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.

Hiking, Backpacking, and Mountaineering are often well planned from the comfort of home. But once we get out in the field, we often need to make thousands of micro-level choices a day. This way or that way? Here's how my family and I try to maximize efficiency by choosing more manageable terrain.

Mountaineering, backpacking, and camping trips require a lot of gear. If you are traveling across states, provinces, or even countries, the stakes of having too much gear can be costly, and having too little gear can even be dangerous. Here I present the single most important day of my travel/expedition planning process to help insure that I, and my team, don't make either of those mistakes.

Hiking, backpacking, and mountaineering trips require a lot of gear as well as gear for which airline security policies add complication. As COVID restrictions ease up and trips for outdoor adventures become plausible, again, we provide five tips to make your air travel in-country or abroad more manageable and less stressful.

Hiking, Backpacking, and Mountaineering trips can cover a lot of ground, and the longer the trip the more likely that contingencies will arise that force us to adjust. In those circumstances, having gone through the process of making my own topographic route map helps me better know options and recognize landmarks once I am out in the field. Here's the why and how of making your own maps.

I carry a camp pillow when mountaineering, backpacking, or alpine climbing at altitude. There are multiple reasons. One reason is that at high altitudes I can become susceptible to Cheyne-Stokes breathing, an apnea that impacts my ability to sleep. Find out why plenty of people get Cheyne-Stokes at altitude, and how a simple item like a camp pillow can alleviate this condition. Also discover how a camp pillow may contribute to a warmer and lighter sleep system, overall.

Going on a backpacking, multi-day climbing, mountaineering, hiking, or a camping trip during the dry, winter months can lead to split fingertips. The dry air and other conditions of winter just make it more likely. Those wounds can make using your hands painful. Here's how I help prevent those splits from happening as well as how I deal with the injury if I don't follow my own advice well enough!

If you are going to get into alpine climbing, you need to be able to handle the variable conditions which mountains present to us. So, beyond snow and rock, one may need to contend with ice. You may love ice climbing, like my kids and I do, or you may grudgingly pursue it, but it is a necessary set of skills to have for mountaineering. Last video, we talked about good footwork. Today we talking about making efficient swings and combining all the individual techniques into a full movement sequence.

If you are going to get into alpine climbing, you need to be able to handle the variable conditions which mountains present to us. So, beyond snow and rock, one may need to contend with ice. You may love ice climbing, like my kids and I do, or you may grudgingly pursue it, but it is a necessary set of skills to have for mountaineering. Because all technical climbing starts with good footwork, in this video we go over the basics of proper footwork for ice climbing. Next week's video will cover using ice tools and the complete sequence of movement.

Sitting in the snow and adjusting your crampons to your boots is hard to do with winter gloves and is a good way to make yourself cold. That's why I pre-fit my crampons to my boots before I ever leave the house for every ice climbing, alpine climbing, or mountaineering trip. This opens up all of the options to move heel and toe bails and fine-tune the crampon fit to maximize the likelihood that the crampon will stay on as well as the performance of the crampon for my climb. Here's how I go about pre-fitting crampons for each of the three crampon types: full strap, step-in, and hybrid.

My twin seven-year-olds love mountaineering, climbing, hiking, and camping. But making sure we have all the right gear for winter trips comes with larger consequences for getting it wrong. Here is a load out video of what we take for a winter day-trip in snowy, cold conditions.

Being someone who goes to high and cold places on mountaineering, winter backpacking, and backcountry winter camping adventures, I need a sleep system that can handle severe temperatures (below 0 Fahrenheit or below -18 Celsius) but also not fill up my pack and break my back with weight. Here's my personal journey from nearly 4.5 down to 3.0 pounds (1.4 kg) for a winter bag and sleeping pads along with the gear changes I made to get there.

I've seen extreme temperature ranges in the winter. So, when I head out for a winter climbing, backpacking, hiking, or camping, I need to have the right clothing layers. And the same clothing that works for 50 degrees (10 Celsius) doesn't work for -35 degrees (-37 Celsius). And if I always have a down jacket and rain shell, then the difference in clothing needs to be made up by the baselayer and midlayer. Here's my four favorite baselayer and midlayer combinations I use to adjust to progressively colder days in the winter.

Camping in winter - either for its own enjoyment or as part of a climbing, backpacking, or mountaineering adventure - can be done warmly. There are lots of little things you can and should do to keep everyone in your group comfortable as possible. But if you were to only do three things, I would make these three things the ones to do, as I have found they have had the biggest impact on my ability to control my temperature at night and make for a good night's sleep.

Either poor vision, like me, or sun reflection off of the snow may drive the need for wearing glasses or goggles in the winter on hikes, climbs, while backpacking, and even camping. Unfortunately, glasses and goggles tend to fog up, as your breath and body heat mix with the cold air. Here is my journey of various attempts to solve this issue, moving from marginally effectively solutions to something that has finally worked for me on even the coldest mountaineering expeditions.

I started getting into the outdoors by hiking to summits. Eventually, I got into technical climbing and mountaineering. The gear I bought for the hikes didn't quite cut it when it came to the climbs. So, for any budding mountaineers and alpinists, here's what I've come to value most in design of various insulating jackets. If you can buy with your future outdoors activities in mind, you can save the money I didn't save. Learn from my mistakes!

After teaching high altitude climbing to lots and lots of different people, here are the four most common (behavioral) reasons I see people get cold hands in the mountains along with what to do about it.

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?

This is the fourth video in the Cold! series and it's about a potentially serious issue: avalanches. Avalanches are a complicated topic, and this video can not be an end point to anyone's education, but it can and does introduce the basic principles and provide resources to learn more.

This is the third video in the Cold! series and it is about the small behaviors you can focus in on, and help your kids and family with, to make your winter backcountry excursions a bit more enjoyable and likely to succeed. These are small "personal management" practices that can make all the difference between getting cold and uncomfortable (or maybe even finding yourself in a dangerous situation) and feeling in control of your adventure.

This is the second video in the Cold! series and is about how to match winter traction devices like snowshoes, crampons, or MICROspikes to the particular conditions you are facing on the type of snow or ice or frozen ground you need to travel. We also discuss some considerations on how to be place your feet given the slick surfaces of winter.

We are presenting this series called "Cold!" and it's all about making backcountry adventures something fun for the whole family, despite the more challenging conditions of winter. This is first video in the series is all about clothing, and we take a look at the layering systems, and clothing accessories you need to maintain safety and comfort when out in the wild during the winter months. We also spend some time talking about budget friendly options for most of it, too.

When fall comes and our family heads out into the mountains, we need to be ready for extremely variable conditions. Cold mornings, warm afternoons, and wind all make layering our clothing extremely challenging. Throw in the safety need of being prepared for an unplanned overnight stay, and we have to be sure the right hiking clothing is on our bodies and in our packs.

When I take climbing partners new to the alpine up into the high routes, I often get asked if there is a "usual" set of gear to bring. There are a few items I always bring, but the gear for placement while lead climbing really does need to be specific to the route and conditions.

Mount Bancroft (13,250') one of the Colorado 13ers, makes a very good introduction to technical alpine climbing. With both a one pitch rappel and one pitch class 5 climb along an enjoyable ridge scramble, it allows a climber who is new to alpine climbing to experience much of what makes moving technically in the alpine so much fun. I provided this experience for my nephew, recently. Besides recommending this route as a first (or first few) foray into alpinism, here's a route review so that climbers wanting to attempt this route can feel confident and informed as they plan their climbs.

Most hikers have strong opinions on trekking poles and their pros and cons. But like me, those opinions are primarily based on anecdotes and assumptions. Let’s go into what the scientific research has to say about how trekking poles help hikers and climbers and how they may be a hinderance. Will the research change your opinion one way or the other?

If you are wanting to move from class 1 and class 2 alpine hikes, like those found on many 14ers, and move on to class 3 and class 4 climbing, you may need to make some adjustments to your preparation, focus, equipment, and movement. This video walks you through 5 foundational tips for climbing 14ers, 13ers, and other alpine peaks.

Are you wanting to hike to the summit of the Colorado14ers, and are you trying to choose which one to attempt first? Four members of my family have made Mount Sherman their first climb above 14,000 feet, and in this video we talk about the pros and cons of the drive and standard route as viewed through the lens of a new or new-ish 14er climber.

Wanting to know how to climb a 14er? Here is what to know and what to do for acclimatization. Your body needs to adapt to receiving 43% of the oxygen per breath that you would get a sea level. You can apply these tips to better hydrate, climb, and schedule your pre-hike routine, tilting the odds of a summit in your favor.

Wanting to climb to the summit of a 14er? Here is a practical approach to selecting a Colorado 14er or California 14er peak and route; planning your departure, hiking, and turn around times; factoring weather into your planning; and other safety considerations.

Wanting to hike to the summit of a 14er? Here is a loadout of the equipment I take on a typical summer climb to above fourteen thousand feet.

Wanting to hike to the summit of a 14er? Here is how you can approach getting your body ready to carry you to the summit.

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!

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.

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.

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.

This is our fourth installment in our how to snowshoe series. This video talking about the techniques needed to ensure you are efficient and safe on your snowshoes while confronting multiple terrain types. 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 snowshoeing as a low-cost, easy to access solution. You and your family can still go winter hiking and still get into the outdoors, even as the weather changes.

This is our third installment in our how to snowshoe series. This video will go beyond clothing to look at the additional nine "essential items" you will want to have with you to ensure a safe and enjoyable snowshoeing trip. 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 snowshoeing as a low-cost, easy to access solution. You and your family can still go winter hiking and still get into the outdoors, even as the weather changes.

This is the second installment in our series on how to snowshoe. To help you and your family choose the right equipment for your trip, we will go deep into the different design characteristics of snowshoes and poles and discuss boots and other clothing. 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 snowshoeing as a low-cost, easy to access solution. You and your family can still go winter hiking and still get into the outdoors even as the weather changes.

This is the first part of our series on how to snowshoe. This will help you plan a destination for that first snowshoeing trip. 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 snowshoeing as a low-cost, easy to access solution to these constraints. You and your family can still go winter hiking and still get into the backcountry, even as the weather changes.

With families everywhere already feeling COVID has limited what activities they can pursue, winter is now closing in, and many may feel like outdoor options are now going to be taken away, too. We wanted to take a few minutes to describe some of the virtues of snowshoeing, and how it may be an accessible escape that can overcome the twin constraints of COVID and the snowy outdoors.

Born from experience, here are some small, cheap, and exceptionally helpful items for winter camping

Here are 12 tips to help you and your family camp in cold weather and winter conditions