Ice Axes

Hikers usually wave their ice axes in the air as they pose for photos at great mountain summits. It shows that they had to put all of their strength and utilize all of their mountaineering gear to pull themselves past the perilous ice and snow to reach the top. The ice axe is meant to be an extension of the hands to grip into the ice for balance and support. Hiking on the ice is nothing like walking along the relatively level and secure trails in the lower ranges. In the ice and snow you feel like no step is certain and your feet have little chance to hold a grip. With the spurs of a set of crampons a hiker can set his feet with each step, but it's a challenge to balance and pull along the rest of the body and the typically heavy backpack. Holding the lightweight handle of the ice axe and digging into the ice with the sharp steel or alloy point of the pick you can get a firm handle for balance and a grip to pull and step forward.

Along the more level terrain the axe can be just like a walking pole. You can add an extension to the handle to help keep your balance, but on an extreme slope, even up to vertical, the pick practically makes rungs in a ladder for you to pull up. Perhaps the most thankful use a climber will have for the axe is for self-arresting after a slip down a slope of ice or snow. By pounding the pick into the ground or ice the hiker can slow down and hopefully stop slipping down to a steep drop. By slipping your hand through the wrist leash attached to the head some of the weight is transferred to your wrists and you'll be better able to pull. It is also a practical concern to lose your grip on the handle, having that strap will hold onto it for you. Another useful feature of the axe is the wide, flat section of the head that the ice climber uses to chop out chunks of ice to make steps.