Favorite ice ax

[dirtbag]

Looking for some recommendations about an ice ax. Living in NY, i am mostly in Catskills and can/will be in Daks. Also go to NJ and PA..  anyone care to share some info.. thanks.

[Philip Tschersich]

The question I have to always ask myself is, “what will I actually have in my hand when I slip?”

I ALWAYS hike with poles. Always. I’m loathe to put them away, including on steep snow, since the stability they provide can prevent falls. Putting one or both away and switching to an ax requires a deliberate stop and reconfiguration of what I’m carrying in my hands, so I am less likely to get the ax out. So for some trips, I have brought a Black Diamond Whippet. That was fine, but having an ax head in your hand all the time carries risk too. Falling onto it can mess you up big time.

Now Black Diamond has a Whippet with a removable head. And it’s easy to swap. I bought one and will probably use it more going forward since I can keep the head in a handy spot and pop it on more frequently for marginal slopes. I also have a Camp Corsa Nanotech ax that I like if I don’t anticipate needing and ax much, but bring one just in case.

If you don’t practice self arresting, don’t bother with the ax. You are more likely to hurt yourself with it than to deploy it effectively in the split second of time you have before you accelerate out of control down the slope. Practice feet first and head first, on your stomach and on your back, in a safe place (mellow runout). Head first on your back is a cathartic scenario.

[Iago Vazquez]

I like the BD Venom, personally

[Lester Moore]

Because of its very low weight, my favorite axe for UL backpacking is the Camp Corsa, in 50cm length (7.8 oz with strap and pick cover). 50cm is not ideal for low angle snow (too short), but long enough for a good self arrest and it’s the lightest one they make. For prolonged snow, I’d prefer the 70mm Corsa at a marginal weight increase (better length). For prolonged steep snow, ice and névé, or for general mountaineering uses, a mountain axe with steel or chromoly head and spike are worth the extra weight – the Charlet Moser 80cm Mountain Axe (16 oz with strap) has served me well for nearly two decades.

[David Thomas]

I thought the Black Diamond Whippet was for clawing your way to the front of the lift lines.

The only time I thought I might die or get really busted up on a mountain, I was sliding down an icy slope, picking up speed.  I self-arrested, barely, with tip of my ski pole, putting as much as I could on it.  I would MUCH rather have had something like the Whippet.  It really helped to have taken a self-arrest course on Rainer from RMI.  I could hear instructor (and future Everest climber and fatality) Marty Hoey shouting, “Keep trying!  Keep trying!”.

As Philip says, If you’re not going to practice frequently, don’t bother with an ice axe.

I find it very helpful to take a few test falls where there’s a safe run-out onto a shallower slope.  Before I slipped, I had no idea the slope was that slick.  Other times, I’ve been tense about taking a fall when the snow was actually so sticky you couldn’t get a good slide if you tried (more common after the sun has hit the slope and the day has warmed up).

[Edward John M]

If you carry your ice-axe in the old fashioned way; slid in between your back and your pack; swapping over takes milliseconds with practice. BD Raven Pro in the longest length for easy stuff but my favourite axe was always the original Chouinard piolet 75cm with the laminated bamboo shaft because of its wonderful balance

[dirtbag]

Thanks for info and opinons. I Truly do appreciate these formus. I decided to try out the Petzl Ride ice axe. I do plan on some how, some way to learn to self arrest also. This axe is small and lightweight, and I honestly believe that it will get minimal use and 97% of the time it will not even be needed or in hand, so I believe the Ride is what I’m looking for.. Just in case.  In the future, I would love to climb some massive peaks in the winter, but I’m not quite there yet. However, I have read and heard people suggest carrying one on some peaks in Catskills.  And also, I have to get my feet wet somehow somewhere with it. Start small.. Then go BIG or Go Home!! Thanks again for advice and input..

[Link .]

Mass Drop has the  CAMP CORSA AND NANOTECH on sale right now, the Corsa is $79 and the Nanotech is $99 keep in mind the Petzl only comes in one size 45cm which is very short, it would be o.k. for someone like me at 5′ tall. you can read Dan Durston’s take on it HERE .

[Bruce Tolley]

@ dirtbag. In my experience something like the Camp Corsa is excellent for spring mountaineering,  But the head is aluminum and the spike is does not punch through the snow and neither the head or the spike have much bite in hard icy winter conditions, especially if you need to chop steps with the adse end or use the pick end for stopping a fall with a self arrest, or even the spike end for a basic resting self arrest.

For such conditions, you need something like the BD Raven.  And as stated above, if you are not trained in self arrest. do not carry an ice axe. “If you don’t practice self arresting, don’t bother with the ax.” Gravity will pull you down the mountain at 32 feet per second^2  You have only a little bit of time to accomplish the arrest.

[nunatak]

I’m a climber/mountaineer now retired to merely tick off these hip high routes folks are talking about all the time.

I can’t travel on steep snow without an ice axe. Just doesn’t feel right. I use the 5oz Suluk 46 TiCa. Backed by experience it can make most hiker encountered snowy obstacles found in the lower 48 safe enough.

[David Thomas]

Especially for a PCT thru-hiker, who has to carry an ice axe for hundred of miles for just a few miles of exposure and a few hundreds yards of really scary stuff, it can be hard to feel good about that extra 0.5 to 1.5 pounds. But an ice axe (and practice, practice, practice) 1) improves your safety, 2) gives you more flexibility in timing (with self-arrest capability, hikers sometimes have to wait for the afternoon when the snow softens up) and 3) it allows you to butt-slide a thousand vertical feet or more on descent. Sure, you could descend just on your rain pants, but many snow fields have a lip or gap at their bottom which dumps you into not-so-soft granite talus.

[David Thomas]

OTOH, if you practice self arrest with whatever you have at hand (trekking pole, tent stake, sharpened stick), you’ll get more skilled at self-arresting with whatever is at hand.

I’ve watched Tenzing Norgay’s nephew self arrest and it was watching Lance Armstrong on a bike, Venus Williams with a tennis racket or me with a Pental Click’r 0.5-mm mechanical pencil – like was an extension of his body.  I’d rather you practice, practice, practice with a trekking pole then order an ice axe and just carry it along.

[Adam G]

I use the Petzl Summit 2 when I’m out mountaineering. It’s heavy, but it’s a really good axe that I trust. I’ve used it for unplanned self belay, self arrest practice, and chopping steps.

I owned a Whippet for a while, but I sold it. The Whippet is designed for downhill skiers who are falling on purpose (i.e. skiing). You obviously cannot safely arrest with an ice axe then. It is not ideal for arresting when you’re trying your best NOT to fall. Self arrest is super awkward in all positions.  You have to pull the fairly long pole up and over your body which takes maybe a second longer than an axe. In a second, you may be sliding so fast that you cannot arrest anymore.

I hike with poles, and I worry that a Whippet would lull me into a false sense of security. You have to reassess the terrain constantly to decide the proper gear. If you don’t want to stop with poles, you probably won’t stop when the crampons need to go on which is really dangerous. It’s not a good mindset to be in. Every time I cross a slope, I look at it and think, “Could I slide down this?” If the answer is, “Yes,” the axe stays out. The axe stays out for quite some time after that too just in case another slope sneaks up on you.

The one time I almost went tumbling was when the snow, which I thought was stable, crumbled out beneath me. A Whippet isn’t going to do anything for that. You need a belay.

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