Finding the best climbing slings and runners can completely change how your rack feels at the crag. I have spent the last several months climbing with these slings on limestone trad routes, granite walls, and alpine ice, and the differences between them are real. A good runner keeps rope drag manageable, builds clean anchors, and […]

If you're heading into the world of trad climbing, your rack tells the story before you ever tie in. Over the past two seasons I've placed thousands of nuts and stoppers on granite in the Sierra, sandstone in Indian Creek, and gneiss at Joshua Tree, and the right passive protection turns a sketchy climb into […]

I still remember the day my first climbing rope came back from a long trad day looking like it had been dragged through a gravel parking lot. Sand worked deep into the sheath, the rope took on a rough feel under my hands, and within two seasons I could see the wear at the bend […]

When you are hanging 500 feet up a big wall, the last thing you want to question is your gear. Finding the best ascenders for climbing means choosing devices that grip reliably, slide smoothly, and survive years of abuse on rock, ice, and mud. Our team has spent the better part of testing eight of […]

I still remember the burn. Three pitches up a sandstone tower in Utah, I dropped into my rappel and let the rope feed fast through my bare hand. By the 100-foot mark my palm felt like someone had held a lit match against it. That was the day I started taking rappelling gloves seriously. After […]

Walking into a climbing gym for the first time can feel like stepping onto another planet. The holds look impossible, everyone seems to speak in code, and the gear wall stretches from floor to ceiling. Of all the equipment you will handle, nothing matters more than the harness strapped around your waist and legs. Finding […]

I've been climbing for over a decade, and I still remember the first time my buddy handed me his rack of quickdraws and said, "clip these every three meters." Within an hour, I understood why the best quickdraws for sport climbing aren't just accessories. They're the difference between a smooth redpoint attempt and a wrestling […]

A rock came loose. My partner was three feet below me on a multi-pitch route in Red Rocks. I heard the shout, then the sickening thud against her helmet. She walked away with a headache. The Black Dome that took the hit was cracked and unusable. That day cemented my obsession with finding the best […]

Finding the best belay devices means looking beyond a fancy brand label to how a device actually feels at the crag, the gym, or 200 feet up a multi-pitch route. I have spent the last several seasons testing assisted-braking and tube-style devices from Petzl, Black Diamond, Edelrid, and more across sport, trad, gym, and big-wall […]