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.

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.

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

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.

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.

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.

It's Mental Health Awareness Month so we are discussing some of the mental aspects of adventuring. Climbing is dangerous. I think it can be done safely, but that shouldn't be read as "perfectly safe." This is especially true of alpine and high altitude climbing, which are my preferred styles and which come with more complex, objective dangers. So, I think a lot about how to keep my personal risk profile manageable, and one way I do that is to diversify my outdoor activities.

It's Mental Health Awareness Month so we are discussing some of the mental aspects of adventuring. When my climbing partners and I climb for similar reasons, there are a host of advantages. This often overlooked factor in finding compatible climbing partners that stands out, to me, as the most distinguishing factor between a good climbing partner and a great one.

It's Mental Health Awareness Month so we are discussing some of the mental aspects of adventuring. We've all heard, "climbing is an inherently risky activity," and we do our best to understand and manage those risks. But we also sometimes don't notice when we've "gotten lucky," How do we assess our climbs when we can't always really know how far away or close we were to disaster?

It's Mental Health Awareness Month so let's get into some of the mental aspects of adventuring. A good part of our channel is about helping get whole families - and that includes the kids - into the outdoors. That brings risk. But learning to assess risky adventures, like climbing, can translate to day-to-day life. This video offers a simple framework to help us talk with our kids about risk.

It's Mental Health Awareness Month so let's get into some of the mental aspects of adventuring. Years ago, I had a military friend introduce me to the phrase “slow is smooth and smooth is fast.” I lean on that line of thinking quite often when in the backcountry and particularly when rock climbing, ice climbing, alpine climbing, or mountaineering. Danger and fear can create a strong desire to rush through a situation, and I often remind myself that slowing down and avoiding rework will often speed me up, overall.

When we head into the outdoors, things don't always go to plan. We could be on a camping trip and forgotten a key piece of gear. We could be mountaineering and have weather move in. We could be climbing injure a finger. We could be backpacking, and twist a knee. Of course, things could even get more severe and serious. Part of what helps groups and teams deal with unpleasant eventualities in the backcountry in making sure that all participants have a voice in decision making. That doesn't mean all participants have to agree, but they do have a voice. Let's talk about shared decision making, what it is and how it can help when things go wrong.

Outdoor adventures like climbing, mountaineering, and backpacking come with risk. We all work to mitigate those risks. To be effective at managing risk, we need situational awareness: and understanding of our internal and external hazards. Here are three questions I am constantly asking myself, my adventuring family, and my climbing partners to help ensure we remain situationally aware.

Certain things in the outdoors rely upon habit. If you are climbing, every knot has to be tied correctly. If you are mountaineering, you need to be able to perform self-arrest on instinct. If you are backpacking, you need to build up your miles to ensure you can meet your objective's demands. Forming habits can be easier or harder depending on the complexity of the behavior or action you want to habituate. What can science tell us about how to form habits that support our outdoor adventures?

Knowing which gear works best for your climbing, mountaineering, backpacking, hiking, and camping trips is harder than it seems. But lessons learned from the scientific method and the discipline of product development can help ensure that you are improving your gear systems each time you head out.

Outdoor adventures like climbing, mountaineering, backpacking, hiking, and camping can sometimes get off plan and some of those eventualities can create fear. Here are some fundamental techniques for helping to manage fear by limiting the times you feel fear as well as effectively dealing with fear when it shows up.

I've gotten some questions about who I am and what distinguishes our channel from others. Well, like most of us, what makes me different from anyone else is my personal story and the experiences I bring. As we begin National Mental Health Awareness Month, here's a unvarnished glimpse into me and the role camping, hiking, backpacking, mountaineering, and climbing play in a world also filled with YouTube, parenting, and cancer.

In this fifth and final video of the Cold! Series, we talk about keeping morale up. How do we keep our team - whether that team be our climbing partners, our life partners, or our kids - in a frame of mind to be proactive and to enjoy their time outside, even when harsh conditions set in?

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!

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!

This is a bonus, fifth installment in our how to snowshoe series. In this video, both parents discuss some of the lessons we've learned and changes we've made to our gear and mental approach to having the kids out in the cold with us. Just a few adjustments have made all the difference in making our winter wonderland trips just that. With the COVID pandemic still limiting our indoor options, and with winter putting a cap on our outdoor options, this winter could look bleak for some families. We offer up the snowshoe series to help families access this low-cost, easy solution. You and your family can still go winter hiking and still get into the outdoors, even as the weather changes.

Our thought process as we balance safety, enjoyment, and effort to progress our kids towards their rock climbing goals.