1/6th Scale Mountaineering

[Heeresbergführer]

Servus Bergkameraden,

There have been many great mountain troop figures posted on this and other forums. And, of course, the best way to display a mountain trooper is in his element...the mountains.

But unless you have some experience with rock climbing or mountaineering, trying to pose a figure with proper ropes, knots, and equipment can be daunting...and if not done correctly, you might end up with a figure tied up in bondage!

In this tutorial, we'll start off with a standard way of tying into a rope for rock climbing used by the German Gebirgsjägers...though this is a fairly standard technique used in mountaineering until the 1950's. This can be used with a 2-man roped climbing team...climbing vertical rock, or by a 3-man roped team when crossing snow fields and glaciers. This is called a "Jägerknoten mit Schulterschlinge" (bowline knot with shoulder sling).

The double Jägerknoten is used to tie into the middle of the rope when used for a 3-man team.

For 1/6th scale climbing rope, I have found that twisted cotton string dyed in tea makes the best. A standard period climbing rope was 10-12mm in diameter and 30-40 meters in length.

Now let's try this in 1/6th scale...first take your scale rope and draw out two arm span lengths that will be needed to make the "Jägerknoten mit Schulterschlinge."

Take the rope and bring it around the figure's waist.

To tie the "Jägerknoten," first make a loop on the portion of the rope that goes to the main bulk of the climbing rope.

Now take the end of the rope...the rabbit...and bring it out hole, around the tree, and back through the hole...old boy scout trick to remember how to tie this!

Tighten up the knot around the waist.

Gather up the loose end of the rope.

Bring the end of the rope over the right shoulder...

and under the left arm.

View of the back.

Slide the end of the rope under the shoulder sling...

and tie off the end of the rope. This completes the "Jägerknoten mit Schulterschlinge." Now your Gebirgsjäger is ready to..."climb every mountain, follow every dream"...woops, dreaming of the Alps again!

The next tutorial will show you how to set up a belay position.


Berg Heil und Horrido!

Patrick

 

[The_Dutchman]

Wow, excellent tutorial Patrick! Even I can understand it while I'll usually struggle to tie my shoe-laces....

 

[johkaz]

Hi,

A superb tutorial Patrick, and hopefully even i should be able to follow it.
And cannot thank you enough, for the help that you have been giving to me.
Because i think i have got to the stage, where my figure could possibly be a bondage victim...

Gary

 

[jbcat]

Absolutely superb tutorial Patrick.

Thanks. I follow next parts

 

[Heeresbergführer]

Grüß Gott Gebirglers (mountain dwellers),

Herzliches Willkommen zu unserem Hochgebirgsausbildung! A warm welcome to our high alpine training!

Next up on our schedule is how to set up a top belay position. But first, here's a little info from Wikipedia on "Lead Climbing:"

In lead climbing, one person, called the "leader", will climb from the ground up with rope directly attached to his or her harness (and not through a top anchor) while the other, called the "second", "belays" the leader by feeding out enough rope to allow upward progression without undue slack. As the leader progresses, he clips the rope through intermediate points of protection such as active cams, or passive protection such as nuts [In the 1940's only pitons were used as protection]. The leader also may clip into pre-drilled bolts; this limits the length of a potential fall.
Because the climbing rope is of a fixed length, the leader can only climb a certain distance. Thus longer routes are broken up into several "pitches"; this is called "multi-pitching". At the top of a pitch, the "leader" sets up an anchor and then belays the "second" up to the anchor; as the "second" follows the route taken by the "leader" she removes the equipment placed along the way in order to use it again on the next "pitch." Once both are at the anchor, the "leader" begins climbing the next pitch and so on until the top is reached.
In either case, upon completion of a route, climbers can walk back down (if an alternate descent path exists) or rappel (abseil) down with the rope.

So, the leader has made it to the first pitch. Now, he sets up an anchor point to belay the "second." First, he measures out an arm span of rope...

...and gathers a loop in his left hand.

Then he ties a "figure 8" knot to fix the loop.

Now the rope is ready to be clipped into the anchor point...

Which is usually a piton and a carabiner placed into the rock behind the leader.

With his anchor set, the leader can belay the second...

In our next training session, we'll learn how to tie some other types of rope harnesses.


Berg Heil und Horrido!

Patrick

 

[johkaz]

Hi,

Patrick you have answered so many of my questions with this superb tutorial.
And suddenly everything has become clear to me now.

Many many thanks.

Gary

 

[Heeresbergführer]

Servus Jäger Gary und Bergkameraden,

Glad to be of help. I can't wait to see your final rendition of the photograph of Heeresbergführer Peter "Himalaya" Achenbrenner 'on-belay.'

For today's high alpine training segment, we'll look at how to make a ring-harness.

The ring-harness was usually used for rappelling, but could also be used for climbing. It is made with a steel ring and climbing rope, or what the Germans call "Reepschnur" (smaller cord or rope...6 to 8mm in diameter). Reepschnur is also used to make slings and other safety lines.

Gary has an excellent tutorial on the finer details of making this harness at his website.

First, attach two lengths of Reepschnur to the metal ring...I found some nice 'chain-mail' rings in various sizes at Michaels Craft Store in the "Beads" section.

The top cord goes around the neck and the side cord goes around the chest. Make sure to thread the side cord through the top loop in the back of the figure.

The 'Reepschnur' is also handy for making slings like this one to hang pitons and carabiners off of.

To set up a 'Belay' position with this harness, take the end of the 'Hauptseil,' or main climbing rope, and tie a loop.

Then draw out an arm span of rope and tie another loop.

Now take the first loop, clip a carabiner to it, and then clip the carabiner to the metal ring of the harness.

To set up your anchor with a piton and carabiner, hammer the piton into a suitable crack in the rock, then clip the second loop into the carabiner.

The lead climber now ready to belay the second climber.

Berg Heil!

Patrick

 

[johkaz]

Hi,

Once again Patrick you make it all look so easy, and a superb tutorial.

Many thanks.

Gary

 

[drunkpunk]

thanks for sharing this tutorial.

 

[ActionMan]

Patrick, I really enjoy these tutorials - thank you for posting them.

 

[Squidley]

This is great stuff.

Patrick, I'm attempting a string of 6 gbs in glacier traverse mode, crampons, axes, etc, plus combat gear. The picture of you and your mates makes is a good guide for me, as does the chest rig drawing. A couple of questions for you:

1) What's a good distance for separation in roped travel?
2) Is six too many for one group; should I split it into 2 groups of 3?
3) In the pic of your buddies, it looks like the rope travels through the ring, and perhaps over the shoulder of each man. I'd have thought that you'd just clip a 'biner to the ring and pass the rope through that, but I'm just guessing. What was the usual approach?
4) What's your source for the rings and 'biners? The 'biners that come with the figs are, in a word, crap. The one on your mans chest rig is nicer than the standard stuff...and is the chest rig secured with square knots, or something else?

Thanks for any assistance!