Alpine Logic

19/02/2024

So many new climbers, adventurers, and outdoor enthusiasts joined us here last week! 🙌🏻 A big welcome to all my new friends. If this is our first time meeting, I’m Silas- international mountain guide, AMGA president, dog dad, and founder of the Ascend coaching membership for climbers! When I’m not traveling the globe guiding my incredible clients, I’m creating and sharing resources for climbers from my home in the Gunks, NY. I’m so happy to have you here and I’d love to get to know you better inside one of my offerings. My f r e e ‘Mastering Knors & Hitches’ program is available in my b!o as is the Ascend Membership for climbers ready to take their skills and mindset to the next level. Welcome to the Alpine Logic community! 🏔

11/12/2023

Thank you to everyone who’s been writing to me about my new (f r e e) program, Mastering Knots & Hitches!

It’s incredibly inspiring to see climbers of all skill levels recommitting to this foundational practice, going deeper on knots they already know or trying their hand at a hitch that may be new to them.

If you would like to join the 200+ climbers already enrolled in this complimentary resource, head to https://alpinelogic.mykajabi.com/free

Keep it tight out there!

🏔

21/11/2023

Join Silas and the Alpine Logic community for a day of highway cleanup and climbing in the Gunks, NY! Cleanup day is Nov 26th, 9 am, followed by a cragging session. Let’s beautify and then scale new heights together! RSVP here https://alpinelogic.mykajabi.com/cleanup Can’t wait to see you there!

Join Alpine Logic for a day of community, cleanup, and climbing!

18/10/2023

bringing some absolute Gunks 🔥 to the masses!

It’s been so much fun climbing and working with Chris. He’s a total pro. And local legend! He’s also the one-man-show behind the lens for “The Ascend Membership” instructional videos.

Check it out in if you can.

04/10/2023

Just because something’s the “latest”doesn’t mean it’s the “greatest”.

The recent trend of belaying a follower/second with a Petzl Micro Traxion (or other toothed progress capture pulley) has baffled me.

This sort of use isn’t what the manufacturers designed the device for.

And what problem were we trying to solve by belaying this way? The difficulty of pulling rope through an auto/assisted locking device?

If this “solution” means that we now have to constantly be monitoring slack otherwise someone dies I consider this a step backwards.

I think we’ve missed the point…

For me, the fundamentals of choosing the best rope for a particular application comes first. Then I match a belay device that works well with that rope.

If you find that there’s too much friction in your belay equation it just means you haven’t properly matched your tools.

Using a device like the grigri to belay your second is a great way to reduce arm strain and provide your second the security they deserve.

02/10/2023

Am I working hard to make my life easier or better?

There was certainly a period in my life when I thought the goal was to make things easier. But that was a mistake - or at least not the whole truth. “Easy“ is tempting but almost never as fulfilling for me personally.

Putting in the work to make life better for myself and those around me though - that’s inspiring. That’s work worth doing.

What are you working towards?

31/08/2023

Last chance! One more space for the Sept 4th course in the Gunks.

“Self Rescue clinic: 101" summer & fall schedule is up here in the Gunks!

Clickable link in bio! ( https://bit.ly/rescue101 )

You’ll learn to:
• Create simple & clean rope systems that prevent hiccups from becoming big problems
• Improve problem-solving skills in the context of you or your partner being injured
• Move your team up and down technical ground in the event of an emergency, including:
- Rope ascension
- Lowering
- Hauling
- Technical rope transitions & load transfers
- Tandem rappelling

Pre-Requisite Experience:
• Able to toprope 5.7
• Climb indoors/outdoors at least 1-2 times per month
• At least 6 months of continuous climbing experience within the last year
• Some experience following or leading trad routes

01/08/2023

What does your inner critic say to you?

What does your inner critic say ABOUT you?

While I’m certain that my inner critic always has my best interest in mind, it doesn’t always employ the kindest strategies to get me where I need to be. But I’m working on it.

“Kinder. Gentler. More time for me.”

Less grinding it out / making it happen / sucking it up / toughing it out…proving my worth through my ability to withstand hardship and perform against all odds. That sh*t’s exhausting.

So to whoever might need to hear it…your worth as a human isn’t determined by your performance.

You are enough - just as you are today, just as you are now.

Your worth isn’t determined by your success. Or your failures. Your worth isn’t determined by how hard you climb or how fit you are. It isn’t determined by how good you are at your job. It isn’t determined by your bank account. Or your family.

You’re enough. You are perfect. Just as you are.

I love striving to improve. And I’m making sure it’s for healthier reasons these days.

29/07/2023

Man, Newfoundland is rad.

Feels like quite a while until ice season at the moment…

Luckily, ‘s article on our FA’s from the last couple seasons just came out to tide me over.

This pic is me on the last pitch of “Delerium” (WI6, M6)

Woohoo!

30/05/2023

“Self Rescue clinic: 101" summer & fall schedule is up here in the Gunks!

Clickable link in bio! ( https://bit.ly/rescue101 )

You’ll learn to:
• Create simple & clean rope systems that prevent hiccups from becoming big problems
• Improve problem-solving skills in the context of you or your partner being injured
• Move your team up and down technical ground in the event of an emergency, including:
- Rope ascension
- Lowering
- Hauling
- Technical rope transitions & load transfers
- Tandem rappelling

Pre-Requisite Experience:
• Able to toprope 5.7
• Climb indoors/outdoors at least 1-2 times per month
• At least 6 months of continuous climbing experience within the last year
• Some experience following or leading trad routes

15/04/2023

Warning!! 12kN carabiners are NOT ok for climbing.

These look identical to climbing carabiners - same size, color, similar construction….but not UIAA or CE rated gear for climbing. The UIAA standard for carabiners is 20kN+ along the long axis.

I had a new leader show up with these today - one on each cam. And they’d been used before. Luckily we realized before they left the ground and pulled them from the kit.

Yikes. Scary stuff.

Seek qualified instruction. Know someone that needs mentorship? Send them to the Ascend Membership! Link in my bio.

26/03/2023

Of all the variables at play in the mountains it’s only the internal that we have any control over.

Preparing our mind and body for what’s coming is always time well spent.

How do you prepare?

Is your training a mix of mind and body work?

22/03/2023

January 7, 2017 “Valhalla”

Climbing this route was a defining moment for me.

6 months earlier I’d crashed my mountain bike badly enough that I feared I’d never climb again.

Everything in my life aside from my marriage came to a screeching halt.

I was worried. But grateful that things hadn’t been worse.

After 8 weeks the broken scapula, vertebrae and ribs were healed enough to start physical therapy.

And a month later I hired the best personal trainer I knew, .

I was willing to accept never climbing again….but only after exhausting every option I knew of.

I started putting in the hours to transform my body.

This pitch was the concrete evidence I had been hoping for. Not only was I “back”….I had leveled up.

What a feeling!

Progress isn’t linear. But the hard work will pay off if we are consistent and patient.

In every context.

What are you working towards? Drop it in the comments!

🔥🔥🔥

18/03/2023

You may visit Newfoundland for the adventure but you’ll come back for the people.

And isn’t that the way of so many things in life?

The place, the activity, the achievement…all are less meaningful without someone to share the experience with.

For me, the value lies in the human connection. More and more it’s what I crave, seek and enjoy.

Though it still shows up occasionally, I don’t have much patience for my “Lone Wolf” these days.

I recognize the tendency earlier and no longer allow myself to slip so deeply down the rabbit hole.

Humanity. Community. Service. These are so much more interesting and powerful to me.

What lights you up?

14/03/2023

We can’t always be standing on the summit.

And the bigger the peak, the more work it is to reach the summit.

So the question becomes, can you enjoy the process? Even when it’s not fun?

11/03/2023

Bad beta is worse than no beta at all.

One challenge modern climbers face when “learning the ropes” is knowing who and what they can trust.

The pics in this post (from colleagues and friends of mine) are missing the forest through the trees. Fancy anchors can be fine. Fancy belay techniques have their place. But they aren’t the most important aspects of ice anchors.

When building ice screw anchors we must ensure screws are placed at least 30cm apart. By doing this we stack the odds that if we have a compromised screw that failure doesn’t create a catastrophic failure of the entire anchor. Poor ice quality, existing ice fractures, or a future fracture from a nearby axe swing propagating are all real concerns and could create complete anchor failure when screws are placed close together.

Conversations like this are exactly the reason I started “The Ascend Membership” a year and a half ago. For more information and to join a supportive community of conscientious climbers please check out the link in my bio.

Thanks to for the excellent visual in the last slide. 🙏

11/03/2023

Newfoundland.

I have so many stories and thoughts to share about this trip!

The terrain is amazing.

The people are the salt of the earth.

And for now, what I most need is to rest.

The ability to create the way I spend my time, both in a daily and seasonal sense, is one of the things I value most about the lifestyle that I have created as a climber, mountain guide and coach.

I am beyond grateful for the trust, support and love from each of you, and every single one of my clients.

More similar soon…..

All the love. 🙏 ❤️

📷

07/03/2023

Gratitude. 🙌

The cheat code for life. 🙏

The hack for creating a mindset shift. 🙃

The foundation for living a fulfilling life. 😘

Drop one thing you’re grateful for in the comments. 🔥

06/03/2023

At 600’ tall, the “Wayback Wall” feels on the small side in comparison to the surrounding big walls in this part of Newfoundland. At the same time it’s roughly the same vertical gain of the tallest sections of Lake Willoughby, New England’s premiere ice crag.

After scouting the wall the previous day we didn’t waste any time in taking advantage of the new terrain, ticking off the four obvious full-length routes in the following days.

On March 2nd and I climbed two excellent routes - “God’s Own Prototype” (WI5, 130m) and then “White Rabbit” (WI5+, 90m).

“God’s Own Prototype” follows a continuous runnel of perfect ice up a beautiful chimney feature. “White Rabbit” offers more varied and harder climbing, including navigating over and around blobs of overhanging ice and some of the amazing parasols that Newfoundland ice climbing is known for.

& climbed two additional routes in the center of the wall over a couple days but I’ll let them fill in the details.

Here’s to having adventures in wild places with good friends.

05/03/2023

Can’t know till you go!

I love finding out I was right. But I like being surprised even more.

Embracing the unknown is where true adventure starts.

We can do all the research in the world to predict what the future will bring but the only way to be certain about anything is to go take a look.

Where in your life do you embrace the unknown?

Where in your life do you shy away from uncertainty?

& straight-up giddy after going just a little further afield on a hunch…

The “Wayback Wall”.

New route info coming soon!

02/03/2023

“Newfin’ized” (WI5, 275m)

A beautiful route but unlikely to ever become popular given the 12 mile approach from an already remote town in northwestern Newfoundland.

and I were likely only the second party to ever swing tools into the route, a full 9 years after the first ascent by , Bayard Russell, & Chris Beauchamp in 2014.

14/09/2022

Due to popular demand I'll be running one more "Self Rescue clinic: 101" on Sept 28th in the Gunks!

Clickable link in bio! ( https://bit.ly/rescue101 )

You’ll learn to:
• Create simple & clean rope systems that prevent hiccups from becoming big problems
• Improve problem-solving skills in the context of you or your partner being injured
• Move your team up and down technical ground in the event of an emergency, including:
- Rope ascension
- Lowering
- Hauling
- Technical rope transitions & load transfers
- Tandem rappelling

Pre-Requisite Experience:
• Able to toprope 5.7
• Climb indoors/outdoors at least 1-2 times per month
• At least 6 months of continuous climbing experience within the last year
• Some experience following or leading trad routes

30/08/2022

I'll be running a "Self Rescue clinic: 101" twice this fall - October 10th & November 13th in the Gunks.

https://bit.ly/rescue101

You’ll learn to:

• Create simple & clean rope systems that prevent hiccups from becoming big problems

• Improve problem-solving skills in the context of you or your partner being injured

• Move your team up and down technical ground in the event of an emergency, including:

• Rope ascension

• Lowering

• Hauling

• Technical rope transitions & load transfers (unweighted & weighted)

• Tandem rappelling

Pre-Requisite Experience:

• Able to toprope 5.7

• Climb indoors/outdoors at least 1-2 times per month

• At least 6 months of continuous climbing experience within the last year

• Some experience following or leading trad routes

19/07/2022

Into the alpine! Team Rutstein turning out another strong performance today high above Chamonix. It really doesn’t get more classic then climbing orange granite in the sun. Happy birthday Charles! #

17/07/2022

What could be better than a trip to Chamonix? Having your amazing daughter join, of course! and I have shared a rope, laughs, and more than a few sips of whiskey over several Alps summers. Thanks for getting this one started off as the best yet, Claire!

16/07/2022

Mont Blanc summit with ! An absolutely stunning morning at the top of Europe at 4810m. We had the summit to ourselves, witnessing a simultaneous moonset and sunrise…truly extraordinary. So grateful for the journey, the people, and the moments like these that make all the hard and dangerous work worth it.

12/07/2022

putting in the time up high in preparation for Mont Blanc later this week. He’s no stranger to putting in the work on the front end - this week has been 9 months in the making. Strong work, Brooks. Just a few more hours before the final push...

01/07/2022

Today’s “Ascend” call was a blast! 🔥
So much respect to everyone showing up and investing in themselves and doing this dangerous sport well. 🙏

22/06/2022

Alps ‘22 countdown begins! It feels like a lifetime has passed since I last ran around the Mont Blanc massif. I’m excited to be back in the alpine with so many good people. # 10 days to go…

19/06/2022

A man can only take so much. 🤣 After a couple months of walking by this tricam stuck beneath Doug’s Roof in the Uberfall I decided it was time to do something about it. was right - I’m already using the multi-tool in ways I didn’t expect! 😂