Climbing on ice and rock requires the same niceties of balance, of avoiding objective danger, of main­taining a margin of safety. But ice adds a few complica­tions. The margin must be greater—the dangers are dif­ferent, as are the mechanical aids, whereas methods of correcting errors in judgment are less sure. And where the rock-climber must rely on nature's fortuitous placing of holds and ledges, hoping that he can put the jigsaw pieces together into a complex route, the ice-climber needs only the proper surface; if his technique is good enough, he can cut holds, belays, even bivouacs where he needs them.

Training.—Control that has been learned on easy ridges and rocks can be applied to ice; if easy glaciers and snow slopes can now be added to the training grounds, so much the better. A procedure parallel to that given for early training for rock can then be followed as the skier learns control, the use of equipment, and acquires en­durance on ice.

Ice and snow walking.—A climber walking with nailed boots should select his foothold, place his foot on it accu­rately, and leave his foot as placed, without twisting or turning, until he moves it to a new hold. Pace and stride should be moderate. Weak surface crust that will break if the heel strikes first may hold if the foot is placed flat. If deep tracks are made, each man should follow in the leader's footsteps, spelling him off after a prearranged tour of duty at the arduous job of breaking trail. (See also Pace.)

Climbing Aids

Use of the ice ax.—(1) When the climber is skiing, the ax is placed head down in the rucksack, the pick prefer­ably resting against something more substantial than the sugar bag.

1. During an ascent on rock the ax may be suspended by the wrist loop, inserted through the belt behind the hip, placed like a sword through a loop of rawhide tied where the left shoulder strap meets the rucksack, or placed head down in the pack. No method is satisfactory, but any is better than leaving behind an ax that may be needed badly
   
   
2. Easy glacier walking. The ax is used primarily as a cane, and is held with the hand over the shaft and the pick out or forward. It may be carried horizontally, with the point forward, so that the user can choose whom it sticks, and the pick down, where he won't fall on it. A third posi­tion is under the armpit, the pick curving up behind the shoulder, the point forward and down. In traverses of gentle slopes the ax is held in the uphill hand.
   
   
3. Steep slopes. When steps are kicked and the slope is steep enough to require additional assurance, the shaft should be driven vertically and deep into the snow to serve as a secure handhold for each pair of steps. Steps will break out if the climber leans in too far to grasp the ax.
   
   
4. Probing. Here the ax is used for safety, testing for each step the consistency of questionable snow, searching for hidden crevasses. Resistance to the ax is being com­pared, and only experience will tell the climber what the comparison means. A simple rule, not wholly adequate, is: if the ice ax stops, the snow may hold your weight; if the ax doesn't stop, you had better. If probing is necessary at all, the party should be roped.
   
   
5. Glissading. The ice ax serves as a rudder, outrigger, and brake for the climber who wishes to descend snow slopes quickly by sliding on his feet or seated. If the snow surface is right, christiania swings will work passably well without skis. Skiers should take care, however, that they develop a thorough respect for high-mountain snow slopes, which take a heavy toll of the ignorant. Once sliding has started it is not always possible to stop, should the snow slope turn out to have a surprise ending, such as a talus pile, crevasse, or cliff. If the shape and consistency of the slope are not fully known, glissading should be attempted only by a roped party, one man moving at a time. The sitting glissade is swifter than the standing position, but less graceful, wetter, harder to control, and the climber is vulnerable to rocks hidden, but not padded, by snow.
   
   
6. Self-arrests. The point of the ax has been shown to be useful in controlling a voluntary glissade. It will also assist in controlling involuntary glissades if the snow is soft and the slope gradual. But fall face down and check with the toes. The heels are a better catapult than brake. To arrest falls on steep snow or ice: the ax is grasped with one hand around its head at the shaft, pick down and adz over the same shoulder; the other hand grasps the shaft about 18 inches lower; the climber falls face down and smoothly grinds the pick into the snow until he has secured enough braking action to stop himself, but not so far nor so abruptly that he loses control on the ax. For soft snow the adz may be down. Should the fall begin on the back, the climber rolls over onto his stomach toward the ax head and begins the arrest. Self-arrest is no contribution to safety until the user has tried it out several times, with various snow conditions, on slopes with a safe outrun. Gloves are recommended for practice arrests on hard snow and ice.
   
   
7. Traverses on steep slopes. Snow texture and the self-arrest technique it requires will dictate how the ax should be held in traverses, so long as the climber bears in mind that an ax held on the downhill side may be fallen on before it can be controlled, and an ax head held too high above him on the uphill side may be out of reach if he suddenly falls. The most used position on a traverse: point to the slope, shaft nearly horizontal, inside hand on middle of shaft, outside hand on head at shaft, pick down. For still steeper traverses the shaft is driven deep into the slope for each step, and the ax head is held by both hands while the next step is kicked.
   
   
8. Balance. As on rock, the climber's center of gravity should be over his feet, even when he is holding the ax in the traverse position described above. The horizontal posi­tion of the ax is a great aid in permitting one to touch the slope for better balance without leaning in.

Use of crampons.—Crampons should be tied securely and used confidently. On most snow texture they may merely be placed, but on hard ice they must be stamped into position. That position is then held until the foot is moved to the next step, without being slid or twisted. Ankles and knees do all necessary bending; the body must remain vertical. The crampon is not edged into the slope, but placed flat on the surface. To avoid tripping, the foot must be lifted farther than normal off the snow and swung a little wider of the other leg. Running in crampons is possible, but is frowned upon. Easy slopes are ascended directly, moderate slopes are traversed, steep slopes are backed up, and the steeper they are the lower the crouch and the greater the reliance on the ice-ax point.

Extreme danger arises when snow balls between the crampon points so that little or no traction is obtained. Many fatal acidents have resulted. Since crampons are usually needed and used only on high-angle slopes of ice or very hard snow, full precautions against the event of a fall should be taken. To climb with crampons "instead of" an ice ax is like climbing with pitons instead of a rope or motoring with a steering wheel instead of a brake.

Step cutting.—Perhaps there is no finer example of mountaineering than that afforded by the climber who can swiftly and precisely cut and use steps on a steep ice slope. Many are the complaints, in mountaineering literature, of those who have been forced to follow the lead of such a man, who would seem with few strokes to have cut many imperceptible steps and to have moved over them skillfully, hardly seeming to have poised in one long enough to ascer­tain that it would hold him. The ski mountaineer, however, would do well to start with steps that are more bucketlike.

At least two horizontal strokes with the pick will deter­mine the slightly inward-sloping floor of the step, and should be followed by enough vertical strokes to clear room for at least the inside of the ball of the foot, and often for the entire foot and lower leg, if the slope is very steep. The adz levels the floor of the step. The wrist loop must be worn. If quarters are cramped, the shaft may be choked, but then the point can easily stab the climber. The ax should be held in both hands if possible, to spread the fatigue. One hand is usually all that is available.

Fair handholds may be cut in the ice. They are apt to break out if cut with too pronounced an inward slope, and are hard to hold if not.

The conformity of slope and climber will govern the placing of steps. Ordinarily they will be cut in pairs from each stance; that for the outside foot is lower, and for the inside foot is diagonally back and about 10 inches higher.

To step from pair to pair, the climber balances himself with a handhold or the pick of his ax, and moves the out­side foot first, following with the inside foot, which is then used in the most comfortable manner to balance the stance from which he will cut the next pair of steps. Pairs should not be so far apart as to impede balance. A series of zig­zagging diagonals provides the most desirable route up the slope—and also requires that the climber be able to cut equally well with either hand. An extra-large step will facilitate "kick turns" at the end of each traverse and when sufficiently enlarged will help establish the belay positions for the second man as he moves up.

Steps may, of course, be cut straight up a slope with more difficulty; this, however, subjects the belayer to the minor hazard of falling ice chips and the major hazard of a falling leader, who would probably sweep him out of his belay position. The leader may use tension when cut­ting down a slope; his reach will still be too limited for him to cut the steps excessively far apart.

The devices to keep him from slipping—the ice ax, nail patterns, crampons, ice pitons, ropes, carabiners— have become rather highly developed. How to use these tools properly on steep ice and snow seems to have been an elusive problem and for a while the techniques in use were apt to be inadequately formulated even though used on actual climbs. In the Northwest where the glaciers are more readily accessible for the weekend practice session, belay experience has progressed to the point where choice of the best belay technique can be made and detailed with some degree of confidence. Mere discussion of these tech­niques is not enough; the climber who belays successfully on ice and snow is the one who has thoroughly practiced the use of the belaying tools and knows their limitations well. For a more detailed discussion of the techniques that follow, the reader should see Mountaineering: The Free­dom of the Hills.

Body belay.—As on rock, it is better to interpose the resilient and well-positioned frame of the belayer between the climber and the belay anchor wherever possible. An­chors are best achieved through the use of ice bollards or ice pitons, never by means of an unattended ax. A third man may anchor the belayer by using an ax belay. The techniques for belaying will be as described for rock. Remember that sharp ice will abrade a rope as quickly as sharp rock.

Boot-ax belay.—The only effective way to anchor the ax is to drive the shaft as far as possible into the snow. The depth of penetration and the snow conditions will directly affect the value of the belay. Ideally, the ax will be driven in to the hilt at the back of a small platform stamped into the snow, pick pointing into the slope. The belayer stands below the ax with the well-weighted uphill boot placed solidly against the shaft. The ax is also braced with the uphill hand. The rope from below crosses the toe of the boot, bends around the shaft and then continues around the boot heel, where the downhill hand controls it. The steeper the slope becomes, the more difficult to operate this belay, in which case (one hopes) ice will be present in which to place a secure ice piton.

On steep ice, a belay over the pick, the latter having been driven as far as possible into the ice with shaft flush against the slope, will give some support as an upper belay. In such cases, a boot-crampon spike belay is probably better. A fair sized step is cut and the crampon is stamped into the flat part of the step as deeply as possible and heavily weighted. The spike of the ax is forced into the step be­hind the boot (with pick also driven into the slope) and provides some additional holding power. The rope leads through the belay as with the boot-ax belay. The belay is at best still not suitable as a lower belay and an ice piton should be placed.

For a summation on belaying that comprehends classical experience, the lessons learned in half a million man-hours of army rock-climbing, and strength of materials as docu­mented by the National Bureau of Standards as well as other authorities, see Belaying the Leader: An Omnibus on Climbing Safety, by Leonard, Wexler, et al., Sierra Club.

Use of ice pitons.—Considerable experience is required in driving ice and rock pitons to determine when they are sound. Both may provide excellent security, or may be equally weak. One must drive his own and chop them out, again and again, on practice slopes. Ice pitons have a defi­nite advantage over rock pitons in that they can usually be driven wherever needed. Their weight and expense, how­ever, plus the difficulty of getting them in and out, means that they must be used less lavishly. Many excellent ice-climbers believe that the piton belay alone is justifiable on high-angle ice. The record of casualties in using other types of belay certainly indicates, at least, that something better is desirable. Much further study is needed.

Rotten ice should be cleared away with the point of the hammer before the ice piton is driven. Much better support is given the piton if a recess for it is cut into the solid ice. High air temperatures or sun may leave the piton a loose pin in a socket; consequently, the piton should be placed well back in the recess and driven down into the ice at such an angle that a fall will help pull it down into its socket. The piton is more secure at subfreezing tempera­tures ; therefore shade, storm, or early morning hours may work to advantage. If the piton is frozen in its socket, it will, like a tent stake, hold a direct outward pull better than a pull at right angles to the shaft. If the pitons are used for tension, it must be remembered that the climber's weight serves to melt the ice around the piton shaft. A toothed edge should hold, however, while the climber's weight is on it—provided his weight is not on it too long.

Ice screws have exceptional holding power even on direct pulls. They take more time to place, but do not require the use of a hammer and are easy to remove. A carabiner placed into the ring serves as an effective handle; more leverage is needed if ice screws are placed in fairly hard ice. In such ice this type of anchor may be the only one that can be placed.

Party Climbing

In travel on snow-covered glaciers the rope is always on —for all practical purposes whenever the party is outside of sleeping bags. A party of two men is too weak on any ski-mountaineering trip, let alone travel on a crevassed glacier. Three should be the minimum; two ropes of two, both following the same route, provide maximum speed and security. The four will preferably tie in to the same rope if continuous roped travel is possible. Each climber attaches a Prusik sling to the rope taking care that it is drawn down behind his bowline or butterfly and tucked into a pocket. The rope should be kept taut between mem­bers of the party at all times. Should one man of a three-or four-man team fall into a crevasse, his companions can all contribute to the "belay" by falling into self-arrest position. Experience has shown that the frantic attempts at belaying after the fall has begun are usually inadequate; there is not normally enough time to arrange an effective shaft belay and generally the surface of the glacier is such that the shaft will not penetrate far enough to be of much use. After a fall is thus arrested, those persons not directly holding the climber may unrope and assist in retrieving the absent member. (Precaution: there may be another crevasse, still to be discovered.) In all probability the leader, if he fell, should have probed better with his ice ax, and if he suspected unstable snow should have changed his route, or have asked for a belay and then crawled, better to distribute his weight.

If there is a crevasse to be jumped, each man should use the broad-jumper's technique, landing with both feet for­ward, and should continue to roll forward to plant his pick, holding the ax as in a self-arrest. He should not have neglected to secure enough slack rope before the jump. At other times the rope should be held taut enough to pre­vent unnecessary dragging in the snow and to preclude deep falls into crevasses.

The rope must be so snug at the waist as not to be pulled down over the hips in an upside-down fall. If the rope is long enough, a bowline on a coil or a double-loop butterfly will, in event of fall, provide a more comfortable distri­bution of weight than a single loop. An additional loop over the shoulder will keep the rope high, but is not ad­visable for that very reason. A man who has fallen will be unable to get the loop down and constriction of his chest may suffocate him—unless he can contrive a foot sling, quickly get into it while awkwardly suspended, and relieve that constriction.

Roped skiing.—Speed and broader distribution of weight provided by skis will diminish the probability of the skier's dropping into hidden crevasses. But he can still drop in, especially if he falls, and should be roped. The self-arrest is aided by the anchor man's falling and placing his skis at right angles to the direction of pull. Hands should be out of the wrist loops of the poles, so that if there is a break-through the anchor man may grasp the lower part of the pole for a self-arrest.

The route should lie at right angles to the crevasse system so that no two skiers will be over the same cre­vasse. This suggestion assumes that the skier will per­ceive or know the direction of the crevasses; the as­sumption is optimistic indeed when the glacier is heavily snow-covered and its edges cannot be seen. If occasional large crevasses are open, they will provide a clue. Other­wise it must be deduced—and hoped—that the crevasses are perpendicular to the direction of flow of the glacier at its center where that flow is most rapid, and curve progressively farther upstream the nearer they are to the edges, where the flow is least rapid. Each man then fol­lows the leader's tracks to avoid excessive cutting of the snow surface and to take advantage of snow cover that has at least demonstrated it will hold somebody. The speed of descents should be governed by that of the poorest skier; turns should be made by all men on the rope at the same time, on signal of the first man, so that the rope can be kept properly taut. A rope that is in­termittently slack and taut will protect the skier too little and too much.

Rescue

Odd indeed is the glacier traveler who hasn't fallen into at least one crevasse, and who has not suffered the in­dignities of being jeered for his clumsiness by his com­panions, who photograph and push a little snow on him before they help him out. The victim takes this lightly, for he knows he will have his day before the trip—or even that day—is over. The usual rescue is casual. The faller's pack or ice ax prevents his dropping much more than waist-deep into the crevasse, or he is able, when he feels the snow give, to fall forward and bridge the cre­vasse. The rope quickly becomes taut enough to hold him where he is, and a little tension gets him out.

Self-rescue.—Chances are the victim will still have his ice ax; the wrist loop he presumably was wearing will have saved it. If conditions are right he may be able to climb out utilizing the configurations of the crevasse to his advantage. If they are not right, he may be able to use the Prusik method of ascending the rope, if he has taken the precaution of attaching the slings before taking his fall. Three 6-foot slings are needed: two for the feet and one for the chest, all three being tied onto the anchor rope with the Prusik knot. The knots will hold when weighted, slide when unweighted. The weight is placed onto the feet as quickly as possible to relieve constric­tion of the chest. The three loops are consecutively un­weighted and with great effort slid by hand up the wet rope as the climber ascends. Difficulty will be encountered in getting up over the lip where the rope bites deep into the snow. A single rope of two, however, will not usually be able to extricate itself if one of the team is down.

Team rescue.—Assuming again that one member of a three- or four-man team is down and the fall arrested, one or two persons will immediately be available to begin the rescue. A conscious person can be raised by the Bilgiri method (fig. 25), whereby one belayer above alternately raises one foot sling while the fallen climber slides his own Prusik sling along his anchored climbing rope to provide purchase for the other foot. An ax or heavy clothing placed under the rope at the lip will pre­vent deep penetration by the moving rope.

If the victim is unconscious, a good first-aid pro­cedure would require that the nature of the injury be learned before he is moved. After an assistant has descended to the victim and prepared him for the evacua­tion, a pulley system is installed (see "Mountaineering") and the lifting begins.

Pulley system.—Set the main anchor far enough back from the crevasse lip to allow work space. An ice ax or ice bollard will suffice, but do not leave the anchor un­attended. Presumably, the fallen climber is already being held on anchor and precaution has been taken to prevent the rope's biting into the crevasse edge. Attach a long sling with carabiner to the main anchor. Attach a short Prusik sling to the climbing rope near the edge and a longer Prusik sling just below it. Tie the longer sling onto the original anchor and ease the load over to this sling. The climbing rope is then snapped into the main anchor, brought back and snapped into the short sling (all with carabiners, or preferably, wheeled pulleys), then led up to those doing the hauling. As the rope is pulled up, the short sling moves toward the main anchor carabiner. The hauling stops while the alternate anchor sling takes the load. The short sling is loosened and moved back down the climbing rope for the next haul. This process is re­peated until the victim reaches, and is brought over, the top of the crevasse. The pulley system operates much the same on rock terrain except for the differences in anchoring and rope-protection problems.

Two persons can raise 180-200 pounds; four can raise two climbers, the injured and the assistant, if necessary. Additional ropes and slings may be required depending on the location of the victim.

One-man rescue.—The brute strength required to pull a man directly from a crevasse is nonexistent, or rare at best. Friction of a rope that has cut deep against the snow is prohibitive. The rescuer must have some means of freeing himself from the rope so that he can work. The anchor butterfly in his climbing rope provides this. With the victim anchored by the butterfly, the rescuer unties, places whatever smooth object he can find under the rope near the crevasse lip to prevent the rope's digging in any farther, places a short Prusik loop around the belay rope and anchors it to the ice ax to serve as a ratchet, and then hauls with all he has, using his leg muscles and hip belay as much as possible, meanwhile sliding the Prusik knot along the rope to hold all he gains and permit the frequent rests he will need. He may meanwhile take a very dim view of his prospects of success. Prospects would have been much brighter with two ropes between the two men and a conscious victim.

Two-man rescue.—If the victim is unconscious, a good first-aid procedure would require that the nature of his injury be learned before he is hauled anywhere. It may further be desirable to tie a second rope or portion of rope to him. The assistant may rappel to the victim for these purposes, climb back up the rappel by methods suggested above, and then assist in the hauling. If the hauling rope is passed through a carabiner in a waist loop on the victim, and one end of the hauling rope is anchored to an ice ax on the far side of the crevasse, the other end may be pulled and the victim raised with a theoretical mechanical advantage of two. He is also much freer of the overhanging lip of the crevasse. Another rope will be needed to get him finally up and out.

L’envoi.—Perhaps we should end the book on a pleas­ant, positive note: for more enjoyable ski mountaineering, simply avoid stumbling into predicaments where you need to be rescued—and urge your friends to do the same. We don't mean to suggest that you stay home. Statistics prove that there is where most accidents hap­pen.

To be safe, ski!

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