[pct-l] Alpenstocks and Self-Arrest Poles

[Denis Stanton]

The words "stout stick" are important here.  I can report from experience acquired while descending the north side of Forester in 2008 in an out-of-control glissade that planting a lightweight hike pole firmly into the snow between my knees had no effect at all on my speed of descent.  The lower third of the pole simply vanished and I continued downhill at the same speed as before clutching the shortened pole.
Fortunately he large rocks further down the slope were much more effective at slowing me down.

Denis Stanton

On 20/11/2009, at 3:39 PM, ned at pacificcrestcustombuilders.com wrote:

> I'm not quite sure what AsABat was using, but he said it was an Alpenstaff, 
> which was a stout stick with an iron point at the end. If you have nothing 
> else, to jamb the point into the snow/ice to affect a self-arrest is the 
> right thing to do, but because of the leverage on the shaft while doing so, 
> the stick is likely to break.