Premium Membership
Here’s how YOU can climb better, safer and smarter - become an Alpinesavvy Premium Member.
Get instant access to ALL the tips, exclusive gear giveaways, and loads of discounts.
At Alpinesavvy, you’ll find the largest and most detailed collection of alpine climbing tips available, anywhere.
What you WON’T find:
annoying popup ads
affiliate marketing links
brand sponsorships
paid product promotions
Your support keeps it that way.
What do you get with Premium Membership?
Full version of articles posted after Jan 2024
The COMPLETE, longform version of all my weekly articles posted after Jan 2024 are available ONLY for Premium Members. With a new article posted every week, you have access to an ever-growing resource of the largest and most comprehensive collection of climbing tips available anywhere, in any form.
Premium Member articles have comments turned ON, so you can ask questions and get direct answers from me and other experts.
Monthly gear giveaways and discounts
Giveaways every month of name brand gear for Premium Members, in partnership with the superb online gear store HowNOT2.
Didn't win the gear? No worries! You get a special discount from a top brand for a limited time.
Discounts from great climbing related brands
You get members-only deals from great companies offering climbing focused nutrition, specialized gear, clothing, books, software and more.
(I don't get a “cut” of any sale if you buy something. It’s all savings for you.)
Expert tutorial video library
Learn alpine climbing techniques such as self rescue, anchors, ski touring tips and more with exclusive tutorial videos from top guides. These videos are only on my website; you won’t find them posted anywhere else.
I’m starting with self-rescue topics, and I’ll post at least one new video every month to the ever-growing library.
Discounts for online climbing courses
Members-only deals for online courses (from pro guides) covering avalanche awareness, crevasse rescue, anchor building, rappelling, sport climbing, fitness for alpine athletes, and more.
Discounts for guided climbing courses and trips
Top guiding companies offer Premium Members special deals on in-person classes and trips.
What do the pros say?
“Alpinesavvy is one of my go-to resources. Even as I create my own tech tips I’m always paying attention to what he has to say with modern techniques and common practices.”
Dale Remsberg
IFMGA Certified Guide, American Mountain Guide Association (AMGA) Technical Director
“If Alpinesavvy existed when I started climbing I would have had exactly 73 percent fewer epics, lost 94 percent less gear, and almost died 99 percent less. I'm a pro athlete and guide who lives in and for the mountains, but learn something new from every post."
Will Gadd
Expert ice climber, paraglider, and author of “Ice and Mixed Climbing”
"Alpinesavvy is a top-notch resource for both reliable tried-and-true skills and techniques as well as the latest and greatest tricks and tips that should be on every climbers radar. From single pitch sport climbing to multipitch mountaineering Alpinesavvy has something for everyone."
Ian Nicholson
IFMGA Guide, rescue expert, and author of “Climbing Self-Rescue: Essential Skills, Technical Tips & Improvised Solutions”
Questions about Premium Membership . . .
Joining now locks in the lowest possible price.
The price when you join will never increase, as long as you maintain your membership.
The monthly cost will go up over time, as more resources are added.
By joining now, you secure the lowest price the membership will ever be.
There are two membership levels. 1) ”Articles Only” and 2) “All Access”.
“Articles Only” is about what it sounds like. This is a more affordable option and gives you access to every Premium article published after January 1, 2024. I add four new articles every month to the ever-growing library.
“All Access” gives you access to every Premium article, plus a LOT more. For starters, that's monthly gear giveaways, gear discounts, and deals on all kinds of climbing related products, online courses, and guiding services. Plus, tutorial videos on expert guide tactics, and (coming soon) a curated library of GPX tracks for climbing routes.
Hint: for just a bit more per month, All Access is a better value for most.
Upgrading your membership is simple: Purchase “All Access”, and cancel your “Articles Only” subscription. Log into your account and click “Manage Subscriptions”. (Sorry, I can't do any prorating or crediting or fancy accounting stuff like that.)
After much consideration, I decided to have a partial paywall for my newest articles. But it’s the gentlest of all possible paywalls! About 90% of the 550+ articles I’ve posted for the last five years remain completely free and in full length form on the main part of my website. Even the articles posted after January 2024 have enough substance on the main pages for you to learn from. (Yes, we can agree that paywalls generally suck, but mine sucks less than any other. =^)
While most of my content is geared for more intermediate and advanced level climbers, there are plenty of articles for people beginning their journey.
For example, how to rig an extended rappel, how to use a fence for anchor practice, how to extend the battery of your phone on long trips, and more. As your skills advance, you’ll have an ever-growing library of premium articles to learn from. Plus, if you want to hire a guiding company for personal instruction, you get exclusive deals for that as a Premium Member.
Payment is month-to-month. There’s no long-term commitments or contracts.
You can cancel your account at any time yourself, with no hassles and no games.
But, I certainly hope you don't. I'm adding more resources regularly for Premium Members, like four new articles a month and a tech tip video series from expert guides.
The longer you stay, the more you learn. =^)
I don’t share your contact information with the partner companies that offer you discounts.
(Well, unless you get really famous. Then I might. We can talk then. =^)
Also, in case you're wondering, I don't get any payment / kickbacks / affiliate marketing from my partner companies. The deals they offer are all savings for you.
That's right, there are lots of free places to learn. Usually, they come with two main problems.
Discussion forums, YouTube and social media are overwhelming. It’s exhausting to filter out the noise and find the real knowledge nuggets and best practices you need.
Books and magazines can be an authoritative source, but they’re limited as to how deep they can go to explain more challenging concepts. For example, learning a hands-on skill such as self-rescue is perfect for video, but often challenging to learn from a photo sequence in a book, let alone a written description.
Alpinesavvy solves both of these problems.
It’s an authoritative (and often peer reviewed from professional guides) source of solid information and best practices, so you know what you learn here is correct.
Being web-based, I can use photos, videos, and text to adequately explain an entire topic in the detail it deserves.
Think of it this way: for about $0.30 cents per day, you get access to ALL of the premium goodies. I’d say that’s within the budget of every dirtbag climber. =^)
Hello climbing friends,
This is John at Alpinesavvy. Here's a little background on my website, where it’s going, and how you can be a part of it.
I started Alpinesavvy in 2018 with a simple idea: to share tips learned over my 30+ years of climbing, teaching and learning with a wider community.
As the saying goes, “Good judgment comes from experience. Experience comes from surviving poor judgment.”
In that time, I had PLENTY of “poor judgement” and stupid mistakes! I almost rappelled off the end of my rope. I forgot a headlamp and had to stay out an extra night. I skipped bringing a map on a climb I thought I knew, and got lost. The list goes on . . .
I was very motivated to learn and improve. I tried every source I could find . . .
Books: which can be great, but often don't go into enough depth and are often lousy for learning more complex skills.
YouTube and discussion forums: (remember rockclimbing.com?) but the machismo, cliques, and poor “signal to noise ratio” made it difficult to learn much that was worthwhile.
In-person classes and clinics: usually the best, but they can be expensive and hard to find a qualified instructor.
I knew there was a better way.
So, I started my website to address some of these problems. I had some simple goals:
Take YEARS off your learning curve with solid tips and best practices
Highlight modern or little known techniques not found in other sources
Focus on intermediate to advanced level techniques you won’t find in the beginner books
Have ZERO ads or distractions that usually plague blog sites
100% written all by me, typos and all. (No AI here!)
This might sound like a brag, but I'm gonna say it anyway.
Since 2018, after putting in thousands of hours and posting over 550 articles, I’m proud to say it’s the largest and most detailed collection of alpine climbing tips available, anywhere.
I’ve also grown to 110K+ Instagram followers from all over the world, and that has led to some great connections.
Here’s a story I want to share with you.
In 2023 I got an Instagram message from a Nepalese man named Niraj (@anirajkarki). He told me that he’s pursuing his lifelong dream: to be an IFMGA Certified Guide. He also shared that he and his other aspirant guides in Nepal rely heavily on my website and Instagram to learn modern techniques and best practices.
Here's a photo of Niraj and his guide colleagues from Nepal.
photo: @anirajkarki
It’s been a joy to share these tips with an ever-growing, worldwide community through my website, Instagram, and a weekly email newsletter, and make a difference in the lives of people like Niraj. Hopefully you as well!
We know that some of our deepest friendships and strongest memories come from shared vertical adventures.
I strongly believe that information that could potentially save your life be available to the largest possible audience.
It’s extremely important to me to provide this without relying on paid advertising, affiliate marketing or brand sponsorships.
But, making free content isn’t free. With your help, I can make it even better.
For a low monthly cost of about $0.30 per day, you can ensure that this resource continues to be available for both you and our climbing community around the world.
That's why YOUR Premium Membership is important.
Your support allows me to test more gear, make better videos and articles, offer gear giveaways, and share these tips with a growing circle of people like YOU, who want to climb better, safer and smarter.
I think you’ll find the total value of exclusive content and benefits is worth well more than the modest monthly cost.
As a supporter recently said: “Looking at my $100 per month rock gym membership, paying a tiny fraction of that for an Alpinesavvy membership was an easy choice.”
Thank you for your support!
With gratitude,
PS - Reminder:
Premium “All Access” Members get gear giveaways, deals and discounts, and full access to every new article I post, all for a low monthly cost.
For a more affordable option, check out the “Articles Only” plan.