This is about the straight-handled tools used, usually one to a person, especially when walking on snow, or level or shallow-angle ice. For similarly shaped tools used, usually two to a person, for climbing primarily steep, vertical, and/or overhanging ice or hard snow, see
ice tool.An ice axe is a multi-purpose
mountaineering tool carried by practically every mountaineer. The narrow sense used here excludes
ice tools for
ice climbing.An ice axe consists of at least five components:pick (1) — a hooked or curved end of the head that draws to a point set with teeth. The hooked design allows the axe to dig in faster when trying to
self-arrest.head (2) — usually made of steel and includes the
pick and
adze. One grips the head using either a self-arrest or
self belay grip. There is a hole in the centre of the head called a
carabiner hole but it is mostly used for attaching a wrist leash.adze (3) — the flat, widest section of the head used for chopping steps in hard snow and ice. Ice climbing tools may have a hammer instead.shaft (6) — straight, with a uniform cross-section that is usually wider in the adze-to-pick direction than in the side-to-side direction, and is flat on the sides and smoothly rounded on the pick and adze sides; and usually made of metal, e.g.,
aluminum or
titanium, or a composite material including some component such as
fiberglass,
Kevlar or
carbon filament. spike, or
ferrule (7) — a steel point at the bottom is used to plunge the ice axe into snow for stability, balance and safety. Sometimes used on rocky trails for balance, though one must take care not to dull the spike.
See more at Wikipedia.org...
Free Download Now!
