue units in three disciplines: high-angle rescue, search, and snow.

Mountain Rescue Association Accreditation Requirements:  The Technical Rope Rescue Comprehensive will provide students with the baseline skills required by the Mountain Rescue Association for accreditation in both low and high-angle evacuation on rock, in snow, and on ice. The MRA has three components for individuals: Search, Technical Rock Rescue, and Snow and Ice Rescue. The Rescue Comprehensive does not include instruction in missing person searches or avalanche rescue, but does cover all other elements of the accreditation.

National Fire Protection Association (NFPA)

The NFPA is an organization devoted to “eliminating death, injury, property and economic loss due to fire, electrical and related hazards.” To do this, the organization develops codes and standards for individuals operating within the fire service. These standards include operating practices for technical rescue teams.

National Fire Protection Association: The Technical Rope Rescue Comprehensive provides skills compliant with NFPA Technician Level training. The course meets the standards identified by NFPA 1670, while also addressing the standards set forth in NFPA 1006 and 1983.

American Mountain Guides Association (AMGA)

The AMGA oversees technical mountain guides in the United States. The organization credentials instructors and guides, while also accrediting guide services. The AMGA recognizes three disciplines with several levels of certification. The disciplines are Rock, Alpine and Ski. Each discipline has rescue components on which instructors and guides are tested.

American Mountain Guides Association Rock Rescue Skills: The Technical Rope Rescue Comprehensive addresses the self-rescue and rock-rescue skills required by the AMGA for Instructor and Guide Certification. Those who take this course will have a strong understanding of the high-angle rescue scenarios evaluated by the AMGA and will be able to use their knowledge from the Comprehensive to train for Instructor and Guide Level AMGA Exams.

American Mountain Guides Association Crevasse Rescue Skills:  The Technical Rope Rescue Comprehensive course will provide students with time to practice the specific crevasse rescue skills required by the AMGA for the Advanced Alpine Guides Course and the Alpine Guides Exam. Students will leave the course with a strong understanding of what the guide organization tests for and will have developed the skills to train for the exam.

International Technical Rescue Association (ITRA)

The ITRA is an organization that provides global recognition of technical rescue practitioners and instructors, across a wide range of rescue disciplines, including swiftwater, rope, boat, confined space and animal rescue.

International Technical Rescue Association: Three levels of practitioners are recognized by the ITRA. They are Level I Responder, Level II Technician, and Level III Advanced. Those who complete this program will have been instructed in Level III skills. To become certified at Level III, students will have to complete a separate skills assessment.

Technical Rope Rescue Comprehensive Certificate

Those who complete the Rechnical Rope Rescue Comprehensive course will receive two certificates.  The first certificate will be for the entire comprehensive, and the second will indicate that you have met the NFPA guidelines for a Rope Rescue Technician.

The Technical Rope Rescue program is structured as four distinct courses, allowing climbers and mountaineers to tailor their training to their experience and goals.

• Technical Rope Rescue 1 -Operations introduces the fundamentals of high-angle rescue, including anchor systems, belays, and simple patient movement.
• Technical Rope Rescue 2 – Technician builds on that foundation with more complex scenarios, multi-pitch evacuations, and team-based rope operations.
• Self-Rescue for Climbers focuses on independent problem-solving in the backcountry, teaching climbers how to handle emergencies when help is not immediately available.
• Advanced Mountain Rescue integrates all previous skills in realistic, high-stakes simulations, emphasizing dynamic decision-making and full-scale rescue operations.

Participants can enroll in any single course or progress through multiple programs for comprehensive training, making it easy to match your learning path to your experience, schedule, and professional or personal objectives.

For those who need the full spectrum of skills or are meeting agency requirements, the Technical Rope Rescue Comprehensive offers the most value, providing the complete curriculum and maximum preparedness in one investment.

Private Options