A hundred years ago my great-grandfather walked out on my great-grandmother, leaving her with two young children to raise, Jack and Twila. Seventy-five years ago, Jack’s young wife died of cancer, leaving him alone with a 6-month-old son, Don. Don is my father. I was raised by two loving parents and I never thought about […]
Climbing onsight, meaning leading a pitch or route with no prior knowledge of the details about protection or movements, is de rigueur in alpinism, where you start at the bottom of the mountain and climb to the top and, typically, descend another way. So if you want to climb difficult alpine rock routes, you’d better […]
#AlpinePrinciples Debriefing a complicated climbing day can be one of the best ways to learn and strengthen your climbing partnerships. This is something I adopted from the guide-training process I went through back in the 1990s. At Alpine Mentors, we debriefed every day of climbing, and all came away with a feeling that this process […]
Bouldering 4×4 drills have been around for a long time. But what are they and when should you do them? I first heard about 4x4s one of the first times I ever entered a bouldering gym. It was the mid-1990s in Salt Lake City and I was with Kim Csizmazia and early sport climbing pioneer […]
In the Alpine Principles video series, one of the most popular videos to date has been “Pay Attention.” It covers a lot of important topics in a short time: speed, efficiency, random chances, situational awareness, partner communications, staying attached, and the risks of “easy” climbing. I’d like to take the opportunity here to flesh these […]
The first video in the Alpine Principles video series is titled “Perfect Preparation.” That this title is first about making judgments in alpine climbing, mountaineering, ski mountaineering, and mountain running is neither an accident nor a coincidence. In fact, a major subprinciple of this concept, which Uphill Athlete is dedicated to, is physical preparation. Since […]
Denali climbing season is here! While over 1,200 climbers attempt the highest point in North America each season, the success rate on Denali hovers around 50 percent. Denali is a very unique mountain. Climbers are faced with a combination of massive glaciers, continuous winter conditions, and frequent storms that can be both windy and produce […]
Nutrition planning for a high-altitude expedition is different from planning for training at home. Above 3,000 to 4,000 meters, appetite declines. Above 5,000 meters, hypoxic-induced anorexia is nearly universal. At the same time, metabolic rate and daily energy expenditure increase. The result is a caloric deficit that most climbers do not adequately offset, leading to […]
Alpinist Vince Anderson explains his thought process for locating and building a belay while ice climbing. The process is much the same when determining where to belay on a multipitch alpine route. Among the factors he considers are how protected the stance is, how comfortable it is, and how solid the ice is for building […]
When I was young I discovered climbing, through my parents. I was fascinated by the big world of mountains from day one. I can’t say I ever made a conscious decision to become a climber; I followed a path of fascination that developed into a love. Thirty years on and I’m still climbing and I […]
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