Short clips
Trailers to full length videos and stand-alone quick tips; everything we make that is under 60 seconds
Petzl Sm'D Carabiners Help You Avoid Dropping Your Climbing Gear
Smaller pieces of climbing gear become easier items to drop, and that risk only increases when we are wearing gloves. Tethers can be helpful and even more so with carabiners specifically designed to keep the tethers out of the way of the gate opening.
Remember to Tuck in Your Shirt for Added Climbing Safety
Little things add up to big risks when we are climbing in vertical environments. One part of my pre-climb safety check includes making sure I have my shirt tucked in so that I can better manage my gear.
Are Your Climbing Ropes, Slings, and Harnesses Still Safe?
Proper care of climbing gear doesn't always mean just keeping it in working order. For soft goods, sometimes proper care means tracking how old the equipment is. Soft goods can deteriorate even without use, and with use they wear down even faster. So, we need to know when those goods should no longer be used even if they aren't visibly damaged.
The Benefits of Carrying an Extra Quickdraw on All My Climbs
I'm certainly going to have quickdraws with me if I'm on a technical rock or ice climb. But I make sure to carry an extra that never gets racked onto a standard gear placement. Having an extra quickdraw provides versatility to help me deal with myriad contingencies in the mountains and one a climb.
How to Tie the Flat Overhand Bend to Join Two Climbing Ropes
We can join two climbing ropes using the flat overhand bend. Learn how to tie this knot, learn some of its advantages, and some of the constraints on using the knot by checking out this video.
Why I Set My Third Hand Before My Device When Getting Ready to Rappel
It's a little thing, but getting both myself - and especially my kids - to transition into rappel systems faster can add up over many pitches. So, anything we can do to make it less likely to faff with ropes, our devices, or other gear, we'll take. Setting our third hand, autoblock hitch helps us manage the ropes and thread our rappel device more easily.
Better Climbing Team Dynamics: The Law of Plus One
May is Mental Health Awareness Month, and so we are adding to our series of videos on some of the mental aspects of climbing and other outdoor adventures. My climbing mentors often talked to me about the Law of Plus One for expedition success. What is it and how does it help team dynamics?
Quiet Courage in Climbing: Only Good to a Point
May is Mental Health Awareness Month, and so we are adding to our series of videos on some of the mental aspects of climbing and other outdoor adventures. When does self-reliance become deflection? We all need help sometimes, and our teams need to know where things stand. There is no easy answer, but we can often recognize the line once we've crossed it.
Gym Training Plays a Very Important Role for Alpine Climbing
May is Mental Health Awareness Month, and so we are adding to our series of videos on some of the mental aspects of outdoor adventures. Climbing involves complex movements that are hard to completely mimic in a gym environment. But there is one important feature a gym has that a mountain doesn't.
Most Sports Have a Pre-Performance Routine. Should You Have One for Your Climbing?
May is Mental Health Awareness Month, and so we are adding to our series of videos on some of the mental aspects of outdoor adventures. We train our minds and bodies with performance signals in most sports: think a basketball player that dribbles the ball a set number of times before shooting a foul shot. That can be harder to do in climbing when we face complex environments that are hardly ever the same. But there are some things we can still borrow from sports routines that can help our climbing performance mindset.
Proven Hack to Break In Your Rock Climbing Shoes
Rock climbing shoes may not exactly be your most comfortable footwear even after breaking them in. Before you've broken them in, they can be downright painful. Here's a trick that some high-level, professional climbers have been using to make the break in process much quicker and pain free
What are Opposite and Opposed Carabiners? A Fundamental of Climbing Safety
We build lots of safety systems in climbing, and gear advancements have improved our ability to make these systems both quicker and with more security. But sometimes we may run out of the best tools to do a job and need to rely upon serviceable tools. One such scenario is using opposite and opposed carabiners to mimic the security of a locking carabiner. Here’s how and why we do it.
Camping, Backpacking, and Mountaineering: The Pros and Cons of Internal Tent Poles
As I keep saying, all things in mountaineering, backpacking, and camping have pros and cons. There are no perfect solutions or perfect gear. In this quick tip, we talk about how tents with tent poles designed to be pitched from the inside can be great in some circumstances but a problem in others. Perhaps this will be a consideration for you as you plan gear for your next trip.
Why I Prefer Ferro Rods to Lighters for Igniting My Camping Stove
Ferro rods are an alternative fire starting method that may be easier to use in difficult and cold conditions. Here are a few of the reasons I take a ferro rod with me when I'm on multiday climbs or camps in the mountains.
Mountaineering and Winter Camping Basics: Why I Dig a Pit at the Foot of My Tent
Lots of clothing, rigid gear, and stiff boots make life in a tent in the cold more complicated. Digging a simple pit at the door of your tent can make your winter camping or mountaineering experience a little easier.
Winter Camping? Alpine Climbing? Don't Burn Your Snow!
Sublimation of snow (moving from solid directly to gas) not only smells bad, but also robs you of the water you are trying to make (you can't drink a gas). Here's the easy fix to avoid sublimation when turning snow into drinking water when alpine climbing or winter camping.
Winter Camping & Backpacking Fundamentals: First Move is to Stomp Out Your Tent Platform
We can conform snow to meet our backpacking, alpine climbing, and winter camping campsite needs. One of things we need is a firmer surface to hold in tent stakes and support us as we sleep. The lowest-cost way to do that is to make sure you stomp out your tent platform as soon as you arrive, giving the snow time to set.
Boiling Water. Reused Water Bottles. Potential Damage on Your Backpacking or Camping Trip
Reusing those plastic bottles from a beverage purchase may leach BPA into your water (maybe a topic for another video). But I also know from many conversations that some people will do it anyway because it can save money and weight and they don't do it that often. Well, for those of you who are willing to accept the risk, there is also a practical consideration: the lips on the mouths of those water bottles can melt when pouring boiling water making them unable to be closed. So, you can take this simple, light, piece of gear to avoid at least that problem when backpacking or camping in the winter.
The Klemheist and Hedden Hitches in Climbing Applications
Some climbers have moved away from using the Prusik hitch to the Klemheist hitch as a friction hitch on the rope because they are easier to tie (especially with gloves). Although a Klemheist can have varying degrees of bite on the rope in different directions of pull, unlike a Prusik. That has led to the question: "What if I accidently tie a Klemheist backwards?" As long as you dress it, the "backwards" Klemheist becomes a Hedden hitch, and is still effective.
An Improvised Climbing Harness
Should you damage your climbing harness, you can improvise a new one with a sling, a few carabiners, and the climbing rope. Here's one solution for a harness that will provide both seat and leg support.