Posts by Benedikt Bauer
There's one exercise where I can't remember the name but let's call it climbing marathon. It is best done in a gym at the end of your climbing session when you are already somewhat pumped. Search ...
Firn/névé: Snow consisting of several millimeters sized grains that develop by repeated melting in the sun and freezing over again during the night. Typically occurring in late winter and spring w...
The answer might be already hidden in the answer to this question: In the US, there seems to be no standardized norm for sleeping bags, i.e. every manufacturer can write onto the label whatever the...
First of all: Walking a glacier contains some serious risks and roping up is not enough to cover that risks, but also knowledge of crevasse rescue is needed. Therefore I strongly recommend a glacie...
What came to my mind when I read WedaPashi's answer about bicycle handles was the use of old bicycle tubes to build some sheath. The rubber of the tube is flexible but it's not too easy to perforat...
Apart from the practical advantages mentioned in practicality of beards, there's also some aspects that are special to remote and/or high altitude trekking: Melting snow to obtain water costs a lo...
For central Europe I can recommend www.wanderreitkarte.de, which is a German site but has also an English and Italian language layer. Its data is based on openstreetmap data which is (at least in G...
I don't think you have to treat that topic significantly different than on lower altitudes (but I have to admit, I have never been higher than 4300 m) as long as you stick to trekking. As you alr...
A crevasse that wide cannot just be jumped across (unless you're among the top long jumpers of the world), therefore you have only two possibilities: avoid it or build a bridge over it. Typically ...
There can't be any general rule on testing equipment but you should have tested at least all the features that you think you will need during your journey. You also do not necessarily have to test ...
I use the (double) Fisherman's knot for such cases. It's easy to tie and has a clear and concise form (easy to check if done right). As already mentioned in nivag's answer, it can be hard to untie ...
I assume that by hiking shoes you mean robust hiking shoes which are more or less closed (i.e. not consisting of mesh material or the like). In terms of breathability it is also a huge difference i...
First of all I have to admit that the following is mostly not based on knowledge but more or less on educated guessing, so take it with a grain of salt. Alpine tours Let's first consider hiring a...
As it is stated in this Wikipedia article, the sun protection factor (SPF) roughly describes how the time that your skin is able to protect itself from sunburn is elongated. To take the Wikipedia e...
Ice screws have a tendency for pressure melting if constantly loaded over some time. Therefore if you build your fixed point belay system and and keep it under more or less constant load while bela...
Unless other gear like e.g. harnesses which are designed to take a certain load over and over again, climbing ropes get kind of "used up" with every fall they have to take. According to UIAA and ot...
In the comments to my answer on Can you use a rope that has been in storage for a few years? the question arose if one could have some expert check a used rope whether it is still safe to use. As a...
In general climbing ropes are quite robust in terms of storage. The Safety Research Group ("Sicherheitskreis") of the German Alpine Club (DAV) has done a lot of research about this in the 90ies and...
There are basically two things to distinguish. The one is overall fitness, stamina, and core strength, the other is to endure some of the stress of the backpack on your shoulders over longer time. ...
If you ever have climbed some days in granite and tried to hold a hot coffee mug afterwards, you will know that sanding away your skin isn't a great idea especially to improve your climbing perform...
I think your assumptions are correct. To my knowledge in a mountain environment you are quite safe as long as you follow some simple rules, which you mostly already named: The water was not stand...
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