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 Tech Tip - Alpine - Snowshoeing for Climbers
During the 1992-1993 winter, while training for a spring attempt on Everest’s north side, I climbed a Colorado Fourteener every weekend. I sought full-on winter conditions, and the Colorado mountains didn’t disappoint.  Tech Tip -Trad - Making the Call
Deciding when to retire gear is tough. Losing half your rack to an unplanned escape is one thing, but decommissioning gear is quite another.  Tech Tip - Ice - Use your head ... and your feet
Regardless of how much better ice-climbing equipment gets — better tools, easier-to-place screws, heel spurs, or better clothing — ice climbing has a different learning curve than rock, and, in general, it’s best not to fall off.  Tech Tip - Alpine - Four features of mixed mountain routes
Overhanging dry tooling and free-hanging daggers are now standard fare in the relatively low-risk cragging environment, but moving on to mixed climbing in the alpine arena is a step.  Tech Tip - Sport - The basics of falling
Falling is part of the climbing process. A hold breaks, we slip, pump out, and we're off. It's important to find appropriate ways to practice falling so we learn to do it safely.  Tech Tip - Aid - Hooking
Anyone who’s done much hooking can tell you that there’s something undeniably special about hanging from a fingernail-sized piece of chrome-moly steel.  Tech Tip - Trad - Avoiding the sting
I was lying in the Yosemite Medical Clinic, the entire left side of my face horribly swollen; it would be 10 full days before the inflammation subsided and I could climb again.  Tech Tip - Sport - Commitment
“Until one is committed there is always hesitancy, a chance to draw back, always ineffectiveness.” So begins a frequently quoted passage from W.H. Murray’s book Scottish Himalayan Expedition.  Tech Tip - Alpine - Stealthy mountain travel
Beyond the razor wire surrounding the maximum-security prison lies a vast range of mountains and wilderness. To the non-climbing detainees, the mountains are an impossible pipedream; to the incarcerated alpinist, freedom awaits there.  Tech Tip - Aid - Block leading
You’ve done some walls, you’ve got your system dialed, and you move efficiently on the rock, yet you find yourself asking, “Why does it take me four days to do a route that locals hike in a day?”  Tech Tip - Sport - Slowing the pump clock
Training to get stronger is a good thing. Climbing in ways that conserve energy and enable rapid recovery is a smart thing!  Tech Tip - Aid - A0: Aid climbing for free climbers
A0 - quick and dirty aiding, generally without etriers - is not glamorous, but it's a handy skill to have in your repertoire, especially for moving fast.  Tech Tip - Big Wall - Bucket containers
In the multi-day vertical world — where something as simple as taking a leak can turn into an embarrassingly awkward ordeal — luxury and convenience are golden.  Tech Tip - Trad - Choss rock
While loose rock is never pleasant, you can turn a potentially lethal experience into merely a scary one by keeping your head together and tip-toeing up friable terrain.  Tech Tip - Alpine - Digging in
You’re hours from the road with waning daylight and a blizzard brewing on the horizon. You’ve left your palatial tent at home, opting instead for a fast and light approach. A forced bivy is imminent. |
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