[pct-l] Good Ice Axe

[CMountainDave at aol.com (CMountainDave@xxxxxxx)]

In a message dated 12/20/03 12:39:15 PM, wandering_bob@comcast.net writes:

<< Both are equipped

with a leash so I don't accidentally get separated from my axe during a

nasty traverse or a fall. T >>

I'm afraid I must disagree with this. To each his own when it comes to 
leashes on ice axes. It all depends on whether you can stop before you are at the 
complete mercy of gravity
 I was a student in a mountaineering class offered by a nearby community 
college.  To make a long story short, on May 18, 1980, (sound familiar? -- we 
watched Mt St. Helens blow her top) we glissaded roped up (not MY idea) down a 
slope that were TOLD not to and started an avalanche. As I went tumbling, it was 
bad enough that I suffered a 2 inch puncture wound in my abdomen from the ice 
ax before I let go (imagine someone swinging an ice ax into your stomach to 
get the idea of the force behind it). If the ice ax had been strapped to my 
hand, I would have certainly been stabbed numerous times as we tumbled over 2500 
vertical feet down a steep gully, including a 50 foot fall over a cliff, only 
to stop less than 5 feet before hitting rocks at the bottom of the slope. I 
went climbing again the very next weekend and haven't really stopped since. Dumb, 
huh? Several other people were injured and one guy was buried under 5 feet of 
snow for 45 minutes before we dug him out from an air pocket
 It's a hard decision. If you lose your ice ax when you start sliding, your 
only hope is a safe runout. If you don't stop and its strapped to you, you 
better have a real good first aid kit.
 Now that I've scared all the newbies, remember that the likelihood of being 
injured by your ax on the PCT is extremely remote, especially if you enter the 
Sierra post melt out. I only used my ax once and that was only to chop a few 
steps on a steep icy snowdrift somewhere between Castella and Seiad Valley. 
The snowdrift was the last remnant of a record snowfall the past winter