Ice axe + trekking pole for moderate snow ascents

Many climbers use trekking poles, but restrict their use to the approach trail or low angle snow.  When the terrain gets steeper, most people put both poles in the pack and use only their ice axe. On moderate snow ascents, try using one pole in combination with your ice axe.  Keep your axe in your uphill hand, and the extended pole on the downhill side. This is especially nice on traverses.

This technique has two benefits:  One, you create a lot of additional stability with the downhill pole, adding greatly to balance and confidence.  Second, once you get into the rhythm, you can lean a bit on the downhill pole and use some arm muscle to push uphill, taking some weight off your legs.  Take some load off your legs, feel a lot more in balance, and climb faster - what’s not to like?

Here’s a photo of a climber traversing a moderate snow of about 35 degrees on the lower approach to the Cathedral Ridge route on the northwest side of Mt. Hood.  Note the pole in the downhill hand, axe on lanyard in her uphill hand. She walks quickly, in balance, and the pole is there to keep her that way.

If you need any more evidence, here’s a photo of Ed Viesturs on the summit of Nanga Parbat, showing him with an axe in one hand and . . . you guessed it, a trekking pole in the other.

Glove tip - always bring 2 pair

While we all have wide range of cold tolerance for our hands, I consider at least two pairs of gloves for snow climbs mandatory.  (Read the classic book “Annapurna” for some epic frostbite tales, if you need convincing.) If you ever drop a glove on a cold route and don’t have a spare (or at least an extra sock) you could be in serious trouble.

The gloves I bring on pretty much every trip are Showa Temres 282-02. They are inexpensive, waterproof, extremely warm, and work great. Here's a detailed article about these terrific gloves.

The second pair? Of course, the temperatures where you're climbing dictates your glove choices. In moderate conditions, a light windstopper or Powerstretch fleece may do the job.

For technical climbing in really cold conditions, many climbers bring three or four pairs of gloves.

The backups sure don't have to be name brand glove$ from the $pendy mountaineering $hop. Try an Amazon search for “cycling gloves”. Here’s a pair I got for road biking that do fine as a backup for climbing - stout fabric, windproof, and have touchscreen capable fingers. And, how can you go wrong for about $12? 

How to make bomber tent anchors in snow

I was about 30 minutes outside of Camp Muir on Mt. Rainier, turning back after a storm-induced retreat. Just as I caught a view below me of the tent city, a giant gust of wind smashed into the camp, lifted several tents into the air, and cartwheeled them thousands of feet down the glacier and out of sight. Whoops! Fortunately, it wasn't mine, but lesson definitely learned!

If you’re setting up a tent in the snow, you need a good way to anchor it down.  (There’s no such thing as a freestanding tent in a windy place.) Buried trekking poles, sticks (maybe collected on your approach hike), skis and rocks work well, as do some sort of a buried deadman.  A picket is bomber, but you’ll probably need them for your climb.

Here’s a great choice: 1 gallon ziplock freezer bags.  Reinforce the lower sides with duct tape, fill about 2/3 with snow, and seal. Then tie the tent cord around the middle making it into an hourglass-like shape, then bury it.  For knots, use a tautline hitch or a trucker’s hitch to fine tune the tension on the tent cord. (See another tip of the week for how to tie these very useful knots!)

So, how strong are they? Answer, more than you think. A study by the French National Guide School conducted some pull testing on various types of deadman snow anchors, and they found that a buried plastic bag could hold a load of approximately 200 kg!

One more option: If you anticipate high winds but no precipitation, you can remove the some or all of the tent poles when you leave camp, lie the tent flat, and put some rocks (ideally with a tarp or something underneath ‘em) or snow blocks gently on top of it.

Don’t let this happen to you!

image: https://manonice.com/2014/10/

Glissading - not always your best option for descent

Glissading, the skill of (mostly) controlled sliding down a snow slope either sitting or standing, can be a lot of fun and save you time and legs on the proper slope.  Pacific NW routes where this can work well include Mt. Hood south side, Mt. Adams south side, the Muir snowfield on Mt. Rainier, and various routes on Mt. Shasta.

Beginning climbers often learn this technique on day 1 of snow school, and then mistakenly think that it's something to be done at every opportunity. (And, hopefully you learned this on day 1 of snow school as well, but it's worth repeating: never glissade with crampons on!)

However, glissading has some serious downsides, and saving a few minutes on the descent may not always be worth it.  Before you glissade, consider these points:

• Much greater chance of injury than simply walking (usually a broken/sprained ankle, going too fast and cratering into a rock, talus or scree, or dropping into an unseen crevasse)

• You wear out your gear faster (seat of your pants and pack bottom)

• You get your butt wet

• You can lose gear strapped to the outside of your pack, like trekking poles and crampons unless it’s very well tied down

• Questionable time savings – saving 20 minutes on a descent by glissading may not mean so much when you weigh it against the downsides mentioned above, and the fact that a round trip climb may take 8-10-12+ hours.