All blogs
Every full length (longer than 60 seconds) video and accompanying blog post
Why and How We Add Wildfire Smoke Conditions to Our Camping, Hiking, and Climbing Trips
Over the years, and even decades, of my climbing career, I’ve noticed an increase in the frequency of smoke from wildfires impacting my - and my family’s - outdoor activities. We now factor in smoke and wildfires into our climbing, hiking, and climbing planning process just like we would with weather. Here, we go deeper into some resources we use for that planning.
Six Tips for a Safer Counterbalance Rappel
If we feel the need to get down from a climb quickly, we may be tempted to employ a counterbalance rappel. That rappel technique does allow two rappels, simultaneously, so it is faster, but it adds risks that we need to mitigate. Here are six tips that will mitigate those risks.
Having Too Short of Climbing Rope for a Rappel (Abseil) to the Next Anchor
While on rappel (or abseil), for several reasons we could end up with a rope that is too short to make it to our next safe rappel anchor using a standard two-strand rappel on a doubled-over rope. If we end up in that situation, we need a procedure to deal with things in a safe way. Here is such a procedure.
How to Pass a Knot Through a Lowering System When Lowing a Climber More than a Rope Length
In some circumstances, attaching two ropes together and lowering a first climber down on a single strand may be the safest way to descend a climbing route. If we do so, we need to be able to pass the rope-joining knot through the lowering system safely and efficiently. Here are two methods for doing so.
How to Make Four Different Climbing Rope Coils for Different Circumstances
There are many ways to coil our climbing ropes. Just like climbing knots, though, each coil method has its own benefits and drawbacks. So, here are four different ways to coil a climbing rope along with a description of some circumstances when one coil method might prove a better option.
Four Hauls that Can Assist a Struggling Climber Through a Hard Move
If we are belaying a climber from the top on a multipitch climb, and if that second climber is unable to make a hard move, we can help them past the point where they are stuck by using a haul assist. Here are four haul assists, from least complex (with limited assistance gained) to more complex and robust.
Descending a Taut Climbing Rope: Moving Down on Friction Hitches
If we have a climbing rope loaded below us (maybe a climber is unconscious and weighting the rope), we may not be able to attach our rappel device, or even if our device was attached before the rope got loaded, being on a "fireman's belay" might keep us from moving down. Here is how we can descend a rope when it is pulled tight below us.
Teaching New Climbers the Climbing Project Mindset
We introduced our kids to "projecting" a climbing route when they first started confronting routes they had considerable difficulty with. While there are many tactics that can help, we began their education by focusing on the climb at three levels of progressive detail and then setting a mindset that helped redefine success criteria based on which level of detail we were focused on for a particular attempt.
Learning to Lead Belay Takes More Than Learning the Mechanics
There is a lot of time and attention spent on climbing well and the climbing mindset, but what about the belayer? Particularly when on lead, belaying a climber can also be stressful, especially for those just starting out. How do we create a safe place to learn in a situation where mistakes aren’t normally acceptable? Here’s how we approached getting our new climbers (our kids) to lead belay.
What is Complexity Rationing and How Can It Be Applied in Climbing?
Every May, we make videos on the mental side of climbing and adventure in recognition of National Mental Health Awareness Month. This video is about how the unknowns increase in complex environments thus increasing our risk. Reducing complexity, not of systems but of the number of times we go into truly highly complex environments, may be one way to reduce our overall risk across a lifetime of climbing
How Climbing Demands Audacity, or Boldness in the Face of the Unknown
Every May, we make videos on the mental side of climbing and adventure in recognition of National Mental Health Awareness Month. In this video, we discuss the role audacity, or self-belief in the face of the unknown, plays in encouraging our climbing experiences and expeditions.
The Long Term Benefits of Being Empowered During a Climbing Accident or Emergency
Every May, we make videos on the mental side of climbing and adventure in recognition of National Mental Health Awareness Month. In this video, we get into some of the psychological underpinnings that suggest we should look to empower the victims and participants of any climbing accident and rescue to help in the situation at hand but also better reduce residual PTSD.
Self-Forgiveness as a Key to Continuous Learning in Climbing and in Life
Every May, we make videos on the mental side of climbing and adventure in recognition of National Mental Health Awareness Month. Today's video is about self-forgiveness is a key first step to opening ourselves up to learning and improvement.
Safely Camping on a Glacier: Glacier Mountaineering Fundamentals
When our mountaineering objective demands that we camp on a glacier, we need to consider objective hazards like seracs, rock fall, and crevasses. This video gets into those considerations as they relate to identifying a potential camp location and the methods we may use to ensure the location is safe.
Crossing Crevasses Safely: Three Techniques
When a crevasse is unavoidable and must be crossed on your glaciated mountain climb, the technique you and your team employ will often be dictated by circumstances. This video gets into three different procedures to be chosen and applied based on terrain slopes and crevasse sizes.
Using a "Running Belay" to Simul-Climb on a Glacier has Pros and Cons
A “running belay,” a form of simul-climbing that is frequently used on snow climbs and climbs up glaciated peaks, helps mitigate certain risks, but it also adds new risks into the equation. Let’s talk about how a running belay is performed and what pros and cons result from employing this climbing tactic so that we can best decide when it may make sense to use.
Fundamentals of Moving Roped Together on Glacier as Part of a Climbing Team
As we continue our glacier travel series and before we get into more advanced movement techniques we first need to understand the fundamentals of moving as part of a group who are, literally, tied together.
Avoiding Crevasse Falls with the Basics of Glacier Navigation on Your Next Climb
As a climbing team on a glacier, we need to be prepared for a crevasse fall, but we also want to have the route planning and navigation skills to reduce the likelihood of having a crevasse fall. This video provides ideas on how to plan route paths that help avoid crevasses.
Spacing, Coils, and Brake Knots to Determine Glacier Travel Climbing Rope Length
Deciding how much climbing rope you need for glacier travel is a product of many factors. The number of teammates, the snow conditions, crevasse sizes, and preferred rescue systems are all inputs into how much space to have between climbers, how much length to keep in spare coils, and whether to have brake knots in the rope. All of that will calculate out to your total rope length. Let’s explore some of these considerations.
Choosing from Rope Tie-In Options for Your Glaciated Mountain Climb
In this next episode of our glacier travel series, we are presenting several options for climbers to tie into the rope and how we may choose to match our tie-in setups to our circumstances, gear, and position on the rope.