Short clips
Trailers to full length videos and stand-alone quick tips; everything we make that is under 60 seconds
Preview to: Mastering The Figure Eight Retrace Knot, Perfect EVERY Time
New climbers, and even some experienced climbers, can improve both efficiency and safety by learning how to tie a high-quality figure eight retrace knot regardless of changing rope diameters. The full video provides a step-by-step process to get a knot that meets all the best-practice criteria, a breakdown of those criteria so we understand why they are important, and a walkthrough of a final knot check we should perform every time we tie in.
How Much Time Before the Sun SETS on Your Backcountry Adventure?
When we are out climbing, hiking, or backpacking in the backcountry, there can come times when we want to estimate how much time we have before the sun dips behind the horizon. Here's a quick way to make that estimate without any equipment.
Preview to: When Might a Rappel Be a BAD Idea?
When I am out climbing, there are times when I might choose to lower a first climber down a pitch rather than have the climber rappel. The full video gets into five circumstances that I have faced, personally, and discusses the tradeoffs of choosing to lower in those circumstances.
Are You on an AVALANCHE slope!? A Quick Slope Angle Test
Avalanches are more likely to occur on slopes between 30 and 45 degrees. We can quickly check the angle of a slope in the field by employing some geometry and two matching pieces of equipment like trekking poles or snow pickets. Here's how.
Preview to: Are These Two Words Holding BACK Your Climbing?
Context is key. The systems we choose to employ on our climbs will be more or less effective depending upon the specific circumstances we face. So, I am hesitant to use the words "always" and "never" when it comes to climbing techniques. The full video, as an example, gives four exceptions to the notion that we always belay a leader from the harness and a follower from the anchor.
Put On Your Climbing Harness BEFORE It's Too Late
There are times where the terrain looks easily passable but one new variable, like loose rock or exposure, may make a rope and harness the sensible choice. Well, we need to have our harness on, already, because it may be too difficult to put it on once you really need it.
Preview to: 6 Tips to Stay WARM in a Cold, Snowy Camp
Our boys, Connor and Kade, have been gathering up a pretty good amount of cold, winter, snowy camp experience. So, they wanted to each share three tips - so six tips total - that they find to be the biggest difference makers when it comes to staying warm in camp. The full video goes into all six.
Preview to: Using a Remote Canister Stove in the WORST conditions with a DIY Hanging Kit
Remote canister stoves often improve stove performance in cold weather when compared to standard canister stoves. But remote canister stoves can be hard to use in the harshest environments when there is no means to safely hang the stove. Well, the full video provides a step-by-step tutorial to build a DIY(ish) solution for that problem.
You Can STOP Having Cold Hands When Ice Climbing
One of the strong women in my climbing community, Jane, passed along this tip about using chemical hand warmers on our wrists to help avoid the cold hands that ice climbing can so easily cause.
Preview to: This DIY Hack Improves Your Canister Fuel Performance In COLD Weather
There are lots of ways to maintain a warmer temperature for your canister fuel, thus improving the performance of your camp stove when out climbing, backpacking, or camping in the snow. One way is using a bath for the canister, into which you can pour warm water. The full video shows how I made one and some options on how to use one.
Cost EFFECTIVE Pick Guards for Your Ice Axes and Ice Tools!
We have a lot of climbers in our family, and therefore a lot of ice axes and ice tools. We want to be able to keep our sharpened picks in good condition and also want to keep those picks from damaging other gear while in transit. So, we make our own pick guards. We find this solution to be more cost effective and provide better protection than the commercially available solutions.
Preview to: Is the La Sportiva G-Summit the Most VERSATILE Climbing Boot?
The La Sportiva G Summit Boots are designed to be worn as either a single boot or a double boot with a removable liner. So, is it one boot that can serve all your needs? Warm enough for cold, high-altitude climbing? Light and maneuverable enough for technical climbing? How's the durability? What about the fit? The video goes into these questions and more.
High Altitude Climber's Gear to Protect Against EXTREME UV Exposure
When we get to higher altitudes, the thinner air means less diffusion of UV rays, and the bright snow below us means those UV rays bounce back at us from below. It is as if we are walking in a radiating dish. So, we need to be careful about sun protection and exposed skin. Here are a few pieces of equipment I use to help guard what my other clothing cannot: my face.
Preview to: Keep Your Drinking Water from FREEZING! Practices from High Altitude Climbing
Depending upon your part of the world, winter climbing can bring extreme cold that can make the seemingly simplest things complicated. I got asked a question about how we stop our drinking water from freezing when temperatures dip into the extreme. The full video borrows lessons from many high altitude climbers who regularly face those types of extreme temperatures.
Managing Climbing Rope Slack for FAST Rappel Transitions
Speed is safety in the mountains. We want to maintain current security, but not at the price of future security. So, if we have opportunities to have our climbing team work and make progress simultaneously we will make that happen if the risks aren’t too high. Efficiently getting through a rappel transition is one example, and it can be the little things that make the difference - like giving slack to the following climber on rappel as soon as safely possible.
Preview to: Three Uses of the Bowline on a Bight Knot for Climbing in the COLD
When winter sets in, the cold, the gloves, and the snow and ice all make tying and - particularly - untying weighted climbing knots more difficult. So, easier-to-knots to untie can make transitions in and out of systems faster. The full video details three ways that I start using a bowline on a bight when wet, winter weather shows up in the mountains.
Tether or Rope? SECURING Ourselves to the Climbing Anchor
Climbers will sometimes use a tether, or a Personal Anchor System (PAS), to clip into an anchor and will sometimes use the rope. Let's briefly go through some pros and cons.
Preview to: Have We Been Rappelling WRONG!? A No Tether Multi-Pitch Rappel
While the "backside clove hitch" method of connecting to the anchor is getting more and more popular for ascending routes, we can extend that same thinking to a multi-pitch rappel. The method was developed to address the problem with managing knots in the ends of our rope, as we need to remove them to pull the rope but need to add back for the next rappel, which creates opportunities for mistakes. The full video goes step-by-step and gets into pros and cons.
Racking My Climbing Lanyard
While a climbing lanyard is not my first choice for connecting to an anchor, there are times I use one. How I choose to rack the lanyard on my harness depends upon the type of lanyard I am using.
Preview to: Contrasting Two Transitions from Climbing to Rappelling to Study Tradeoffs
Like the old "choose your own adventure" books, each climb we make presents many choices, big and small. The full video looks at two different transitions, moving from climbing to rappelling in a team of two, to see how our choices impact the various risks we can both avoid and bring into play by those choices.