Ice climbing technique moves

Learning the ice climbing process is difficult and arduous. From climbing ice climbing to mixed routes, to winter field techniques, step by step. It is best to learn with an experienced guide that can help you avoid many mistakes. If you have a systematic ice and snow course or lecture, you can acquire knowledge, improve skills, and raise your awareness of safety. Of course it is not free.

Teaching videos, books, and related articles in magazines are all sources of knowledge, but sitting in a chair is not helpful in improving technology. Before you begin to understand the intricate snow conditions, climbing movements, and protection techniques, you should learn through a large number of top rope protections. As you begin to learn pioneering, you should start with a simpler line (compared to your top rope technology). Before starting the climb, it must be carefully judged according to the current conditions of the route and the temperature. If the ice conditions become worse or thinner, the previous situation would be of little value.

Technical actions

The "handcuffing" type of ice climbing has become obsolete. The blunt actions are replaced by flexibility, efficiency and reliability. Learn a lot of movements from rock climbing, like a smooth dance on the ice. Stem, backstep, highstep, heelhook, layback, and bouncestep are all actions that can be used. According to the actual situation, find out the most effective way of climbing. Your goal should be control, skill, and balance.

Crampons and boots

You need a pair of rigid single front teeth or double front teeth crampons. Many masters trust single front teeth crampons, and some even do not count. The single front tooth cramp is particularly suitable for mixing routes and thin ice because it can be accurately and carefully kicked into the placement point; on thick ice, the double front teeth are more stable. The double front teeth are also suitable for use on warmer or softer ice surfaces, and the single front teeth can be classified as mud.

Make sure the tip is sharp. Use handcuffs to shave them into shark teeth. However, be careful when using it. The wrong ice kick can easily scratch the clothes. You can only scream "GoreTex" (hehe).

It may be difficult to trust your crampons when you are just starting to ice up, especially if the weather is cold and the ice is brittle. Many beginners need to kick ice many times per step. It's not always necessary to keep your feet and ice from going too far – one or two steady and accurate kicks are enough to support your body. Fix your feet quickly, then move the weights, but make sure it's safe. If the ice is kicked or the ice is unstable, the following climbing action cannot be made.

In the low-angle water ice or middle-level alpine ice route, the flat-footed French technique is very good. Firmly slamming your feet into the ice firmly against the tips of the crampons, turning your ankles to bite all the tips of your teeth, and then flank your body upwards (Figure 1). The pure French technique makes the lower legs more comfortable, but it is difficult and insecure to use on steeper waterfalls. At rest, you still have to place your feet on a small slope. The common method is to stand straight with a flat leg and put most of the body weight on this leg, and the other leg is fixed with the front teeth (to help maintain balance).

Use the front teeth technique to choose the best place to stay - for example, an ice hole carved out of the front ice, flat or concave ice, or a small ice edge. Accurate and effective kicking of ice once or twice can leave the front teeth. The heel presses down, relaxes your calf, and holds the second pair of front teeth on the ice (fig. 2) (compiler's note: beginners out of fear, often slamming their heels and leaning forwards to the ice The wall, which is both fatigue-consuming and hard to stabilize, forms a stable three-point support for a single front tooth cramp, while the double front teeth form a four-point support. When climbing thin ice or rock, place the front teeth on the rock edges or cracks to keep your feet stable and avoid slipping.

Little ice cub

Hail is the ultimate weapon for ice climbers. With ice picks, you can grab ice, cut ice steps, dig hard ice, position the ice cone before turning, or use it for self-braking when slid on a snow slope. The key part of the hailstone is the Shantou (Muzuitou). There are three basic forms of steamed bread: positive curves and straight heads for alpine climbing, and anti-curves for ice-fall climbing (Figure 3). Keep your sharp edges sharp and get good performance (hand rub). At the other end of the hammer is a shovel or hammer. When climbing ice waterfalls or mixing routes, some ice climbers will choose two hammerheads, so that when nails need to be knocked on, they can be easily operated and avoid facial injuries. (Compiler's Note: You may wish to test and simulate, when a hand stretches What happens when the other hand crosses the opposite side of the hammer? Oh, if the tool pops up, just hit his face!). For alpine climbing, a hammerhead and a shovel head are required. The shovel head is used to dig ice and snow, and steps or platforms are made.

The handle is a part of the grip, but it is also part of the power transfer. On steep ice, a person with a height of 6 feet (1.83 meters) can choose a 50cm long handle, while a shorter person can consider a 45cm length. The curved shank is better than the straight shank on ice, and it can prevent the knuckle from falling on the ice. Straight shanks are better for use in alpine environments because they can be inserted into hard snow more easily when protected by boots. The tail end of the shank is a sharp spike that is useful as a walking stick on low-angle ice. A blunt tip will slip on the ice, while an overly sharp one may scratch the clothes and a medium sharpness is more appropriate.

Wristbands are also very important, but they are often ignored by people. A good wristband should be easy to put on and pull out of a single glove. It should also fasten the wrist tightly to reduce the fatigue of the forearm.

When using small ice-ice ice, hold the end of the ice pick handle firmly like a racket, and see the proper spot on the ice surface, such as a suitable pit, a previous hole, or a strong piece of ice. Go far, but don't go too far. If you're too far away, once you're out of place and you want to come back again, it's going to be very hard to pull it out. Bend the elbow, lift the pimple to the head, then force it forward (like a whip) and pry the tip into the fall. If you are using a counter-curve tip, the tip of your wrist will force your wrists to fall, creating a downward trajectory for maximum penetration and reducing ice breakage. For beginners, do not bite the wrist, you can try to force your elbows down at the end of your swing. After the ice breaks in, straighten your arm and use the wristband instead of your hand to take on the weight.

When the ice is frozen, observe whether the ice surface is broken. Pay attention to the sound of "Dangdang" and feel the hail of the tip of the tip when it is in ice. Unless all signs indicate that the ice is solid, do not believe it. In the case of hollow ice or ice caves, hooking up the holes with a pick tip can save energy; if you are a pioneer climber, you can gently shake the hailstones to bite the sawtooth under the tip of the tip into the ice.

If the ice is not strong or you feel tired, you should test the ice condition first. Use most of your weight on the hail and pull down on your shoulders. This test is inefficient in cases where the ice is clearly stable, but it is absolutely necessary in case of poor ice conditions.

Many excellent ice climbers use double staggered ascension instead of double licks and ice. First break into a cockroach, and move your feet up. Use the ice pick to lock your body and the other to a higher position (Figure 4). Both feet move up again, and then the lower jaw again. In this way, the distance to each step can be extended and the efficiency of movement can be increased. At the same time, due to the distance between the two rafts, once the ice surface is broken due to the ice, it will not cause both rafts to lose their support. Strong climbers can use staggered ascent on vertical ice walls.

Adjust your body position, use your feet to support your weight, and save your upper body strength. The same is true for rock climbing: a slope less than 90 degrees (depression angle) can stand up directly; try to use the action of the side legs (Stem); collect in the buttock on the steep wall, close to the rock (ice) wall; try to put it in the elevation angle The weight is pulled inwards and placed on the supporting feet; when it is moved upwards, the lower leg is lifted up to obtain dynamics. Full use of your feet, stable and assured climbing.

Ice protection

Ice cones, hammer cones, ice hooks, etc. are universal protective equipment - provided the ice surface is strong enough. I used to be naive to believe that the ice cones were always able to protect the crash. Later I did hundreds of strength tests under various conditions of ice, and now I don't believe in the protection of ice cones. Tilting up or down does not matter. If the cone of ice is not fully screwed in (when screwed into the handle), it will not protect it. It is best to be careful not to fall before doing a good protection.

According to my own and BD laboratory test results, the ice cone screwed into the direction from bottom to top with an angle of 15 to 20 degrees from the vertical line of the ice surface is the strongest (Figure 5). In the past, people usually adopted the method of setting up and down. When the tension was applied, the ice below the ice cone near the ice surface would be crushed, causing the ice cone to bend or break. Field tests have shown that the cone screwed in from the bottom upward at an angle of 20 degrees is almost twice as strong as the 20 degree screw from top to bottom.

When screwing the ice cone, first look for a solid ice surface, such as a flat or slightly sunken ice surface. Do not set the ice cone in the protruding area. The brittle ice surface of the surface was removed with ice picks, and then a shallow hole was drilled for the positioning of the ice cone. From an operational standpoint, the height of the screw cone should be between the chest and the waist (Figure 6). If your posture is appropriate, you can also set it higher to reduce the length of the fall. If the cone is of good quality and sharp enough, it is easy to operate - just screw it into the shallow hole in the positioning. The ice cone should be screwed into the hole of the padlock, padlocked and then buckled into the rope. Now you can breathe a sigh of relief. If the ice layer is thin and the ice bevel teeth have touched the rock, and the entire ice cone exposes more than two inches (5 cm) above the ice surface, it should be tied to the ice cone with a rope sleeve to reduce the leverage.

Due to advancements in the design of the screw-in cone, which makes it easier to use, the hammered-in tube ice cone fell out of favor many years ago. However, some people still bring some hammer cones, because they can't forget the terrible days that it took five minutes to screw an ice cone. Ice hooks can be used for ice seams, hard topsoil, and thin ice, but if you can set the ice cone or rock protection point securely, try not to use ice hooks. Pitons, rock plugs, mechanical plugs, and rope covers are all useful in hybrid circuits.

Take a look at the previous pitons and expansion bolts. Due to the humid environment, corrosion has an effect on the previous fixed anchor point. Corrosion damage is sometimes invisible. So there must be backup measures.

helmet

The helmet protects your head from falling ice. Must bring a helmet, ice climbing without a helmet is stupid. The ultralight helmet saves weight, but it can't withstand more blows. For long-term use, you should still choose a solid one. It's best to make it easy to resize, so it's easier to bring or remove the hat.

rope

Double (here refers to doublerope or halfrope) dry rope is more suitable for ice climbing. They do not freeze when they are wet. If the waterproof coating wears while climbing, it is very bad. So if possible, keep a pair of ropes dedicated to climbing ice. If the rope starts to absorb water, you can use a special waterproofing agent to regenerate it, which is available in normal climbing shops. Double rope protection alternately buckles the two ropes into the protection point, avoiding the rope dragging and reducing the impact force (by increasing the rope extension). Once one of the ropes is broken, the other can be used as a backup (compiler's note: Because ice climbing carries more weapons, the possibility of damaging the rope during a fall is much greater than rock climbing, so backup issues are especially important). A 55m or 60m 10 to 11mm single rope can also be used for ice climbing. A single rope can simplify the work on the rope.

Danger

Do not make mistakes - climbing ice is much more dangerous than rock climbing. There are more uncertainties and the ice is less stable than rocks. Falling is often unpredictable. Be sure to pay attention to safety and avoid dangers such as avalanches or falling ice. You can learn about this through climbing or avalanche courses. Do not do anything beyond your own ability. If you have not learned about the slope, do not try to go through it. In a wild environment where there is avalanche, rescue equipment such as avalanche beacons, snow shovels, and probes should be carried. The key issue is to know how to use them!

Expeditionary ice climbers should have winter survival, self-rescue, and first aid techniques. There should be good clothing and equipment, while being fluent in orientation and skiing. Field survival training can provide first aid and evacuation knowledge for climbers. Both you and your partner should be trained. Once someone is in trouble, another person knows what to do. Carefully choose your partner. Unsuitable candidates are the greatest danger.