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[pct-l] Whippet/iceaxe
I did not mean to imply that a self arrest situation will never occur on the PCT but the evidence suggests that it is a very rare event. I also did not mean to imply that the possibility of needing to self arrest should be ignored. Sorry if my post came out that way.
It is also important to point out that a lot of the people who had ice axes in the 2003 hike did not seem to have much experience using them, and regardless of experience, many hikers often carried the ice axe strapped to the back of their backpack or in a hard to reach location where it was not ready to use in the few seconds needed to place it.
The Whippet is not as strong as a real ice axe but I had it ready to use at all times (it is part of a trekking pole) and did finally put it to use long after everyone else had sent their ice axes home.
There is, in fact, a very real conflict between the use of an ice axe and the use of trekking poles which I have not seen discussed. I am not real sure of this, but it seems that the original ice axes had really long handles which allowed them to function like a ski or trekking pole. Modern, especially ultra light, ice axes have handles too short to be used as trekking poles.
With the Whippet, I had trekking poles at all times and found that they work very well in snow hiking. In 2003, we had a lot of snow in the High Sierra. A characteristic snow pattern up there is something called snow cups. The hiking technique is to quickly step from one edge of a snow cup to another in a gliding like motion. This reduces the number of times hikers will post hole. Having trekking poles enabled me to keep my balance longer and make this snow cup gliding more like a cross country skiing action. As this was the most common snow condition that we encountered, every hiker I was aware of chose to use their trekking poles instead of their ice axe.
This was very much a conflict between the two because some of the snow cup fields were on a pretty good slope where if the hiker fell, they might start sliding and have no good way to stop.
However the need to self arrest is only one of several snow country problems.
There is a snow country condition which I have never heard anyone talk about which for which there is no bit of equipment to deal with and properly should scare the nonsense out of anyone (which is probably why it is not discussed): Under the rotting spring time snow there is flowing water. In some places it is a roaring river you can hear but cannot see. In other places it is a lake you see the middle of but not the edges.
In my opinion, the best possible level of safety in a dangerous situation is awareness of the probable hazards and taking careful well considered action to avoid them.
Chance
Tangent <tangent@meinfelder.com> wrote:At 09:49 PM 2/20/2004 -0800, Shaw Manford wrote:
>In defense of the Whippet, in my reading of the 2002 and earlier journals,
>I did not see mention of anyone needing to self arrest. Many of the hikers
>did not even carry an ice axe.
What you say is true, but your logic seems reckless. To be clear, I assume
you are implying the following: Because the need to self arrest rarely
occurs, the best protection is not necessary.
Since all events do not have equal consequence, people typically take more
precaution with actions and events having the most dire consequences.
Nuclear power plants and jet planes break down less frequently than their
alternatives, but both have more safety precautions in place, not less, due
to the serious consequences of potential catastrophes.
I respect your decision to carry what you will and your recommendation is
as valid as anyone's, but your reasoning makes me uncomfortable.
Tangent
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