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.

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.

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.

When we want to close our rope system, which is something we should do when rappelling or belaying - along with other circumstances, we often will choose a barrel knot. Here is how we tie one and some potential mistakes to avoid.

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.

I was asked to demonstrate making a climbing harness using only the rope while ensuring it had leg loops. So, here it is.

Like most things in climbing, what is "safer" depends on circumstance. In our full video we are looking at rope blocking options: knot blocks, carabiner blocks, and the Reepschnür hitch (and some of the modifications to it) in order to explore the security at the rappel (abseil) anchor point versus ease of retrieving our rope.

Do we need to add a stopper knot when we tie into the climbing rope with a figure eight retrace knot? Does it help? Could it be harmful in any way? Let's find out.

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.

When we are trying to move fast over moderate terrain, rope management can often be the difference in speed. So, when we need to bring two end roped climbers closer together to avoid rope dragging over loose ground or around corners of winding terrain, this technique is about the fastest way possible to shorten that rope.

When we want to change lead climbers on a glacier, we have to do so in a way that still protects the team from crevasse falls. The full video provides three methods for getting a trailing climber into the lead position.

A 6-to-1 crevasse rescue system, or a "z-haul" on the back of a "drop loop," is a flexible system that can mitigate many of the problems that arrive in various crevasse rescue scenarios. In the full video, we demonstrate setting up and using the base system given a team of three climbers.

A non-rated webbing is what comes with most chalk bags. But we can replace that flimsy webbing with a more robust cord that still functions for its main purpose, keeping our chalk bag attached to us, while also providing material we can use to facilitate an escape from a route, should we ever need it.

We have fallen into a crevasse that is overhanging. We are free hanging, unable to touch the wall. We are tight against our knot, so have little rope slack to work with. The full video gets into we do first, to stabilize our situation, and then how we ascend the rope to self-extract.

How can you tell when your climbing rope is core shot? And if it is core shot, what can we do about it? Let's look at a core shot rope, study its properties compared to a healthy rope, and talk about how to manage the rope both in the field and once we get it back home.

If we have a climbing partner injured on rappel (abseil) who is weighting the rope, how can we get quickly down to them to render aid? The full video demonstrates this method and describes how it has evolved over time.

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.

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.

Long cord can tangle, be difficult to deploy, or even trip us if racked poorly on our climbing harness. Here's how the weave wrap can keep long cord stored compactly, stay tangle free, and remain deployable with one hand.

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.