For those of us with little crusher rock climbing kids, one of the things to think about as they challenge themselves on new routes and develop new skills is that our equipment was designed for our adult-sized bodies. But with careful consideration, we can put together the right combinations of equipment to have it work well for them. Here is an example with quickdraws.

Our kids just completed their first sport climbing leads and their first multi-pitch climbs. We are continuing to shed some light on how we got ourselves and our kids ready so that they could make those advances in their climbing journeys. In the full video, we are talking about the mental checklist we impart to any new sport climbing leaders to make sure they were staying as safe as possible when up on the sharp end of the rope.

Making upward progress when rock climbing on a hard sport route often means efficiency and conserving energy. One of the places you can lose energy needlessly is with sloppy technique as you clip your draws. Here is how to assess and apply which technique and hand positions to use for maximum efficiency.

Our kids hit a few rock climbing milestones, this year, putting up their first sport climbing leads and completing their first multi-pitch climbs as seconds. In the full video, we are sharing how the kids progressed in skills and how we gave them exposure to some of the different demands of climbing so that we all felt comfortable letting them head up on lead.

The sticky rubber on rock climbing shoes can get polished, which reduces its grip. When you get shiny, polished sections on your climbing shoes, you can briefly scuff them with sandpaper to restore their stickiness.

A lot of home climbing walls go unused, often because the routes get stale and boring. The full video discusses how I've approached setting routes for the climbers in my family so that we can always feel like the routes we have on the wall are helping us become better climbers while also being fun!

Overhanging climbing routes, bad climbing holds, or underdeveloped upper body or grip strength can all cause your hands and arms to give out when rock climbing. The "drop knee" technique can shift a lot of the burden to our stronger, lower body muscles and help keep our hips close to the wall. Here's how you perform the technique.

To get better at any endeavor, we need a way to talk about it. New rock climbers are not an exception. In the full video, we describe and name some basic rock features, grip and foot placement types, and rock climbing techniques. This rock climbing vocabulary will help new climbers discuss their climbing with others, hopefully stimulating help, collaboration, and improvement.

Any time you are belaying from the ground, whether that be the first pitch of a multi-pitch climb or if you are out trying single-pitch traditional or sport climbing, you can think about using better belaying footwork, if you have the space, to make managing rope slack much easier as well as making is safer for your climber. Here's how.

Communication between climbing partners is a fundamental part of maintaining safety. Surprises create risk because you can't plan for things you can't anticipate. Solid communication can reduce surprises. Before attempting nuanced multi-partner, multi-pitch, or complicated alpine climbs, the full video shows how we taught the new climbers in our family - our kids - good communication while working comparatively simply top rope climbs. These communication habits will form the foundation of a lifetime of safe climbing.

For climbers just starting out, learning the foundations of solid belay technique is imperative. While different nuances and whole other techniques can be used in different situations as you gain experience, the Pull Brake Under Slide climbing belay method is the foundational method to use whenever your climber is above you.

Our kids are young and very into rock climbing. Our philosophy has always been to empower them, and that demands they take on increasing responsibilities for safety as they become ready. If they have always been partners in keeping themselves safe they will more likely continue to be safety conscious as they enjoy a lifetime of climbing. One major milestone in that climbing journey is learning proper top rope belaying. The full video shows how we taught our young kids how to top rope belay while ensuring we kept everyone safe along the way.

When you are alpine climbing or mountaineering it is easy to make the mistake of being at a rest, coiling the rope to shorten it for the next section of terrain, and only after getting retied in realizing you forgot to have your pack on as you made your coils. Here's how you can get your pack on without recoiling and still managing to keep your rucksack under the rope.

While the choice about taking ice screws or nuts or cams or pickets will always depend on route conditions and the route, itself, the full video walks through a few items that I take climbing on every trip, whether dry rock, snow, or ice, whether at the crag, in the alpine, or on a glacier. This gear helps me deal with any eventuality from standard climbing needs to terrain beyond my free climbing ability, to rescues.

When you need a secure climbing knot in the middle of a rope that is also easy to untie after weighting, an alpine butterfly knot makes a good choice. Take a look at this quick climbing tip to see under what circumstances you might use this knot as well as see one way to tie it (even in mittens).

The South African Rappel or South African Abseil is a technique that can get you down a single-pitch cliff using nothing but a rope when out climbing, scrambling, or even hiking. When and why would you use this rappel technique? How do you perform the rappel, safely? We provide answers to these questions in the full video.

Climbing helmets need to fit properly to keep you safe, but they also lack sun protection for your face. You can add different garments under your helmet, but you also need to avoid the pain that can come with bunched fabric pressed down on your head. So, here's what I use to add some shade to my face without creating safety or pain issues when I climb with a helmet in the hot months.

My Dad was one of my original partners for summiting peaks. Now at 74 years old, we had him out on a new summit experience, doing some technical climbing with his son and grandsons on Horsetooth Peak in Rocky Mountain National Park. Follow the links to the full thing.

Climbing in the alpine sometimes means putting on your harness in strange or even less secure stances. So, I always look for this feature in every alpine harness I am going to use. It makes the act of putting my harness on safer despite any awkward position I might be in.

Blue Ice produces some excellent minimalist and ultralight gear for alpine climbing and ski mountaineering. The full video reviews the Choucas Pro harness and discusses the pros and cons as well as some climbing genres where the harness may excel.