[pct-l] Ice axe size

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

In a message dated 1/9/04 2:11:34 PM, dorothea@onemain.com writes:

<< According to the instructions I?ve seen,

I should get a 70 inch,  >>

Sounds good to me if you are between 5' to 5' 4'' tall. If you want light 
weight, get a titanium one. This subject has been discussed at length (no pun 
intended) so you might want to try the archives. To put it succinctly, the main 
function of an ice ax is as a balance tool since it is rarely used for self 
arrest (which is only ONE of its functions). A short ice ax is pretty useless as 
a balance tool
   I went to a Mountaineers meeting last night and someone had an ice ax that 
once belonged to Jim Whittaker. It was about 3 feet long. And consider the 
pre ice ax snow tool, the alpenstock. It wasn't exactly short --- more like 6 
feet long. Hmm, I wonder why? Could it be it was used for balance too by any 
chance? The ice ax replaced it because it was more functional, not because 
alpenstocks were too long