Best Ice Tools For Alpine Climbing

Ice tools on the alpine side of the spectrum tend to have a single grip while tools for steep ice and mixed climbing like the nomic and ergonomic usually have two grips a low grip that you ll use most of the time and a high grip that will let you match hands or advance a hand to make a higher reach.

Best ice tools for alpine climbing.

The petzl sum tec is a truly advanced ice axe that can even be used as an ice climbing tool. Versatility on the ice. Summer alpine kit list the following will cover everything you need to bring on our chamonix alpine climbing courses and alpine mountaineering holidays some items are only needed on specific trips as mentioned in the notes. Realwillgadd questing through a 40 metre roof to reach ice at one of the established lines at the temple of silence mt chephrens north east face dominates the sky line behind.

Light and fast alpine rock climbing msrp. Rock climbing season has ended and while you could be spending countless hours in the gym training for the following season you really would rather be outside. The x dream alpine still has the same ergonomic grip which is adjustable for ice to mixed and dry tooling allowing the individual climber to customize their tools to the ideal personal grip. While no model climbed water ice as well as a traditional ice tool for more moderate ice routes the petzl sum tec came close and the bd venom and petzl gully were not much further behind yet.

Skiing is great but does not compare to climbing so you decide to give it a go at ice climbing. We felt there wasn t much difference between these models and a traditional ice tool on wi3 but had to work a harder on wi4 and wi5 when directly compared to a dedicated water ice climbing tool. The grivel air tech evolution ice axe is cheaper and lighter comes with a leash and is durable and sturdy for solid anchors on alpine ascents yet performs well on steep climbs. Vastly different than rock climbing ice climbing requires an entirely different set of gear to keep you warm and most importantly safe.

Each type of tool has different characteristics swing weight balance etc so climb on lots of models and select the one that fits your swing style best. In winter it s best to have two when ice climbing to help reduce drag for rappelling and to better protect your route. The debate rages on about leashed versus leashless ice climbing and each has its merits. Ice tools all modern ice tools climb well.

The pick is in a reverse curve making it more aggressive which really gives you an advantage on ice and gives you the best chance in a self arrest.