[pct-l] SNOW

[ned at mountaineducation.org]

Self-arrest poles do not have the lateral strength to be used for
self-belay, even if you took off the snow basket in the middle of a
traverse. 

I find that using my two poles to maintain my balance, Whippet in the
downhill hand as opposed to an ice axe in the uphill hand, while kicking
footholds with crampons on the moderate slopes snow-hikers face (even
Forester and Mather) is sufficient and works well.

I've also come to the decision that the commonly carried short axes, if used
for self-belay on these lower-angle slopes (15-30 degrees), cause hikers to
be bent over too much, because the axe shaft has to be completely plunged
into the snow to affect the needed anchor, and they compromise their balance
in the process causing falls on these steep slopes. 

Thus, it is better to encourage snow-hikers to stand normally and use their
poles for good balance control rather than use an uphill axe for self-belay,
causing this bent-over posture, and a pole to oppose gravity on the downhill
side.


Ned Tibbits, Director
Mountain Education, Inc.
ned at mountaineducation.org 

-----Original Message-----
From: Pct-L [mailto:pct-l-bounces at backcountry.net] On Behalf Of Gary Schenk
Sent: Tuesday, March 7, 2017 10:42 AM
To: pct-l at backcountry.net
Subject: Re: [pct-l] SNOW

Doesn't the snow basket prevent a really good self belay?

Gary
--------------------------------------------
On Fri, 3/3/17, ned at mountaineducation.org <ned at mountaineducation.org> wrote:
 Self-arrest poles do
 double duty for the snow hiker,
 1. Prevent
 slip-and-falls by helping maintain your balance (as any pole  would do),
and  2. Allow you to immediately  deploy the self-arrest pick into the snow
to stop any sudden  tumbles (if you know how). 
 
 
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