Waffen-SS Mounteineering Training

These four photographs show an SS-Unterscharführer mountaineering instructor demonstrating various correct positions and methods for moving across ice and snow as well as the correct way to traverse a valley by ropeway. As they possessed six mountain divisions, it was necessary for the Waffen-SS to have a constant supply of fully trained mountaineers. Special schools of instruction were set up in those areas of mountainous country where Waffen-SS troops were taught both basic and advanced skills in skiing, climbing mountains, scaling rock faces, traversing glaciers, crossing gullies as well as all the other skills that were required for this specialised form of warfare. In addition to this, they were also taught how to handle their particular forms of equipment and weaponry and how to fight, usually under difficult, cold and hazardous conditions. Physical fitness was paramount.