Rope Team Coaching at Susten Pass: Three Days That End With You Leading the Rope Team

The course doesn't start on the mountain. It starts at a table in the restaurant by Hotel Steingletscher at Susten Pass, just before ten. Coffee, maps, six people talking about what they've done in the mountains so far. The mountain guide listens. What he hears helps shape the next three days.

This report covers day one of the rope team coaching course: the start of a course for anyone who wants to learn how to lead others safely through the mountains.

Leading a rope team means: whoever goes first finds the route, protects their partner and reads the terrain. All at the same time. At the back of the rope team, you walk the route. At the front, you find it. This course trains the switch to the other end of the rope, three days long, in real terrain.

This is not a guided tour with some learning on the side. The mountain guide coaches: he demonstrates, hands over the lead and gives constant feedback, tips and corrections. Mistakes are part of the plan. They happen where someone is standing by to catch them before they have consequences.

After the introductions in the restaurant, the group splits up into the cars and drives to the parking lot together. That's where the first lesson starts, and it starts with the gear: what belongs in the backpack of someone leading a rope team? The answer differs from the packing list of someone following, and that difference is the common thread of the entire course.

The basics come next: among them, the three things you need to keep an eye on during every alpine tour. Before heading towards the Tierberglihütte, the mountain guide checks everyone's equipment. Not a formality, but the first leadership lesson in practice: whoever leads checks before setting off.

Sounds like your next step? Find dates and details on the Rope Team Coaching course page.

The ascent to the Tierberglihütte leads step by step into more alpine terrain, the right setting for the actual coaching to begin. Harnesses on, rope teams of two. Anyone arriving without a partner gets paired up. Then the mountain guide has the group take up the rope and shows how to carry it in this kind of terrain. First he demonstrates, then he explains, then you take over.

From here on, the lead rotates. Whoever is in front decides: route choice, pace, protection. The mountain guide stays close and comments throughout. After the lunch break, the terrain gets steeper, and with it the leadership tasks grow. What was practice on easy ground in the morning becomes leading in more demanding terrain in the afternoon.

Arriving at the hut already feels like a milestone after this day. It is one. But the course has only just begun.

Claim your bunk, head down to the dining room, a beer. And then the mountain guide says the sentence that shifts the mood in the room: from now on, it's up to you. The group heads outside and plans the next day's tour themselves. Eyes keep wandering to the ascent that's already waiting.

After dinner, there's an introduction to navigation with map and compass. Then it's lights out. Leading doesn't start at the base of the route, it starts the evening before, and the first big mountain day is ahead.

Day 2 is all about rope technique at the Tierberglimmi, including short-roping on the west ridge. Day 3 is the application: the Sustenhorn, 3,503 m, led under your own responsibility, with crevasse rescue practice on the descent. The report follows in part two.

The course is aimed at experienced alpine tourers: plenty of practice with ice axe and crampons, lead climbing at grade 3, knots and the basics of navigation are second nature.

Responsibility in the mountains is something you can practise. Day 1 lays the foundation, from the backpack to your first own route choice on the rope.

Secure your spot in the Rope Team Coaching at Susten Pass. Small groups, plenty of time at the front of the rope.