Short clips
Trailers to full length videos and stand-alone quick tips; everything we make that is under 60 seconds
Preview to: Our Climbing, Backpacking, or Trekking Expedition Retrospective
No climbing, backpacking, or trekking expedition goes perfectly. We get some things in planning and executing the expedition just right, but we also don’t do enough of some things (like, maybe, communication) or too much of others (like, maybe, overtraining). So, this previews a facilitated retrospective on a completed expedition. What we learn from everyone's unique perspectives helps leverage strengths and avoid pitfalls when we head out on the next big trip.
Preview to Climbing, Backpacking, or Trekking Expedition Team Dynamics Starts with Prep
Trust is key to any team endeavor, and belief in our teammates is just as key to an expedition's success. It doesn't matter if we are climbing, backpacking, or trekking. Multi-day adventures in the outdoors can hinge on our ability to lean on one another. Our family's trek of the Tour de Mont Blanc proved to be one example. The full video describes how the training we put into fitness and shared systems, which we have to do anyway, can be multiplied in the value they bring to expedition teams.
Preview to: Teaching New Climbers the Climbing Project Mindset
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, the full video gets into how 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.
Preview to: Learning to Lead Belay Takes More Than Learning the Mechanics
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.
We Trade Off Risks: The Myth of Solutions in Climbing
For May’s Mental Health Awareness Month we get into some of the mental aspects of climbing and adventure. I certainly have my preferred gear and techniques, but I find it is important to check my own biases and complacency by remembering that there are no pieces of gear or system techniques that remove all risks.
Preview to: What is Complexity Rationing and How Can It Be Applied in Climbing?
Every May, we make videos on the mental side of climbing and adventure in recognition of National Mental Health Awareness Month. The full 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.
Celebrating Our Small Climbing Successes When Projects Get Hard
For May’s Mental Health Awareness Month we get into some of the mental aspects of climbing and adventure. When we are climbing near our limit, we are likely to experience quite a bit of frustration and failure. Keeping in mind the incremental progress we make on our way to being a better climber and help remind us that we actually do experience many successes.
Preview to: How Climbing Demands Audacity, or Boldness in the Face of the Unknown
Every May, we make videos on the mental side of climbing and adventure in recognition of National Mental Health Awareness Month. In the full video, we discuss the role audacity, or self-belief in the face of the unknown, plays in encouraging our climbing experiences and expeditions.
Curiosity is a Superpower in Climbing and in Life
For May’s Mental Health Awareness Month we get into some of the mental aspects of climbing and adventure. I am constantly reminded by my young kids that being curious about the world and less dogmatic about our own "knowledge" can be a gift in many aspects of climbing and life.
Preview to the Long Term Benefits of Being Empowered During a Climbing Accident or Emergency
Every May, we make videos on the mental side of climbing and adventure in recognition of National Mental Health Awareness Month. In our full 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.
Our Need for Continuous Learning in Climbing
For May’s Mental Health Awareness Month we get into some of the mental aspects of climbing and adventure. One of the habits that is key to staying and enjoying climbing is continuous learning. Because the tools and techniques we use are constantly evolving, we need to make sure that we evolve with them or we risk using old techniques with new tools in a way that could limit our growth or prove unsafe.
Preview to: Self-Forgiveness as a Key to Continuous Learning in Climbing and in Life
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.
Uphill or Downhill Hip? Positioning Our Glacier Travel Rope as a Case Study for Curiosity
We like to recognize Mental Health Awareness Month each May by going into some of the mental aspects of climbing and adventure. We can look at something like, “should I keep my glacier travel rope on my uphill or downhill hip” as a case study on why a curious mindset can sometimes beat an overly assured mindset. There are pros and cons to even something as simple as this decision, and a curious mindset helps us see those tradeoffs.
Preview to Overcoming the Fear of Rappelling in New Climbers: Lessons from My Kids
I've instructed a lot of new climbers, but teaching your kids to climb puts what works and what doesn't into stark relief. The full video goes into why and how I approached teaching rappelling to my kids, helping them overcome the natural fear that comes from easing yourself over a cliff.
Preview to Reframing Adventure to Help Me Balance Risks in Life and Climbing
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 the full video shares that one way I do it is to diversify my outdoor activities.
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?
Preview to What Stands Out About the Climbing Partners I Turn to Again and Again?
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. The full video explores 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.
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.
Preview to How the Feedback Trap Hampers Risk Management in Climbing and Outdoor Adventures
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," The full video goes into how we assess our climbs when we can't always really know how far away or close we were to disaster?
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.