When the boys were nine years old, we took them to Trek the Tour de Mont Blanc. We’ve spent the last few weeks using that trip as a case study for some expedition planning videos. Well, we also made a very short movie about the trip, just a remembrance for us and maybe a preview for any viewers who are considering going.

No climbing, backpacking, or trekking expedition goes perfectly. We get some things in planning and executing the expedition just right, but we also don't do enough of some things (like, maybe, communication) or too much of others (like, maybe, overtraining). So, we like to enable continuous improvement by doing a facilitated retrospective on a completed expedition. What we learn from everyone's unique perspectives helps leverage strengths and avoid pitfalls when we head out on the next big trip.

Trust is key to any team endeavor, and belief in our teammates is just as key to an expedition's success. It doesn't matter if we are climbing, backpacking, or trekking. Multi-day adventures in the outdoors can hinge on our ability to lean on one another. Our family's trek of the Tour de Mont Blanc proved to be one example. The full video describes how the training we put into fitness and shared systems, which we have to do anyway, can be multiplied in the value they bring to expedition teams.

For any expedition, whether to climb, trek, or do anything else, we’ve got to get ourselves and our gear to the right places at the right time. What we need for the travel segments will be different than what we need during the adventure portions of the trip, and we need to make sure that - as silly as it sounds - the people and the gear meet up when needed. That’s logistics. And there is a lot that goes into logistics planning for an expedition. Here's a mental model to help get us started.

In Marc Chauvin and Rob Coppolillo’s book “The Mountain Guide Manual,” they discuss various systems designed to speed parties along technical terrain, including options for improving communication. When in blocky terrain, where a lead climber at a belay stance may not normally be able to see or clearly communicate with a following climber, they provide this option for safely moving the belay back from the anchor when in an exposed position so as to keep both the leader and the follower secure, and with better line of sight and communication, throughout the process.

In Ian Nicholson’s excellent book “Climbing Self-Rescue,” he provides a description of this stretcher you can make even if you have no additional materials other than the climbing rope that you already have with you. When we are climbing fast and light and aren’t taking trekking poles, skis, or other solid objects with us, this is a handy technique to have available should an accident occur.

I was asked if I could think of a way to ascend a single-strand, fixed climbing rope, using nothing but that rope. Well, I thought of one. Here's a video on the mental approach I took to solving the problem, along with a step-by-step guide. It serves no practical purpose, but it might be an interesting look at how we can take knowledge of system components and build a whole new system.

The proliferation of new light-but-strong materials has led to some questions about just how skinny and light a tag line (a static rope used just to retrieve your main rope) can be when used for a rappel (abseil). Well, there are some considerations that we need to keep in mind if we decide to save weight by going super light with a tag line. Here, we get into the risks we add as well as how to mitigate them.

If we have a single point of damage on our climbing rope and need to rappel (abseil), two climbers can work as a team and use two different instances of fixing the rope to perform two different single-strand rappels. We then avoid having to use time-consuming knot passing techniques by avoiding, rather than passing, that knot. Here's how we do it.

It used to be the case that ascending the climbing rope was done using two soft goods wrapped around the rope with two friction hitches. That method requires that we put the waist prusik further up the rope than the leg loop. But modern tools have inverted that configuration. The major benefit of that setup is more than efficiency of ascent; it's much simpler to overcome a lip of rock or ice, now. Here's why.

We use friction hitches in many different circumstances in climbing. Understanding the strengths and weaknesses of different hitches can help us select the right hitch for the right situation. Here are six hitches that I turn to most frequently along with a discussion of their pros and cons so that we can better match a hitch to a need.

End Roping is a technique that allows us to move a climbing party of three quickly through moderate terrain without the fuss of more complicated rope systems. But there are risk mitigations we should implement to set the system up and there are circumstances when it would not make a safe option. Here's some information on when and how to employ an end roping system.

The kind of blocky, ledgy terrain that we often see on moderate climbs presents both ample natural protection points as well as communication and rope abrasion challenges. Well, we can use the former to help mitigate against the later. Here are a few different methods for extending a belay stance and master point out when faced with a comparatively safe, but large and communication hindering, ledge.

Over the years, and even decades, of my climbing career, I’ve noticed an increase in the frequency of smoke from wildfires impacting my - and my family’s - outdoor activities. We now factor in smoke and wildfires into our climbing, hiking, and climbing planning process just like we would with weather. Here, we go deeper into some resources we use for that planning.

If we feel the need to get down from a climb quickly, we may be tempted to employ a counterbalance rappel. That rappel technique does allow two rappels, simultaneously, so it is faster, but it adds risks that we need to mitigate. Here are six tips that will mitigate those risks.

While on rappel (or abseil), for several reasons we could end up with a rope that is too short to make it to our next safe rappel anchor using a standard two-strand rappel on a doubled-over rope. If we end up in that situation, we need a procedure to deal with things in a safe way. Here is such a procedure.

In some circumstances, attaching two ropes together and lowering a first climber down on a single strand may be the safest way to descend a climbing route. If we do so, we need to be able to pass the rope-joining knot through the lowering system safely and efficiently. Here are two methods for doing so.

There are many ways to coil our climbing ropes. Just like climbing knots, though, each coil method has its own benefits and drawbacks. So, here are four different ways to coil a climbing rope along with a description of some circumstances when one coil method might prove a better option.

If we are belaying a climber from the top on a multipitch climb, and if that second climber is unable to make a hard move, we can help them past the point where they are stuck by using a haul assist. Here are four haul assists, from least complex (with limited assistance gained) to more complex and robust.

If we have a climbing rope loaded below us (maybe a climber is unconscious and weighting the rope), we may not be able to attach our rappel device, or even if our device was attached before the rope got loaded, being on a "fireman's belay" might keep us from moving down. Here is how we can descend a rope when it is pulled tight below us.