American IFMGA Mountain Guide. Climbing and backcountry ski instruction based in Boulder, Colorado. Leading climbing and skiing trips around the world.
20/09/2026
Summit lunch break. Rock climbing season is in full swing in Colorado!
17/09/2026
I write a lot of longer form educational content on my blog but it doesn’t ever get the views the videos do. Hopefully these can be the middle ground! Here’s a discussion of how we learn about mountain sports and what roll mentorship plays.
16/09/2026
Winter programs go live October 1st. If you are interested in scheduling any custom programs please get in touch asap. After programs go live it becomes a lot harder to get on the schedule.
31/08/2026
Principle self rescue skills in order of priority. I find these techniques to be most commonly used in this order. If you don’t know how to do all of them it’s not the end of the world if you’re in less committed simple environments. As you add commitment to your route selection scale your proficiency with self rescue to match. What other skills do you find important to practice?
- Improvised ascent and decent using an ATC on double strands
- Releasing a loaded ATC in top belay mode
- Single strand ascent using a grigri (or ATC) counterbalancing off a lead climber
- Counterbalance rappel with an injured climber
- Lowering off an anchor with an ATC
- Passing a knot while lowering off an anchor
- Hauling
- Tandem rappelling
- Improvised chest harness
- Load transfer with an injured climber while counterbalance rappelling
Want more high angle improvised self rescue training? Check out our October programs in Boulder.
31/08/2026
Key elements of a chest harness:
- Legs are fixed and cannot slide
- Doesn’t allow anything to pinch around the neck
It’s really nice to be able to create a chest harness with a double length sling. If you use a knot to join the harness it often is hard ton use a double length sling with a bigger person
Using a clove takes much less material in the joining knot and makes adjusting the length of the legs a lot easier.
Want more high angle improvised self rescue training? Check out our October programs in Boulder.
31/08/2026
DANGER! This self rescue technique is one of the most dangerous but also one of the more commonly useful—releasing a loaded plate. If you use this technique to release the plate you are using your body weight to pull the plate open. In many cases this means gravity wants to pull the plate loose and you need to resist it. If you slip or pull to hard it pins open and releases catastrophically. There have been several reported accidents where the person opening the plate wasn’t ready and pinned it open dropping their follower to the ground. It releases suddenly and without a lot of friction. What options do we have to make this system more fool proof? Want to become more proficient with improvised high angle self rescue? Check out our October classroom and field sessions.
24/08/2026
Send this to a friend who needs a tower safari. Moab Utah October.
22/08/2026
Name that tower! Rocky Mountain National Park
20/08/2026
The clove hitch/double length sling anchor is one of my favorite ways to build a three piece anchor. When you have good rock and can keep the pieces tight it allows you an extra bit of extension with the sling. This often can make all the difference and can make for a really svelt anchor.
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