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Sometimes when I'm trad climbing it seems really tough to avoid an awkward belay, and a common type of awkwardness is when the belay device ends up too low. Below is a drawing of a situation I was ...
I have recently planned to go for a long trail that passes through a territory that is known for elephants. While speaking of camping overall, I know what basics should I be following, but are the...
Have you used portable folding solar panels (5-20W) like Anker or GoalZero with much success? It seems like they would really only work well on a pack trip if you have a day off periodically to re...
I've seen a few of these comparisons around but I've always struggled to make sense of them. At the moment I do quite a lot of Alpine style routes (lowish grade (HS), long multi pitch routes, typ...
I'm reading up on winter technique. The book im reading states: Most (slab) avalanches happen on slopes between 30 and 45 degrees I think I've seen this before but ; how do I recognise (easil...
How can I clean my hiking boots after any hike I made and how can I clean them after extended use e.g. multi day hike? How can i clean them back home and on the field?
I was thinking of heading to some of the northern California national forests, but I wasn't sure which to pick. I've read all the relevant links in each fs.udsa.gov website, including attractions, ...
It's always been a dream to thru-hike the A.T. but life is looking like I will not be able to tackle that until retirement. The doesn't mean that I cannot do sections of it as a day/weekend/week he...
I want to practice my self arrest technique. So I need to find a snowy slope to slide down and practice digging my ice axe in, turning, etc. What kind of slope should I be looking for? What kind ...
I am a backcountry skier/snowshoes hiker and I finally want to do an overnight experience in the Alps. The Simplon Dorf area would be ideal (for I can access it quite easily), but any southern Sw...
So we were out looking for some new ice to climb today and discovered this short pitch of ice: There's only one problem: The ice is on the wrong side of a rather wide creek. The nearest cross...
I've been reading this book about mountain scrambling in Washington State, U.S., and at some points it mentions the idea of using a hand line on some more exposed routes to give something to hold o...
I have plenty of gear and I live in a small apartment. I am planning to buy an outdoor closet to put on the balcony to get some extra space. Here's a sample to show you how it would be like. I ...
A few years ago I, er… a friend of mine, put up a rope swing in a nearby park. It's in a large eucalyptus, about 25 metres high, and is much loved by many local kids – and parents. Originaly I ju...
This week, when diving mostly with people more experienced than myself, I noticed something about my buoyancy compared to theirs. I'm wondering how to fix it. Before setting off, we all selected w...
We're planning a trip to walk from Macugnaga (Italy) to Saas-Fee (Switzerland), probably as a 2-day hike over the Monte Moro pass through the Alps. The trip is planned for August 2015. Has anyone...
I was hiking with some friends and we concluded that most/all our bags have ridiculously long waist straps that leave lots of extra strap that is annoying or must be tidied away. Additionally, some...
Is it a matter of personal preference, or are there advantages to using different front-point setups on your crampons specific to what you are climbing? For example, I'm still just getting into ic...
It's easy to get overwhelmed with all the different types and diameters of accessory cords. I usually always get 7mm for making my prusiks and cordalettes, but I've often wondered who uses the smal...
Me and my partner will be spending a week in February in the Lake District, UK (Monday to Friday). We want to get as much walking in as possible and attempt a number of the peaks / ridges. We are...
The old saying goes that Innuit have a 1000 names for snow (as @venture2099 says this isn't actually true but you get my point). This kind of makes sense to describe the various states and types of...
How safe is sleeping in bear country? I, too, like to sleep in a bivy sack under the stars. And while during the summer I am not too concerned about wolves (in spite of locals reporting attack...
V-threads, or Abalakov threads (after the inventor Vitaly Abalakov), can be tricky to make (especially left handed in the dark...), but when you miss the mark on your first attempt, or second attem...
When ice skating on a frozen lake or river, how thick should the ice be in order to have fairly high confidence you aren't going to fall through? A small drill (for ice fishing) is available to de...
I am looking for good protocol on waxing my cross country skis (Salomon Equipe 8 Classic skis). I have: cork block stiff nylon brush wax removing fluid & paper scraper ski*go waxes; blue (...
