Information and adventure for the whole family
Welcome to Short Guys Beta Works!
We're Jason and Kristina - with our twin boys, Connor and Kade - and we're a family that loves getting outdoors! We began climbing peaks in Colorado when we were dating, and "Great Nature" has been our sanctuary and our place of connection ever since. Now, we are bringing our love of being outside and our sense of discovery to our boys. Between us, we've been mountaineering, climbing, camping, and hiking all across the continental United States, in Alaska, in the Andes, and the Himalaya; and Jason has taught these skills for years at the Colorado Mountain Club. But none of it has been as challenging - or rewarding - as helping our boys slow down, reflect, grow, and try hard! In the outdoor community, "beta" means information. ShortGuysBetaWorks provides information on locations, skills, training, and gear - all with a dash of entertainment and a few mistakes - so that we all can experience the trials and tribulations of getting our kids and ourselves into the Big Outside.
Check out our latest video
Channel trailer
Want to know what ShortGuysBetaWorks is all about? Check out our channel trailer to learn about who we are and how we are trying to help active families get more out of the Big Outside!
I’m not a big man. I’m 5’ 6” or a little less than 1.5 meters tall. I weigh about 140 pounds or less than 65 kilograms. While that is good for not having to take a lot of bulk up alpine objectives, it does mean that fitting into equipment can be hard. The most troubling, for me, was getting my small boots to lock in at the toe of my crampons without having room to slide around from side to side. Here is a deeper dive into crampon toe attachment options for people with smaller boots.