Lou Dawson's Backcountry Skiing Blog & Website -- Content Pages

By Lou Dawson

Climbers and skiers die every year from sliding falls on snow. Thus, no discussion of safe snow climbing and steep skiing would be complete without a review of the self arrest -- the time honored method for stopping such falls.

For snow climbers and mountain skiers the self arrest has four forms. These depend on gear. While climbing, you'll need to know how to self arrest with your ice ax. While skiing, you can use specialized self arrest grips on your ski poles. These are less effective than an ice axe, yet skiing while holding an ice ax is dangerous and awkward, so arrest grips can be useful. If you have ski poles, but no arrest grips or ice ax, you can perform a self arrest with your pole tips. This is awkward and ineffective. Lastly, if you have nothing, you can try to arrest with your hands and boot toes. This is bogus -- but good to practice so you know why you need a tool for an effective arrest.

A successful self arrest is a skilled acrobatic maneuver. You must practice until it becomes instinct. If you're new to the game, a snow climbing course is your best bet for learning. If you're an expert you should practice periodically.

Self arrest has one other important aspect: whether you're climbing or skiing, wear non-skid clothing. Slick nylon can turn a small slip into a deadly sliding fall. Wool blend knickers and ski pants are nonskid, as is pile fabric. Cordura nylon is better than slicker nylons. Experienced snow climbers and backcountry skiers have a name for slick nylon shell pants: "death pants."

It's immeasurably safer and more efficient to climb snow with crampons and ice ax, or with crampons and ski poles when the angle is low enough for safety. Make crampons and ice ax standard items in your kit if snow climbing is remotely possible. The same goes for the excellent ski crampons available for alpine touring ski bindings. Crampon technique for snow is simple. Walk with a normal gait for low-angle work. Steeper terrain requires more technique: balancing on your front points or using a series of traverses to keep your feet flat or a combination of the above. "Snow school" with a guide service is a good way to learn snow climbing.

Crampons give you security, but conversely they also cause falls. One noxious occurrence, known as "snow balling," happens when snow sticks to your boot soles. It gets so thick that your crampon points won't bite. Some models of crampons have a plastic sheet that helps prevent snow balling. Silicon spray helps. Sometimes nothing works and you must whack the snow off your crampons before every step. A sharp rap with your axe works well. The other common trip-up occurs when your crampon catches your other leg's clothing or crampon strap. Prevent this with a careful gait and heavy fabric gaiters which a crampon point is less likely to penetrate. Many snow climbers dull their crampons slightly to make them less likely to catch on clothing, but this makes them less sure on ice.

Which ice ax to choose for ski mountaineering? Unless you plan on climbing steep couloirs at over 40 degrees, or ice climbing, use one of the super-lightweight axes now available. Length is a personal preference; but since you'll have ski poles for low angled terrain, a shorter ax will suffice. The lightest ice axes have aluminum heads. These are only suitable for low to mid-angle snow climbing. If you expect any ice or steeper terrain, use an ax with a steel head. Most climbers use some sort of wrist loop with their ice ax. Personal preference for this varies -- find what works for you and stick with it. When your ice ax is stowed on your pack, place protectors on the tip, adz, and spike to prevent injury to you and others. You can buy such protectors, or just wrap the sharps with duct tape.