When and why might we want to choose a knot other than a flat overhand bend for joining two ropes in a climbing context? This video explores alternative knots for joining climbing ropes. We demonstrate various climbing scenarios and knot-tying techniques, providing a practical how to guide for recognizing situations when a standard flat overhand may not meet your needs along with alternatives you may want to employ, improving your climbing safety.

I was asked if the very light weight Petzl Tibloc could be used as a rope capture for crevasse rescue systems? The answer is, 'yes,' but not without acknowledging that unweighting a Tibloc can be complicated. Here's a walkthrough of one procedure to transfer the load from a Tibloc and a discussion of how this may complicate crevasse rescue scenarios that need a lower.

The Münter hitch can be very useful. While I typically am using more modern climbing equipment for various rappelling, belaying, and rescue techniques, I still have used just the rope, a carabiner, and the Münter from time to time and in lots of different ways. This video goes deep into the Münter by getting into different ways to tie it, different pros and cons of the hitch, and a full walk through and how-to for five types of use cases where the Münter could help us out of a jam.

Should we happen to have lost our belay device while still needing to climb, we may want to employ an auto-locking hitch to help with belays from the top or pack hauls or the like. The Garda, Lorenzi, and Auto-Locking Münter hitches are all options. Here is how to create them, how we might use them, and some pros and cons that come with each.

If you go climbing in the alpine, and particularly in fully wild and maybe even unexplored areas, you are likely to be subjected to rockfall, and that rockfall can become fairly likely. So, how do we assess our terrain for rockfall risk, and then how do we mitigate that risk to keep our likelihood of getting hit by a rock low enough to feel acceptable?

I have been using the Edelrid Pinch break assisting belay device long enough now to have some perspective on the specifications and features that truly distinguish it from the Petzl Grigri. This video goes more deeply into a comparison. I have come to reach for the Pinch, first, in certain applications, but not for all of my climbing. Here's why.

Blue Ice took a really good harness and redesigned and rebuilt it, anyways. Is the new version of the Choucas Pro harness enough of an improvement over the older version to earn a place in your gear closet?

Two years ago, I did a video about the potential I saw in 3M Gripping Material as a wrap for ice tools. Two years later, now, I have found one version of the material to be not good enough and another version to be pretty good, but at a cost.

A trip plan can keep you and your climbing partners on the same page but also can help your loved ones deal with any emergencies that might arise. So, what can we put in our trip plans to ensure we meet these needs?

I've linked many a short set of climbing pitches into a longer pitch. But I don't always do it. The idea that having to only set up one belay and therefore one belay transition will speed up our climbing doesn't account for a host or reasons why speed might not be the ultimate consideration. Here are some things I consider before I decide to link two pitches together.

When getting ready for a big climb, we work on cardio fitness, we work on strength, we work on technique. But, if the climbing is really pushing our comfort zone, are we going to be able to get into and out of our systems when we are exhausted and stressed? Does practicing systems play a role in training? New climbers and those going on expedition often will, but is there room for say-to-day upkeep of critical system skills?

Monolithic climbing anchors - anchors built from a single, unquestionably strong tree or rock - can be simple and timely while also being incredibly safe. But making them safe means we need to evaluate our chosen terrain feature well and understand a few nuances that can come with our rope, sling, or cordelette configurations.

When moving quickly through moderate terrain, we might be using the rope but not be using standard climbing anchors. When we aren't pitching it out, we can still have a climbing fall that might require us to escape the belay in order to hold our partner in place while we render aid. How can we do that when we are using terrain or body belays? Well, the principles of any belay escape still apply.

This last spring and summer, my kids finally had the experience, technique, and the physical size to utilize appropriate equipment that allowed them to climb steeper couloirs - snow gullies - safely. But those things are only part of the equation. Being aware of different risks and mitigation tactics are necessary, as well. So, here are eight tips that helped us, and may help any other new climbers, approach snow climbing season with care.

There are occasions when we may want to use the climbing rope as the soft good in our climbing anchor. And there are occasions when we might want the same lead climber to climb multiple pitches in a row (block leading). What happens when we want to do both? How do we overcome having the rope we need to take up with us being used in the anchor that is keeping us safe?

The Flat Overhand Bend, also called the Offset Overhand Bend, has gotten a bit of a bad reputation, sometimes being called the European Death Knot. But reputable organizations, like the American Mountain Guides Association, actually recommend this knot for double-strand rappels. So, what are the pros and cons of this knot, how do we tie it, when can we use it, and for what applications might it not be as good of choice?

When we have a damaged section of our rope and need to rappel (abseil) off the route, we can either go through a procedure to pass the knot while on a double-strand rappel, or we can switch to a single-strand rappel and avoid the knot pass altogether. But our setups into a single-strand rappel come with tradeoffs. Here are four methods along with some pros and cons for each.

Because our entire family of four are climbers (to varying degrees), we have climbed as a team of four, on occasion. This is an unusual occurrence for most climbers, but for families with two kids of similar age, it happens fairly regularly. The same methods that can efficiently get a family of four up a multi-pitch route can get any other four-person team up a route when splitting the team into two twosomes is not an option.

Given how often I and my twin sons climb together, we've had to get fairly efficient at belay stance transitions. One such transition that (hopefully) happens almost every climb is the transition from climbing to rappelling down the route. If we can make these transitions fast and safe, we save time to climb more or more readily beat the weather or darkness setting in. Here is one climbing-to-rappelling transition that works for a team of three.

My twin boys are new multi-pitch climbing leaders. That means they need to trust each other and I need to trust them, as well. How did I enter them into this new climbing discipline? Well, some of the work around exposure to, practice of, and eventual attempts at leading multi-pitch are relevant to any new multi-pitch leader.