ICE AXE
Ice Axes
An ice axe is an essential tool for alpine scrambles and mountain climbing.
Students should look for a general-purpose ice axe with a curved head and a shape comfortable enough to carry in your hand for several hours. The ones with rubber sleeves on the shaft may give you a good grip and insulate from the cold, but they are difficult to pull out of the snow during self-belay. Get covers for the spike and pick to protect you and your teammates when you carry the axe on your pack.
Remember that an ice axe is a sharp “weapon” and can injure you or other members of your group. Carry it properly and use it with care.
While many people use “ice axe” loosely to describe the tools used for both mountaineering and vertical ice/mixed climbing, they technically have different names; axes used for technical ice climbing are actually called “ice tools” rather than ice axes. Ice tools are not used in the Alpine Scrambling Course. Students must be equipped with an ice axe.
Ice axe picks are almost always made of a steel alloy to provide you with the most durability. The shafts, on the other hand, come in a variety of materials:
Steel shafts are the most durable, but they are also the heaviest
Aluminum shafts are lighter weight, which makes them particularly well-suited for activities where you want to carry as little weight as possible
Some highly specialized ice axes and tools feature carbon fiber shafts. Carbon is incredibly lightweight and super-strong...but also super-expensive. Unless you really need to save weight on your mountaineering trips it’s probably best to focus your attention on steel or aluminum tools.
Most mountaineering axes will have a classic curve, which is also sometimes called a positive curve. The classic curve is excellent at self arrest and if you come to a section of steeper ice that needs to be climbed, this pick shape allows you to climb much more securely than a neutral curve would.
The biggest drawback to a classic curve is that it can be a bit harder to clean (pull out of the ice). Reverse curve picks, also called a reverse positive, are much easier to remove from the ice.
Mountaineering axes always have an adze, which has many uses, like step cutting, digging snow anchors, chopping a tent platform, or digging a snow cave. This flat, shovel-like feature also provides a great grip platform during self arrest.
Ice Axe Components
Head – usually made of steel and featuring a pick and adze. A hole in the center is provided for attaching a wrist leash or carabiner.
Pick — the toothed pointed end of the head, typically slightly curved (aiding both in ergonomics and self-arrest).
Adze — the flat, wide end of the head used for chopping steps in hard snow and ice.
Shaft — straight or slightly angled, typically wider front-to-back than side-to-side, flat on the sides and smoothly rounded on the ends.
Spike — a, usually steel, point at the base of the shaft used for balance and safety when the axe is held by its head in walking stick fashion.
Leash – nylon webbing with an adjustable loop for securing the axe to hand. Often secured by a ring constrained to slide a limited distance on the shaft.
Stowing An Ice Axe
When the terrain does not warrant the use of an axe, it is common for ice axe(s) to be carried on a backpack. Many backpack models come with at least one ice axe loop (on the outside of the backpack at the bottom), together with a device (a strap or a bungee cord) to attach it to the main body of the pack.
To use these attachment points drop the shaft of the ice axe down through the loop, then bring the end of the axe up (in an arc) to the strap/bungee, thus wrapping the head in the loop. In this way the axe cannot slide down and out of the attachment.
For short passages where the hands are needed and/or the ice axe is not required a common and convenient, easily accessible, stowage is to slide the axe down between the back and the backpack, between the shoulder blades. This is quick and easy to do and to retrieve when needed.
Ice Axe Fitting
Ice axe spike-to-head lengths generally range from 50–75 cm. This is just too short to be used as a walking stick on level ground but is ergonomic when ascending steep slopes.
The typical method to approximate the correct length of an ice axe to hold the axe (spike facing the ground) at your side while standing relaxed. The spike of the ice axe should touch your ankle when you stand fully upright holding the axe.
Ice Axe Leashes
Sold separately, a leash helps secure the ice axe should you drop it. A leash is invaluable because losing your axe would put you at serious risk on steep, snowy sections of a climb.
Some climbers choose to go leashless in certain places because there are also risks in being tethered to a sharp tool that could injure you during a fall. That makes the most sense in terrain where a dropped axe would come to rest in close proximity to you.
Many ice-axe makers sell premade leashes that fit their tools perfectly. You can also make your own leash from either 5mm to 7mm Perlon cord or 1" webbing.