Ben Zartman, life long climber and a sailor, combined his knowledge of both disciplines to produce technically superior slings that don't have a sewn bar tack that gets in the way of our knots.

Ben Zartman, life long climber and a sailor, combined his knowledge of both disciplines to produce technically superior slings that don't have a sewn bar tack that gets in the way of our knots.

In a single pitch scenario, with a belay coming from the ground either to a leader or a top roping climber, we can still end up with an injured climber on the wall who needs medical attention or assistance getting down. The pick off gets us up to the climber and gets both of us back down again. Here is ascending on a Grigri, and the full video gets into the rescue and lowering procedure.

If we aren't performing a more typical double-strand rappel but rather are rappelling on a joined rope but using a single strand, we may want an alternative to the flat overhand bend which provides superior strength and resists rolling. The stacked overhand does both. Here’s its comparative strength and a tutorial for tying it.

Climbing in a team of two is quite often done on a standard, single rope. But when we are climbing multi-pitch routes with certain risks, there may be times when twin ropes or half ropes may help mitigate those risks. And certain alpine or mountaineering objectives may emphasize weight and rope management characteristics. The full video goes deeper into assessing climbs and matching them to rope systems.

When we are no longer performing a more typical double-strand rappel when we have two ropes, we may want a rope joining knot that provides added strength and security when compared to the flat overhand bend. One such knot is the double overhand. Here’s a snapshot of how strong it is in comparison along with how to tie it.

When I go out climbing with my twin boys, climbing as a team of three, I need to match my climbing rope choice to the risks of the particular climb. The full video goes through considerations for assessing the climb and matching it to a rope system.

When we are buying a new rope, we may look at the grams per meter to compare the weight of one rope to another. But really we should be comparing the grams per meter in combination with the static elongation. Here's why, and it explains why weighing the rope at home always ends up with a heavier rope than the grams per meter would indicate.

We often carefully choose the right rack, the right shoes, and the right clothing for our climbs. Well, we also want to choose the right rope. The full video gets deeper into some tradeoffs to consider when selecting a single rope, half ropes, twin ropes, or a single rope with a tagline for our route and objective.

When we set a rappel strand, we want to ensure we can pull our rope cleanly, especially if on a multi-pitch climb where we need to perform many rappels. One of the things we can do to maximize a clean pull is think through how the rock features and the rappel points interact with our designated pull strand.

Climbing rope manufacturers publish a lot of numbers that describe how the rope will perform out in the field. But the numbers don't actually tell as straight forward of a story as we may wish. The full video goes through a host of metrics, how we interpret those numbers, and how they tell a story about the types of climbing risks one rope may mitigate better than another.

If we are hauling a bag or assisting a following climber, we might construct a 3-to-1 haul system at the anchor. If we find that isn't enough mechanical advantage for our haul, we can quickly convert that 3-to-1 system to a 5-to-1 system.

Adding on to our videos about crevasse rescue, we could have a situation where we set up a haul only to discover, after making contact with the victim, that we actually need to lower them, as there is a walk out possible from lower in the crevasse. Well, if we have a pully-and-cam based progress capture like a Petzl Micro Traxion already set up, we need to switch from raise to lower, and there could be some complications which the full video gets into.

Some climbers have a reflex to think of weight as simply bad. More weight equals more problems. But weight is a trade off. What do we gain from carrying the weight? If we think of weight as a cost for value, we may make better tradeoffs that serve us on our climbs while still avoiding "packing our fears."

There are times on our climbs when we want the exact right tool for the job, squeezing the maximum amount of efficiency out of the gear as applied to the situation for which it was specifically designed. There are times we want a more general piece of gear that can be used in lots of ways even if it isn't ideal for any one particular situation. And then there are times we need to diversify gear for the unknown. The full video gets into all three of these strategies.

What are our climbing goals - not just the objectives but what we hope to get out of those climbs? Is what we gain worth the cost? I'm not saying don't climb; I climb a lot. But we ought to pause from time to time to ask if we are truly getting what we want out of the climbs we undertake. If not, we may be tactically sound but strategically at risk, meaning the costs we could incur may be higher than we should be willing to pay.

Like many things in life, the extremes often don't serve us or the community around us. When we are confronted with the emotional tension at the heart of climbing and adventure sports accidents, neither ridicule nor disengagement allows us to learn. Empathy is the path forward, as it allows for curiosity which, in turn, allows for learning. The full video goes deeper.

Just because you may lack experience compared to your climbing partner doesn't mean you shouldn't be involved in the team decision making. In fact, it means the opposite. Your voice matters, and when you use it, it contributes to the team's overall safety.

Like many things in life, the extremes often don't serve us or the community around us. When we are confronted with the emotional tension at the heart of climbing and adventure sports accidents, neither ridicule nor disengagement allows us to learn. Empathy is the path forward, as it allows for curiosity which, in turn, allows for learning. The full video goes deeper.

For Mental Health Awareness Month, we do videos on the mental aspects of climbing and adventure. As my body and fitness changes, and more importantly as my desires and values evolve, I find that my definition of what constitutes a successful day climbing may not always be what it once was. That's not necessarily a bad thing as I strive to put more back into the climbing community than I take out of it.