Snow & Ice Climbing

A standard cordelette (6-ish meters of 7 mm cord) is good for rock climbing. But it's unnecessarily long and bulky for glacier travel and crevasse rescue. Here's an alternative: about 3.5 meters of 6 mm Sterling V-TX cord, rated at 15 kN. This cord is short, light, compact, versatile and great for crevasse rescue.

Black Diamond published a very interesting study about the effects of common electronic devices and how they generally do not play well with avalanche transceivers. Here’s a link to their excellent article.

The T slot (aka deadman) anchor is usually a good choice when building a crevasse rescue anchor in snow. Here’s a quick enhancement that can double the strength.

For glacier travel, it's usually best practice to clip, not tie, to the rope. The Grivel Clepsydra carabiner just might be the best tool for the job: the twin gates will never freeze or jangle open, and the keeper gate prevents cross loading. Plus, it has a bonus feature as part of a minimalist hauling system.

There are many approaches to crevasse rescue and many choices for what gear to bring. You need light weight, multifunction, and hopefully have teammates with similar kit to have an effective rescue. Here's my go-to crevasse rescue gear.

The modern approach to crevasse rescue is to use a separate, unweighted rescue rope strand to pull out your unfortunate partner. Typically, this is done with a 2:1 “drop loop” system. Here's a variation with some improvements: dropping down one END of the rope, and hauling with a 3:1 mechanical advantage.

A popular approach to crevasse rescue is to use a 2:1 “drop C” as the primary mechanical advantage system. Learn some of the advantages of the drop C over the 3:1 Z drag, some easy hacks to make it work even better, and how to overcome a couple of potential problems.

Setting up a top rope anchor for ice climbing? Bolts or trees may give the fastest and most secure option. If all you have is the ice, be aware that screws can melt out very quickly. To increase anchor security and longevity, consider using one or even two V-threads. Guest post by Canadian ice climbing expert Sean Isaac @seanisaacguiding.

There are many different approaches to crevasse rescue. Some older methods are cumbersome, slow to set up, and add unnecessary clutter. With modern tools like a progress capture pulley and micro ascenders, crevasse rescue is usually faster and simpler. Let's look at some techniques and video from pro European guides showing how it's done.

V-threads are used for rappelling on ice when you don't have bolts, trees, or established rappel stations. While they can be very strong, a redundant backup is usually a good idea. There are some best practices for doing this correctly. Learn them here, from Canadian Guide and ice climbing expert Sean Isaac, @seanisaacguiding

Canadian ice climbing expert Will Gadd posted an excellent series of ice climbing tutorial videos on Youtube. Video production is excellent, and Will’s vast experience, good humor and teaching ability comes through in every one. Highly recommended!

Here's a fast, clever and easy-to-remember way to ensure proper spacing between team members when traveling on a glacier. Plus, a diagram and photo to show actual distances for three and four person teams.

Want to set up your crampons so it's faster and less hassle to put them on? Simply pre-thread the strap through your toe piece and the buckle.

Lost or broke a ski? With a shovel blade and a ski strap or two, you just might make it back to the trailhead. Tip and photos from our friends at @graybirdguiding.

For two person glacier travel, best practice is to have three or four bulky “brake knots” between climbers, intended to minimize the length of a crevasse fall. If you need to do a rescue and want to lift your partner, you may need to remove these knots from your hauling system. Here's a simple way to do it, courtesy of Petzl.

Most ice climbers know that a screw angled down in good quality ice is stronger than one angled up. Black Diamond tested this; here are the real numbers. Plus, in real life conditions, where you can't always assess the quality of the ice, there's a good argument for using an angle of 0° all the time.

A vertical picket is fast to place, but the strength depends on the firmness of the snow. Here’s a quick rule of thumb to determine if the snow will hold a vertical picket, or if you need to take more time and make a T slot (deadman) anchor.

Want to learn some snow climbing tips from the guy who founded the American Alpine Institute and former president of the American American Guide Association (AMGA)? We thought so. While these are some great tips for beginners, even you crafty veterans may learn a few new things.

You want pickets clipped vertically to your gear loops or pack straps, not slung around your neck. Here’s how to rack pickets right.

The munter mule overhand, or MMO knot, is a load releasable hitch. While it can be helpful in advanced rope rescue scenarios, it’s not required in crevasse rescue, and in the opinion of various experts, does not need to be taught to beginners.

Sinking a snow picket and having a few people try to pull it out is kind of fun . . . but not very scientific. The French national guide school did some real world pull tests on snow anchors, and there are a few good takeaways.

Traveling on a glacier in a two person team can make arresting a fall and crevasse rescue very difficult. Fortunately, we now have some definitive answers on a way to make it safer - brake knots in the rope.

New school layering - have an “action suit” when you're moving fast, and a big puffy jacket to put over everything when you stop. Here’s just about everything you need to know about the belay jacket.

If you fall into a crevasse, having an ice screw lets you unweight the rope, making life a lot easier for your partners on top trying to get you out. If you have two screws, you could even aid climb your way out. Some minimalist glacier harnesses even have elastic tabs designed for carrying screws.

Are you climbing on a moderate glacier, such as a standard route on many Pacific NW volcanoes, without any actual lead climbing? Consider a static rope.

Dry Feet = Happy Feet! You can always have dry socks, even on multi day snow climbs, if you follow this tip.

Headed on a snow climb that has a long approach followed by more technical climbing? Don’t “sweat” the approach - bring an extra base layer and swap it as you slow down.

Running belays on snow can be a lower risk and relatively fast way for a rope team to travel in steeper terrain. Here are three tips to make them more effective.

Don’t ditch your poles when the going gets steeper and snowy. Having a pole and ice axe can be a great combo, especially when traversing.

Good rule of thumb for snow climbing: always bring two pairs of gloves at a minimum. They don't need to be name brand, especially your back up pair. Here's how to find some online.

There's no such thing as a freestanding tent on a windy mountain. Here's a light weight and nearly free way to make solid snow anchors for your tent.

Glissading - You might have learned how to do it on your first day of climbing school. It can be fun, save time, and your quads muscles in certain ideal situation. But there are also a lot of reasons why you may want to avoid it.