Ice Climbing Crampons
Climbing with Crampons is crucial to your Ice Climbing performance. A Climbing crampon is a spiked metal device which is attached to the bottom of your boots to provide you with the essential grip on slippery ice. It makes walking on snow and ice much easier.
Modern Ice Climbing techniques combine both French and German technique which is essential for climbing in the changeable alpine environment.
In any technique, the most important element is confident use of the crampons. Practicing on gentle and moderate slopes helps develop skill, confidence, and the aggressive approach needed at steeper angles.
A skilled ice climber displays the same calculated movement as a skilled rock climber. The crampon points must be carefully and deliberately placed on the ice, the weight transferred from one foot to the other smoothly and decisively.
Climbing without Crampons
When climbing without crampons, you may opt to take another route if the slope is too steep for secure balance climbing. Another option is to try step-cutting.
Step-Cutting
Use the adze to slash the ice by swinging it in a nearly parallel motion to the surface of the ice to create a slash step. Likewise, it can be used to chop by swinging it perpendicular to the ice to create a pigeonhole step.
You may also use the adze to slice through snow and ice in softer conditions in one swing.
Meanwhile, for all step-cutting, attach the ice ax to your wrist with a leash to help support your hand and to prevent loss of the ax if you drop it.
The most frequently used technique for step-cutting is the slash step. This is used for traversing up or down on gentle to slightly moderate slopes.
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