This book is dedicated to the confrontation between Soviet and German military climbers on the passes of the Main Caucasian Range. It was such fights that became the catalyst for the emergence of special mountain rifle detachments of the Red Army and the NKVD troops, which turned the tide in the highlands in our favor. The work presented to readers is not only related to the description of the course of hostilities on the Caucasus passes from the summer of 1942 to the beginning of spring 1943, but also contains an analysis of the history of the emergence of military mountaineering in the USSR, as well as the staff structure, weapons of the mountain units of the Red Army and the Wehrmacht.