How to properly cut steps with an ice axe?

by **billisfree** » Wed Apr 28, 2010 8:11 am

Cutting steps is rather energy intensive. With crampons there is less need to cut steps, but sometimes there is a need. A broken crampon or injured climber might call for step-cutting.

I'm no pro, but I find the easiest thing to do is just to kick toe-holds in the hard snow... keeping a 3-point contact with firm snow. If I have to cut steps... then I can expect my progress to be halved. Your feet are much stronger than your arms.

When I'm ready to take a rest break, I might cut a couple of secure steps.

Try to swing the ice axe away from your body so that a glancing blow doesn't hit your legs.

You just have to experiment with what works, what doesn't. Eventually you realize what's worth it and what's not.

by **Fred Spicker** » Wed Apr 28, 2010 3:18 pm

Step cutting is a valuable skill that can save time and extra weight when only short stretches of steep snow need to be negotiated. In other words, it can eliminate the need to stop and put on crampons and then take them off for a very short passage – or can eliminate the need to take them along at all.

Up until at least the 7th edition, Mountaineering Freedom of the Hills has a section on step cutting. It is “updated” – the sections in older editions are better.

Here is a site with a section on cutting steps and an illustration – scroll down.

http://www.globalsecurity.org/military/ ... 1/ch10.htm

There is not really a magic technique – basically whatever works for the consistency of the snow or ice that you are dealing with. The main thing is to create an adequate platform for the foot.

by **Alpynisto** » Wed Apr 28, 2010 4:01 pm

For efficient step cutting, you need to find an ice axe at least 20 years old, such as a Stubai Aschenbrenner, preferably around 80 cm. Nobody currently makes a tool that is truly designed for the job. The shape of the pick and adze used on modern tools is sub-optimal for that task but better for use with crampons.

by **Deltaoperator17** » Wed Apr 28, 2010 5:13 pm

jschrock wrote:lol, FortMental. Grumpy this morning?

No, he is just an old fart has crooked hobnails on his leather boots and wears repaired wool knickers.

by **Brad Marshall** » Wed Apr 28, 2010 5:27 pm

I agree with Fred's comments. Cutting steps is a valuable skill to have even if you never end up using it.

by **Guyzo** » Wed Apr 28, 2010 5:35 pm

FortMental wrote:You're just asking this question to see who the old farts are, right? Why don't you ask "How to replace hobnails on my leather boots?" or "How do I splice my manila rope?" or "Repairing wool knickers?" ... see who replies!

Why else would you ask a question that hasn't been asked since the invention of 12 point crampons? Of course, you could easily figure this out for yourself in 10 minutes on real snow, or on YouTube, or FROM A BOOK!

Don't they have an app for that?

You said it all.

gk

by **Brad Marshall** » Wed Apr 28, 2010 5:39 pm

Guyzo wrote:
FortMental wrote:You're just asking this question to see who the old farts are, right? Why don't you ask "How to replace hobnails on my leather boots?" or "How do I splice my manila rope?" or "Repairing wool knickers?" ... see who replies!

Why else would you ask a question that hasn't been asked since the invention of 12 point crampons? Of course, you could easily figure this out for yourself in 10 minutes on real snow, or on YouTube, or FROM A BOOK!

Don't they have an app for that?

You said it all.

gk

Perhaps he should change his username to JudgeMental?

by **welle** » Wed Apr 28, 2010 5:45 pm

It's helpful technique even if you have crampons on - say you have to take a rest on a steep snow slope, or belaying...

If I were to find out who the old farts are I'd ask them to show me how to do a triple wrapped bowline in place of a harness

by **brenta** » Wed Apr 28, 2010 6:46 pm

Good summary by knoback and Fred. When cutting steps on steep slopes, turn one side into the slope, carve a notch for the uphill hand and hold the axe in the downhill hand. Start from the close end of the step and work toward the far end. Ideally, a step is large enough to hold the whole sole of your boot and slopes slightly inward.

Quoting from a recent thread:

Cutting steps remained popular long after crampons were invented--even 12-point crampons. The first 12-point crampons were made by Laurent Grivel in 1929. They were used for the first ascent of the Eiger Nordwand. Yet, when in 1968 Flematti and Desmaison climbed the Linceul on the Grandes Jorasses, they still cut thousands of steps in the ice. When Messner wrote of his solo ascent of the North Face of the Droites in 1969, he felt the need to explain why he didn't cut steps. Incidentally, he carried an axe and a dagger, which was not unusual at the time. The late sixties and early seventies saw the development of "piolet traction" which required not only front points but two (short) tools. Only then the decline of the adze begun, some forty years after the invention of the 12-point crampons.

by **rhyang** » Wed Apr 28, 2010 8:04 pm

welle wrote:It's helpful technique even if you have crampons on - say you have to take a rest on a steep snow slope, or belaying...

What you're doing there is more chopping / digging out a stance rather than steps. Perfectly reasonable though.

by **Sierra Ledge Rat** » Wed Apr 28, 2010 10:23 pm

While we're on the subject, what's the best way to repair my cagoule?

by **Brad Marshall** » Thu Apr 29, 2010 12:34 am

Perhaps we should move this thread to the sarcasm forum? :lol:

by **John Duffield** » Thu Apr 29, 2010 1:19 am

FortMental wrote:

A feucking scream.

by **Big Benn** » Thu Apr 29, 2010 9:38 pm

Sometimes people coming to SP Forums for the first time may like to ask a basic question just to break the ice, (sorry, no pun intended), and maybe see what sort of welcome they get.

Maybe that is not the case here, but how do we know that at present?

How to properly cut steps with an ice axe?

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