[pct-l] UL ice axes, BPL quote

[ned at mountaineducation.org]

Over at the BPL site there has been a lively conversation regarding the "Care and Feeding of a ULA Helix Ice Axe" starting back in 2006. http://www.backpackinglight.com/cgi-bin/backpackinglight/forums/thread_display.html?forum_thread_id=3107 On 7/1/06, Peter King stated:

"The sturdiness and reliability are good questions. I was inspired by our good Dr. Jordan's use of them in mountaineering. I have great respect for his technical judgment and his weight/risk tradeoffs. As he has written, "...there is little room for error. Going superultralight requires that you pay careful attention to every detail and evaluate the consequences of each choice you make..." Climbing, even more than hiking, entails the continuous evaluation of risks, such as the distance between pro, the quality of placements, the rockfall potential of a route, etc. Since the manufacturer has not endorsed the use of the Helix as a full mountaineering axe, perhaps because of liability concerns, we must each evaluate the risk of using it."

All we can say in the profession of teaching wilderness safety is for thru hikers to take the lightest, strongest, and longest certified axe that has proven itself to "work" for them in practice with ice, rocks, and branches in the snow pack. 
Uncertified axes are too weak to be rated as sufficient to withstand the forces commonly exerted upon them in general mountaineering use, namely, for thru hiker concerns, use in self-belay, as an uphill anchor, for ice chopping/chipping, or in self-belay. 

If you look at just the likelihood of emergency need for the technical advantages of deploying an axe in the activities above, they may be very low (how often do you fall down or need to spend an hour chipping ice in the chute at Forester?), but when major injury is the likely result of a slip-and-fall on snow/ice, especially when making any kind of steep ascent or traverse as is the case on all the Sierra Passes in May, June, and maybe July (depending on the winter prior), all it takes is the one time. Ask Calorie.




"Just remember, Be Careful out there!"

Ned Tibbits, Director
Mountain Education
1106A Ski Run Blvd
South Lake Tahoe, Ca. 96150
    P: 888-996-8333
    F: 530-541-1456
    C: 530-721-1551
    http://www.mountaineducation.org