16 Feb 20 - Fixed ropes & oven mitts

Well, not quite oven mitts, but high altitude mitts...

Another key skill, particularly on summit day, is maintaining dexterity whilst wearing high altitude mitts (which are massive)! In general, we don't want to take these mitts off at all when we're high up on the mountain, as the risk of frostbite is severe. This risk is exacerbated by the altitude, as the lack of oxygen makes it harder to keep our bodies (and, in particular, our extremities) warm, as we will effectively be in a hypothermic state as soon as we set out on our summit climb.

Where dexterity plays a key role is that as we climb the mountain, we need to clip our ascender devices (see below) in and out of the fixed ropes that guide us to the summit, whenever there is an anchor point to get past. Trying to do this quickly to prevent queues whilst wearing these mitts is considerably harder than it sounds, not only because of the size of the mitts, but also because of their lack of fingers!

"So if it's that tricky, why not just wear gloves?" you ask. Well, you could, but even the best gloves tend to be colder than mitts as they isolate each finger, which again increases the frostbite risk. The "improved" dexterity you get with gloves also tends to be nominal as the insulation around each finger (in my experience) leaves you with clumsy sausage fingers.

So, with that in mind, here's a short video showing how even in front of the TV, I try to find time to practise the above: