Adventure Spirit Blog

Climbers the world over know that Chamonix is an epicenter for alpinism. But another thing that adds to this valley's charms is the wide range of options to enjoy on rest and rain days. That is coupled with the incredible array of options available…

Chamonix provides unsurpassed access to alpine objectives. With minimal approaches and an ability to switch geography and objectives based on conditions, you can easily climb two to three times as many routes as you might on a similar trip to the…

Sometimes in alpinism, the crux of a climb is getting to the climb. Fortunately, the Geneva airport is pretty manageable and with Chamonix only about 1h30m away, that's really not the case with climbing in the French, Swiss, and Italian Alps. That…

Everyone who climbs knows that the techniques necessary for success extend far beyond simply knowing a bunch of rope tricks--you've got to have the right mindset as well. The same is true for the AMGA SPI Course & Exam/Assessment. In this piece,…

Quebec's Hautes Gorges area is quickly becoming legendary for the ease of access it offers to major ice lines like Pomme d'Or, La Loutre, and La Triolet--not to mention the many other solid, if smaller lines throughout the area.

Climbing, culture, cuisine--The French Alps has it all. And I'm getting set to again share all that it offers this Summer 2024. Let's go--Allons y!

Climbing in the mountains is challenging and very little in the modern day-to-day world prepares us for it. So, we must consciously create challenge in our daily life that will prepare ourselves for the mountain challenges. These are the primary…

The single smoothest way to go from top-out-to-rappel.

If you (and your partners) are still tethering into the anchor before going onto rappel, I do believe you're doing it wrong. Social media is so plush with tech tips that it hardly needs mine,…

Easily to get to—yet remote in feel once you’re there—the North Cascades offers a diverse array of incredible alpine climbing options. From the sheer ice faces of Mount Baker’s North Ridge to the knife-edge rock spine of Forbidden Peak’s West Ridge,…

Frankenstein is one of the Northeast's premiere ice climbing destinations. Here are route descriptions and information regarding how to best tackle Hard Rane, Chia, and Bob's Delight.

Frankenstein is one of the Northeast's premiere ice climbing destinations. Here are route descriptions and information regarding how to best tackle The Smear, Pegasus Left, and Pegasus Right.

Many people question the value of hiring a climbing guide; however, a skilled guide-instructor can aid climbers in enhancing their safety, efficiency, and enjoyment of the activity much more quickly than bumbling through it on their own. This post…

An article with particular relevance now, far from the summits...

Below, you'll find the start of an article I wrote awhile back about the proper mindset for mountain climbing. In this period, when people are taking responsibility and…

Snow sliders devote much more time to analyzing their route decision-making than do ice climbers, it's been my experience. That process helps reveal the human factors involved in deciding our goals and objectives in hazardous environments. Revealing…

“What does the outdoors mean to you?”

This question was recently posed to me by @humans_of_the_mountains for its portrait-exploration piece on the subject. I thought it'd make an interesting TTH exploration, so here goes!...

What is the value of “tradition”?

Climbers are fond of celebrating “Friendsgiving”--an iconoclastic take on the Thanksgiving tradition, shared at crags with friends devoted to a similar passion and the love and energy it provokes. So rebellious and…

Just back from some time in retreat. I hesitated to post this, as A) announcing you meditate has a kind of air of pompousness to it and B) it could be seen as having nothing to do with climbing. But, I decided that both of those hesitations were…

“I gotta have a 4WD, I'm a skier/climber”...

I hear this comment frequently from people who take pride in being “outdoorsy,” who likely see themselves as “eco-minded,” and it baffles me—particularly in the NE. This is also frequently followed by, “I…

Top-roping is absolutely insane! I say this to my SPI students, somewhat tongue-in-cheek, as I mean “TR-ing done incorrectly”...but so much of it is. Here are the reasons why...

“Do you ever get tired of [insert objective]?” I get asked this question while guiding popular routes not infrequently. While I understand this question on its face, the underlying preconceptions seem to belie a misunderstanding of what climbing…

What do climbing and backcountry skiing have in common? Both take place in potentially hazardous environments that present rescue risks. How are these two activities different?--Only in one of them has a universally recognized minimum standard of…

In light of some recent incidents involving new leaders, I was talking with a friend about best practices for learning to lead. He suggested mock leading was an essential part of the process. I quickly agreed. During our climbing day, I reflected…

Thoughtful Thursday Launch: How many types of fun are there?...Beyond Types 1 and 2...

As people plod down from a climb, there's often discussion about “Types of Fun” and where the day's particular climbing experience fits into that scheme. The…

Thoughtful Thursday is meant as a counterweight (but not a criticism of) the oh-so-popular Tech Tuesday posts out in the climbing world. An attempt to bring some mind into the muscle. If all we can bring back from the mountains and share are ideas…

Penn State recently made the headlines by banning the student-led outdoor program from running programs outdoors. This article reflects looks at the various models for running collegiate outdoor programs and the risks each involves, risks that are…

Ice climbing is an activity unique in the winter sports sphere. It is, by turns, both aerobic and anaerobic, wet and dry, stop and go. Being prepared for an ice climb means wearing the proper clothes to help regulate your body temperature in a…

From an article that appeared in the August 2014 issue of Climbing Magazine. Experience-driven tips and tricks for cooking in the alpine. Check out Climbing Magazine to view the complete on-line article with photos.

The Jetboil MiniMo is another version of Jetboil's original innovative—but now outdated—stove design. The MiniMo, slimmed down to 14.6 ounces and 5" x 6" dimensions, is likely an effort to appeal to alpine climbers. Although the MiniMo offers some…

This season, DMM enters the fray with the Switch. With dual offset grips and a radically curved shaft, in essence it references the Nomic. But, put the two tools side by side and you'll quickly notice the first difference: Though both are marketed as…

After flying into Lower Ruth Gorge in early May—following a five-day wait while more than two feet of snow fell—I began to doubt my "dark horse decision" to bring along the Big Agnes Battle Mountain 2 tent.

Omega's Link Cam takes camming devices to the next level by separating the cam lobe into interlocking pieces that collapse onto one another along the stem, allowing for a camming ratio far beyond that of the ordinary. Four sizes are available,…

The Sum'Tec is offered with either an adze or a hammer, with various shaft lengths: 52 cm for the hammer version and 52 or 59 cm for the adze version. Each features a 3.5 mm "B"-rated pick connected to a "T"-rated, slightly curved aluminum shaft. A…

When I first started ice climbing, I experimented with homemade versions as so many others have: a file, a coat hanger, and the "cutting-edge" advancement of capping the hook using a used-up tube of lip balm, so it wouldn't shred everything it came…

Climbing the North Ridge of Mount Baker is a unique summertime alpine objective: with the exception of a few ice couloirs in Sierras, it's pretty hard to find true blue ice climbing smack dab in the middle of the dog days of summer—but the North…

Last winter a climber with Adventure Spirit Rock+Ice+Alpine was asking me about the holding power of ice screws. We discussed the various lab studies that have been done (a list of links to some interesting ones can be found at the bottom of this…

My idea of road trips has always had a distinctly east-west orientation to them: You get in the car and travel along the latitudes. This past month, we turned logic on it's head and decided to explore the longitudes and long ice lines of The Gaspe…

The start was face climbing edges and a few blocks, but then about 40' up it turned into an interesting crack-corner, for 15' of fun, then a traverse to the P1 anchors of Quartz Crack. We spied a cool crack system and right-facing corner 40' left of…

Climbing the North Ridge of Baker earlier this month, I spied a beautiful pair of mountains to the west and wondered what they offered. Paging through the Becky Cascades book, I found out that I was looking at the Twin Sisters and that the rock on…

Arriving at our 6600' tent site in good time on July 10th, Rakesh and I headed out to explore further after covering some crack rescue (as it looked like it might come in handy out there!). There was an old boot pack which we followed for awhile,…