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?

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.

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.

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?

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.

It's Mental Health Awareness Month so let's get into some of the mental aspects of adventuring. A good part of our channel is about helping get whole families - and that includes the kids - into the outdoors. That brings risk. But learning to assess risky adventures, like climbing, can translate to day-to-day life. The full video offers a simple framework to help us talk with our kids about risk.

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.

It's Mental Health Awareness Month so let's get into some of the mental aspects of adventuring. Years ago, I had a military friend introduce me to the phrase “slow is smooth and smooth is fast.” In the full video, I talk about how I lean on that line of thinking quite often when in the backcountry and particularly when rock climbing, ice climbing, alpine climbing, or mountaineering. Danger and fear can create a strong desire to rush through a situation, and I often remind myself that slowing down and avoiding rework will often speed me up, overall.

No serious tip, today. My kids wanted to do something "funny," and they came up with this idea. They find the fancy, "party-trick" knot tying demonstrations to be fun and "cool," but of little practical value. I honestly agree. So, here's a little play on the flying bowline climbing knot method.

Our twin boys have diversified their climbing disciplines, moving from top rope to multi-pitch climbing, ice climbing, and even sport climbing on lead. As they've moved into climbs that demand gear management, we needed a new harness that had gear loops but still fit their small frames. That harness is the Ocun Webee Kids' version. The full video provides the review.

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

My twin (now) 8-year-olds beat up their gear when they are camping, hiking, and attempting summits, but we've managed to keep them in an Outdoor Research Kids' Helios sun hat for about two years. The hats are still going strong, but like any piece of gear, they aren't perfect. The full video offers a long term review of these handy, comfortable, and durable adventure hats.

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.

Maybe you have kids and this will help, or maybe just thinking through carabiners more rigorously will help you think through if you want to make changes to your own rack. My twin boys are starting to take on multi-pitch rock climbing and single-pitch sport climbing leads. Both require that they handle quickdraws. In order to make sure they had as easy of time as possible with managing the rope, managing climbing, and managing the gear, I searched for specific carabiner choices for their draws. Here's the criteria we used and the carabiners we've selected.

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.

As my twin boys' rock climbing advanced, they were ready to make the jump from an entry-level shoe to a more performance-based shoe. The full video goes into what we've learned about the Scarp Drago Kids' climbing shoes after a few seasons of use.

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.

Alpine climbing and mountaineering often happens in harsh conditions. When dealing with extreme cold, being able to do the right things in the right order when taking a rest can mean the difference between gaining strength and resolve or losing them. Last week, we did a video on packing our packs and stuffing our pockets with an eye towards efficient rest stops. In the full video, we go through a typical sequence of steps when at the rest stop, itself.

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.

When alpine climbing on a cold and slippery winter summit, being safe with your body temperature and with your gear when taking a rest stop comes down to quality management of all of those things. But quality management of those things begins with having the right stuff accessible in your pack and in your pockets. The full video goes over how to pack for efficient rest stops. Our next video will go into the sequence we often use during those rest stops to ensure we stay warm, safe, and don't lose any gear.