[pct-l] ice axe length

[mgeis@xxxxxxxxx (Matt Geis)]

In response to a part of Mtn. Dave's email below, it
looks like I overlooked the qualifying statement
"moderate slopes with a safe runout."

I was reading the email, picturing a line of PCT
hikers on some of the steeper sections, with no arrest
experience, traversing with the axe in the downhill
hand, feeling ultimately safe because they read
something on an email list.  My concern wasn't so much
that Dave didn't know when conditions would warrant
going with personal preference over climbing dogma --
rather, my feeling that most PCT hikers wouldn't know
how to recognize those conditions.

So, if I upset Dave (or any other experienced climber
out there), my apologies.

Iron Chef

**************
Well, you have met one now. The correct quote was that
I preferred using an ice ax on the downhill side on
moderate slopes with a safe runout. I developed this
preference after many, many hundreds of climbs
involving snow travel, and lots of it.
   Moreover I assisted in a mountaineering class for
some 18 years, leading many climbs including Rainier.
Is that enough experience to say that it is perfectly
okay to hold the ice ax on the downhill side when
conditions warrant it? If there is anything I hate it
is following a set of rules when mountaineering.

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