The ice axe is the mountaineer's tool par excellence. Almost more a symbol than a real piece of equipment. Like boots, the ice axe must never be missing.
Choosing an ice axe is one of the most important moments. It often happens, on some CAI (Italian Alpine Club) course or among friends at a mountain association, that you hear good advice on which is the best ice axe to buy.
As with everything, an ice axe that is right for every situation does not exist. If in the early days of mountaineering ice axes could be long, used more like a trekking pole than as a safety tool, today ice axes are generally shorter.
Generally speaking, the ice axe should not be too long, and roughly in proportion to the height of the mountaineer who intends to use it.
The ice axe has many uses; here we will try to point out the most important ones. The settings in which you most need to turn to an ice axe are winter mountaineering climbs, although in some very rare cases you may also need the ice axe on grassy or rocky ground. You hear people talk about “dry tooling” quite often, but this is one of those exceptional cases that for now we will not consider.
If possible, it is advisable to avoid buying your ice axe in a supermarket or a big chain store. Saving money on a tool for your own safety is decidedly paradoxical behaviour. Go to a small shopkeeper, who will in any case be able to ask you the right questions and offer you the product best suited and matched to your abilities as well as to the sport you have chosen.
Choosing the ice axe according to the sport you want to practise:
In short: how to find your way when choosing
- Start from the activity: an ice axe for experienced hiking is not the same as the one you need for classic winter mountaineering, and there is no model that is good for everything.
- Think about the length: today shorter tools are preferred than in the past, in proportion to the height of the person using them.
- Buy in a specialist shop, where they will ask you what kind of outings you do and how much experience you have, instead of relying on the first shelf in a big chain store.
- Learn to use it: a CAI course or outings with experienced companions are worth as much as the tool itself.
On snow the ice axe almost always works together with crampons: to complete your kit, read what crampons are and how they are made.