1) when you guys haul your 2' or 3' MSR picket or deadman anchor, what do you pound it into the snow with? Using your ixe axe seems like a bad idea. There probly isn't a bunch of rocks lying around to use. You don't carry a piton hammer do you? am I missing something?

2) is there any draw back from using an AT (alpine touring) ski boot on a regular downhill ski setup? I understand you sacrafice a little bit of preformance because there is more boot flex to allow walking, but other than that, does it work fine? Is the connection to the binding as solid?

1) Ice tool with a hammer head instead of an adze

I prefer a heavier hammer like the old BD model, but I use a technical tool like that. Usually if the terrain dictates placing pro we have at least one technical tool among us.

#1 Deadman is usually used in soft snow, push them in with your hands. Push pickets in with your hands if possible. If the snow is too firm for this and you have standard mountaineering axe, turn it sideways and pound the picket in. If the snow is very hard and you are afraid you might break your axe, tie or clip the picket off short, or dig a shallow trench with your axe and bury the picket sideways and clip or tie it off near the center. If the surface is too hard to do this, use a screw.

#2 The rubber walking sole of an AT boot does not provide the same predictable release that a regular ski-boot provides when mated with a standard downhill binding. Many ski rental shops will not allow you to use AT boots with their rental skis or they will make you sign an additional do-not-sue-us form.

For pickets use an ice tool with a hammer or if you only have a mountaineering ax hold it upside-down (spike pointing up) and drive it in with the head of the ax. Heavier axes work better for this. As for deadman anchors I don't use them because pickets are more versatile IMO so I carry more than one picket. Also, I prefer 24" pickets as a max. length and find 36" pickets to long.

Brad Marshall wrote:For pickets use an ice tool with a hammer or if you only have a mountaineering ax hold it upside-down (spike pointing up) and drive it in with the head of the ax. Heavier axes work better for this. As for deadman anchors I don't use them because pickets are more versatile IMO so I carry more than one picket. Also, I prefer 24" pickets as a max. length and find 36" pickets to long.

+1, on all counts.

Yep, upside down works much better than sideways because you won't ruin the head of your tool (not to speak of the picket itself).