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Climbing and Outdoor News from Here and Abroad - 10/30/2025

AlpineInstitute @alpineinstitute.bsky.social · 3d

Check out this week's #climbing,
#skiing, #mountainrescue and #outdoornews round-up!

www.alpineinstitute.com/climbing-and...

AAI News:

The Art of Finding Climbing Partners

AlpineInstitute @alpineinstitute.bsky.social · 4d

The Art of Finding a #Climbing Partner

www.alpineinstitute.com/the-art-of-f...

After our students take a program, we're often asked how to find climbing partners.

Micro cams live in the world of finger cracks and below—tiny constrictions where larger gear simply won’t go. These cams typically range from about 7.5mm up

AlpineInstitute @alpineinstitute.bsky.social · 5d

Understanding micro cams for #rockclimbing:

www.alpineinstitute.com/articles/und...

Understanding Micro Cams

Simul-climbing is an advanced climbing technique where two climbers move up a route at the same time while tied to the same rope. One climber takes the lead,

Reposted by AlpineInstitute

George Steffanos @gsteffanos.bsky.social · 6d

Ball of fire July sunset, New Britain Reservoir, Southington, Connecticut. July 20, 2020, 7:57 PM.

#sunset #hiking #lake

We are standing next to the shore of a lake. The surrounding ground is blanketed with a leafy green ground cover that from a distance resembles grass and small green shoots. The far shore has a wide band of that same green ground cover alongside the lake and then a forest of tall trees. The sky is mostly a soft gray blue, with gold and orange hazy clouds along the horizon. To the left, the sun is a bright golden ball just setting behind the forest. A large, interesting cluster of clouds is drifting above the woods. The bottoms of the clouds are dark gray, but their tops are painted gold by that setting sun.

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AlpineInstitute @alpineinstitute.bsky.social · 6d

Simul-Climbing Techniques: This is an advanced #climbing technique on rock, but is common on glaciers. #mountaineering #alpineclimbing

www.alpineinstitute.com/articles/sim...

Simul-Climbing Technique

What is the Difference Between Alpine Climbing and Mountaineering?

AlpineInstitute @alpineinstitute.bsky.social · 8d

What is the difference between alpine #climbing and mountaineering?

www.alpineinstitute.com/what-is-the-...

To the uninitiated, mountaineering and alpine climbing sound like two ways to say “climbing mountains.” And in a sense, that’s true — both involve heading

AlpineInstitute @alpineinstitute.bsky.social · 12d

The Matterhorn!

The American Alpine Institute was excited to host a bolt replacement clinic on Sunday, October 19th with the Washington Climber's Coalition. They have been

AlpineInstitute @alpineinstitute.bsky.social · 12d

The American Alpine Institute recently hosted a #climbing bolt replacement clinic in #Bellingham.

www.alpineinstitute.com/bolt-replace...

Bolt Replacement Clinic

A recent video on TikTok showed a woman being pulled out of a crevasse. She had been arrested by a fixed line while using the "lobster claw" technique in a

Reposted by AlpineInstitute

Lee Petersen @leepetersen.bsky.social · 13d

A Dall sheep at Polychrome Pass in Denali National Park, photographed in mid-spring.

More wildlife photos: photos.lwpetersen.com/Galleries/Al...

#alaska #wildlife #denalinationalpark #bikepacking

A Dall sheep stands on a tundra hillside at Polychrome Pass in Denali National Park. Its white coat contrasts with the brown, early-spring vegetation. The sheep faces to the right with its head slightly turned, showing one curved horn and a hint of wind-ruffled fur along its back.

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AlpineInstitute @alpineinstitute.bsky.social · 13d

Here is a very light overview of fixed line use in #climbing.

www.alpineinstitute.com/fixed-lines-...

Fixed Lines: A Primer

A spindrift avalanche is a light, powdery flow of snow that cascades down a mountain face — more like a snow waterfall than a traditional slab or loose snow

AlpineInstitute @alpineinstitute.bsky.social · 16d

Spindrift #avalanche hazard is something ice climbers need to be aware of...

www.alpineinstitute.com/spindrift-av...

Spindrift Avalanches

The Wilderness Act of 1964 is a landmark U.S. law that created the National Wilderness Preservation System, protecting over 100 million acres of federal land

Reposted by AlpineInstitute

Lee Petersen @leepetersen.bsky.social · 18d

Midwinter Sun — After months of low light, there’s a point in early February when I start to feel the sun return to Fairbanks, Alaska.

More photos: photos.lwpetersen.com/Portfolio-Im...

#Alaska #winter #sunlight

Snow-covered spruce trees stretch across a gently rolling landscape beneath a pale winter sun. The trees are tall and narrow, each heavily coated with thick layers of snow that bend their tops into curved shapes. Soft light filters through thin clouds, casting a faint golden glow across the snowdrifts and long, delicate shadows between the trees. The scene feels quiet and still, capturing the subtle warmth of returning sunlight in the middle of an Alaskan winter.

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AlpineInstitute @alpineinstitute.bsky.social · 17d

Please don't use #drones in Federally mandated Wilderness...

www.alpineinstitute.com/wilderness-a...

Wilderness and Drone Use

Climbing and Outdoor News from Here and Abroad - 10/16/2025

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AlpineInstitute @alpineinstitute.bsky.social · 17d

OR ski prices are going up. People are base jumping during the government shutdown. And there's an incredible true crime podcast out about a guy who lived in Squamish.

Read about this & a whole lot more in this week's climbing, skiing, mtn rescue and outdoor news roundup!

tinyurl.com/26su24ua

Northwest:

Oregon ski resort liability issues

AlpineInstitute @alpineinstitute.bsky.social · 18d

Prices are going up in Oregon #ski resorts for #skiers and #snowboarders.

www.alpineinstitute.com/oregon-ski-r...

According to SnowBrains, "Timberline Lodge announced an explanation for increased prices, citing the state’s broken recreational liability system, which has

The Truth about Mt. Everest

AlpineInstitute @alpineinstitute.bsky.social · 20d

No. Thousands of people were not stranded on #MtEverest last week. And this poorly reported story led to a lot of armchair non-mountaineers with even more ill-informed opinions...

www.alpineinstitute.com/the-truth-ab...

In October of 2025, it was reported that over a thousand people were stuck on Mt. Everest in an unseasonable snow storm. This did not happen.

National Park Fatality Statistics

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AlpineInstitute @alpineinstitute.bsky.social · 23d

People are afraid of the wrong things in the National Parks...

www.alpineinstitute.com/national-par...

If you get onto the wrong side of outdoor YouTube or outdoor TikTok, you'll start to believe that the biggest hazard in the outdoors are monsters like

The Balin Miller Accident and Knots at the End of Your Rope

AlpineInstitute @alpineinstitute.bsky.social · 24d

After another tragic death we have to revisit the hazard of open systems in the mountains...

www.alpineinstitute.com/the-balin-mi...

On October 1st, 2025, a rising star of American climbing died in a rappelling accident. Balin Miller was at the top of a big wall route in Yosemite when his

Butterfly Coil with a Bowtie finish

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AlpineInstitute @alpineinstitute.bsky.social · 25d

Coiling a rope with a butterfly and finishing it with a bow tie.

www.alpineinstitute.com/butterfly-co...

One of the most common ways to coil a rope is with a butterfly coil. The value of the coil is that it is very fast and that when you drop the rope, it doesn't