Snow climbers choose from a range of techniques that provide belay protection to their ropemates.

One mark of a skillful snow climber is the ability to go downhill efficiently and confidently.

In the event of a slip on snow, you must know how to regain control as quickly as possible.

If your party decides it would be safer overall to rope up, there are several different ways to match the type of rope protection to the conditions of the climb and the strengths of the climbers.

Anchors are needed in snow for the same reasons they are needed on rock.

Mountaineers read the snow surface and terrain features to determine a safe, efficient route.

Self-rescue is often the easiest and fastest crevasse rescue, regardless of party size.

While the climbers on top are busy going through the various steps leading toward final rescue, the fallen climber has work to do down below, beginning with the moment of recovery from the fall.

The depths of a great crevasse exhibit an awful beauty, both enticing and repellent.

Climbers have a number of ways to get safely across a field of crevasses.

The first step in safe glacier travel is figuring out where the crevasses are and picking a route through them.

All rescues are team rescues to some degree, because the fallen climber usually needs some help getting over the crevasse lip even in a self-rescue.

A crevasse rescue can be complicated by any number of unusual twists.

The first rule of safe glacier travel is very simple: rope up. Roping up is especially critical in areas above the firn line, where the glacier gets more snow every year than it loses to melting, making it likely that snow covers some crevasses.

Alpine climbers often encounter short sections of ice or frozen snow.