When mountaineering, ski touring or even just hill walking in winter you must use ice axe NZ to cross patches of steep ice or climb on steep slopes of snow. If so you need to take special precautions to stay safe and one of your most important safety tools are these types of axes. Their most important purpose is to give you the ability to self-arrest, a term for stopping yourself if you happen to slip and start sliding down a steep snow-covered slope. This makes them essential safety tools. Without the ability to stop yourself you will simply keep gaining speed as you slide. Self-arresting is an essential skill and needs to be practised regularly but essentially involves digging in the pick of the axe to gently slow and eventually stop this descent. The shaft of the axe may also be plunged into the snow to provide an anchor, either to directly support a climber or to be used as a point for securing a rope.
Techniques of using ice axes on mountains:
- A couple of decades ago most people would have gone for an ice axe that was almost as long as a walking stick. The idea behind that approach was that you could use its shaft to help balance on slippery ice and use it as a third point of contact when crossing steep slopes. The main aim here was to help prevent falls in the first place. Over the years, however, the trend of using Thermarest NZ by the professional and amateurs is increasing.
- The trend towards much shorter ice axes is, however, controversial. Traditionalists argue that when they are so short they are unable to perform their primary function of helping to prevent slips and falls in the first place, rather than stopping or controlling a descent after a fall.
- This is a vital, life-saving technique that must be learned and practised regularly. It is used by mountaineers who have slipped or fallen and are sliding down steep snow or ice. Left unchecked, the fallen mountaineer would keep gaining speed, which could result in them being injured or killed.
- It is a technique that also needs to be learned from a proper instructor and practised repeatedly. In essence, it involves a climber who is sliding, flipping themselves into the correct face-down position with the ice axe underneath them. The point, or pick an ice axe NZ, is then driven into the snow or ice to slow and eventually halt the slide.