During a climbing rescue, the standard practice of using the "pick off" technique may not work if there is a large weight difference between - say - a child climber and the adult belayer. So, if you are going to be climbing with kids, you should know how to transfer a child to a second rope, in order to move them off of the wall safely, should they get injured and need to come down.

Being able to rescue a climber requires a series of skills. The first of these skills you will need to apply is "escaping the belay." As a belayer, you can't help your injured lead climber or go get help if you can't get out of the system. This video shows how to escape the belay in a way that maintains the safety of your team.

Being able to rescue a climber who is injured on a rock climb requires a series of skills. One of those skills is being able to ascend the rope. Another is being able to transition from ascending to descending in a way that keeps the everyone safe. This video shows how to make those transitions based on the type of equipment you are using.

Being able to ascend a climbing rope is a necessary skill to make you and your climbing partners self-sufficient and able to deal with emergencies. When you are trad climbing, alpine climbing, or even sport climbing, injuries can happen. If you are rock climbing, and the climber gets injured above the belay, you may have to ascend the rope to assist them (yes, even when top roping). So, you better know how to do it.

Rock climbing with younger kids can be complicated. We want to share our love of climbing, but the regular routine we have to pack the usual gear and head to the usual crag may not be right for setting up our kids for a joyful and successful day.

We've learned some lessons along the way; so, this video shares the climbing tips and tricks for we employ with our kids that have helped us ensure that our kids have positive experiences and want to keep coming back.

Whether you are trad climbing or sport climbing, lead climbing or top roping, it's all about climbing safety and climbing fun!

It's hard to find kids' outdoor gear and clothing that can perform, hold up to their hard use, and allow your kids to grow. After one year of climbing, hiking, backpacking, and camping with our twin boys, we are providing this review of what has proven to be a stellar pant. It's one that we won't hesitate to buy, again.

So you've been raining for your big objective: a big route to climb, a trail to thru-hike, or a peak to summit. But then life gets in the way with injury, work, or other obligations.

How do we get back on track and back into our fitness routine safely and effectively?

This video covers four strategies our family employs to get us back into the swing of things when we run into common barriers to our training.

This is the third video in our fitness series. We've covered eight principles for establishing a fitness mentality, and we've talked about establishing a base fitness that provides the foundation for working hard and making gains.

Do you have an outdoor goal? A peak to summit, a big route to climb, a trail to hike? Or maybe you just have a particular fitness goal: a one-armed pullup or a three hundred pound squat.

Before you get into the specific mountaineering training, or alpine climbing training, or hiking training routines, you need to start with "base fitness," a total-body level of fitness that prepares you to put in the heavier work you may need to get you to your goals.

This video covers the different aspects of total-body fitness that you need to understand and train before you get into your more advanced routines.

Fitness is necessary for us to safely pursue our outdoor adventures, but it also a necessary part of of day-to-day health and lives. And there is never a bad time to start a lifetime relationship with fitness. But how do you start yourself or your kids down that path? We share eight principles that help us make fitness and exercise something we want to do rather than have to do. And once you enjoy training your body (and mind), then from there the sky can be the limit!

Ice Axes can be setup to meet the disparate needs of thru-hiking, peak bagging, and technical climbing in the alpine, and the right modifications can make a big difference in the safety margin you can add to your trip. This video covers some of the simplest ways climbers and hikers customize their ice axes, and we talk about the tradeoffs of those setups so that you can make the right changes to your ice axe so that it works best for you.

Ice Axes serve two main functions: to keep you from falling, using "self belay" techniques, and to stop your fall from shooting you down the slope by using "self arrest" techniques. In this video, we cover the basics of self belay for winter travel, talking about the different ways to use an ice axe in combination with our feet, depending upon our footwear and snow conditions.

Ice Axes serve two main functions: to keep you from falling, using "self belay" techniques, and to stop your fall from shooting you down the slope by using "self arrest" techniques. In this video, we cover the basics of self belay for winter travel, talking about the different ways to use an ice axe in combination with our feet, depending upon our footwear and snow conditions.

I took one my twin boys on a snow-filled, winter day hike. I helped him take the next step in his progression by showing him how to use some new winter hiking gear. We went over the basics of using an ice axe, which he has been itching to do!

You can get GPS devices on your watches, on your phone, and as devices that integrate with one or both of those. But I carry a standalone device: the Garmin InReach Explorer+. In this video, I review the features and functionality of the Explorer+ and talk about why I take it with me every time I travel into the wild.

In this video, we provide some information to support camping for beginners as well as some more advanced tips (like snow camping tips) for those more experienced at family camping. While our other videos go deeper into cooking, tents, and equipment, in this installment, we are taking a closer look at setting up camp. After many camping trips, here is how we approach insuring that we get our camp in the right location, position ourselves well for a comfortable night's sleep, and get our camping and hiking gear organized when we are out in the wild.

In this video, we are reviewing key items that round out our family camping kitchen gear. Having covered stoves and fuel in our How to Camp Cook video, today we are discussing the other items we take with us on family adventures when we have multiple mouths to feed so need light equipment but equipment that is also able to handle volume.

In this video, we discuss how to camp cook - at least, how our family approaches camp cooking when we need to be light enough to hike into our camp (we aren't car camping), but not so light (we aren’t thru-hiking) as to loose the pleasure of sharing real food with our family.

We are reviewing the Hyperlite Mountain Gear UltaMid 4 Tent, examining its ability to meet the needs of all seasons, whole family adventures.

Well, we've been in the COVID-19 "lifestyle" for about a year, now, and it's been trying on all of us... to deal with the work uncertainty, homeschooling, being on top of one another for so long... But it's also been a time of immense joy and profound connection with the family. When we start getting in our own way, my family heads into nature to rediscover ourselves and a sense of hopefulness. Come along with me and my twin, six-year-old boys as we take a winter camping trip to slow down, get some father-son time, and let go of some of the day-to-day stresses of life during these crazy times.

One of my twin boys and I went on a winter hike for some quality time and a chance to connect. With the pandemic keeping the family together in the home for schooling and activities, we find it's important to give each of the twins dedicated time to be their individual selves, rather than only a member of the family. These one-on-one times are a big part of that. And hiking, outside despite the cooler winter weather, is a COVID-safe way to go out and share an experience and fan the hopefulness that is such a big part of youth.