Short clips

Trailers to full length videos and stand-alone quick tips; everything we make that is under 60 seconds

Short Clips Jason Kolaczkowski Short Clips Jason Kolaczkowski

1 of 3 Methods to Avoid Speed DESTROYING Rope Issues on a 3 Person Climbing Team

With twin boys, this dad spends a lot of time climbing in a team of three, and we most frequently use double ropes. Double rope systems can create tangles that can dramatically slow the team's progress. So, here is the first of three techniques that help us avoid or quickly resolve rope management issues. The other techniques are in the full length video.

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Short Clips Jason Kolaczkowski Short Clips Jason Kolaczkowski

Why Traversing Climbs Are Trickier Than You Think!

With twin boys, this dad spends a lot of time climbing in a team of three, and we most frequently use double ropes. Double rope systems can create tangles that can dramatically slow the team's progress. So, here is the first of three techniques that help us avoid or quickly resolve rope management issues. The other techniques are in the full length video.

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Short Clips Jason Kolaczkowski Short Clips Jason Kolaczkowski

Preview to: How and Why Climbers Use Tandem Rappels

I was asked if a tandem rappel could be done instead of a counterbalanced rappel because a tandem rappel is safer. In some circumstances, particularly in rescues, tandem rappels are used. But, while generally safer than a counterbalanced rappel, there are still too many safety and efficiency downsides for it to be a standard rappelling technique outside of emergency situations.

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Short Clips Jason Kolaczkowski Short Clips Jason Kolaczkowski

Preview to: High-altitude First Ascensionist Taught Me this Improvised Aid Climbing Technique

When we get into uncertain alpine terrain, things can change quickly. Terrain features can change, snow and ice coverage can change, and weather is more dynamic. Any of these changes could confront us with a pitch that might be too hard to climb given our current footwear and carried equipment. The full video provides an improvised gear and movement sequence that may help us continue on our climb.

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Short Clips Jason Kolaczkowski Short Clips Jason Kolaczkowski

Preview to: Can You Make the Perfect Crevasse Rescue Anchor?

The short answer is, "no, you cannot make the perfect crevasse rescue anchor." The inherent tradeoffs between speed and anchor strength and adaptability mean that we have a series of risk-mitigating decisions we need to make before we ever start hauling our climbing partner out of the crevasse. The full video gets into those tradeoffs so that we can make the best choices we can should we ever really need to make them.

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Short Clips, Quick Tips (08) Jason Kolaczkowski Short Clips, Quick Tips (08) Jason Kolaczkowski

A Route Plan is MORE than Just a Map. It's Mental Flexibility

When we head out into the backcountry for a climb, hike, or backpacking trip, having a sense of the surrounding topography can prove essential. Beyond having devices and apps, taking the time to plot out routes and familiarize ourselves with area maps creates the mental images we need to make decisions on the fly when things get complicated.

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Short Clips Jason Kolaczkowski Short Clips Jason Kolaczkowski

Preview to: the Right Cook Pot Can Save You HOURS Across a Climbing Expedition

In the older days of gas stoves, conventional wisdom was that a larger pot would make turning snow into boiling water more efficient when on a climbing expedition. But new equipment may have changed the calculus. The full video gets into an experiment I ran to see if smaller or larger pots would be more efficient given different stove types.

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Short Clips Jason Kolaczkowski Short Clips Jason Kolaczkowski

Preview to: Mastering The Figure Eight Retrace Knot, Perfect EVERY Time

New climbers, and even some experienced climbers, can improve both efficiency and safety by learning how to tie a high-quality figure eight retrace knot regardless of changing rope diameters. The full video provides a step-by-step process to get a knot that meets all the best-practice criteria, a breakdown of those criteria so we understand why they are important, and a walkthrough of a final knot check we should perform every time we tie in.

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