[pct-l] ice ax

[CMountainDave at aol.com (CMountainDave@aol.com)]

I would like to certainly agree that an ice ax is an important thing to have 
when crossing steep snow. I don't want to give the impression that it is 
useless without training. Sure, get training if you can. But if nothing else, it 
will give you more confidence when crossing steep snow and that alone will make 
it safer. It will also stop you 95% (just a guess) of the time when you slip 
BEFORE you start sliding. People instinctively grab the shaft when they slip 
and that is usually enough to prevent a slide

   Once you start sliding all bets are off. Most people panic and either try 
to do whatever it takes to stop or they freeze up and do nothing. It just 
happens so fast that all training techniques go out the window. Of course, the 
more times you slide unexpectedly the better you get at being able to panic in a 
good way

    I like to think that I panic well. I am always asking my self "what if." 
Call it planning if you like. A couple of examples: I was helping to teach 
students to glissade. I positioned myself below them near the glissade track. One 
student for whatever reason lost her ice ax and began to pick up dangerous 
speed. Although a safe rubout several hundred feet down most likely would have 
stopped her, the possibility existed that she would start cartwheeling before 
she got there. So I raced across the snow and as she went by I body slammed her 
into the relatively soft snow stopping her instantly. I had thought "what if" 
in order to be in a position to do what I did.

   On a climb of Rainier, I was the middle man on a rope. I thought what if 
the lead guy slips and can't self arrest? What would I do? Well, sure enough 
that happened. I had plenty of time to react because it would take several 
seconds for him to go by and then pull me down as well. I had several options. I 
could have just frozen up and watch him go by without doing anything. I could 
have assumed the self arrest position and just waited for the rope to get tight 
and hope he would not pull me off. But he weighed quite a bit more than I did 
and didn't want to risk it. So instead I immediately plunged my ice ax as far 
as it would go into the snow and wrapped the rope around it several times. 
Then I laid down in the snow, holding onto the head of the ice ax. There was a 
mighty tug on the ax, but it worked, and on we went. Would the standard taught 
technique of assuming the self arrest position have worked? Beats me but I'm 
glad I didn't have to find out
  David C