Winter Wipe out - humbled by safety(snow shoe)

If you really need the axe for self arrest, at that point in time the snowshoes should be in the backpack, and you should be wearing regular crampons.

+1

-Allen

Brian,

Not to put you off an ice axe (I've got either 2 or 3  or maybe 4-5 depending on whether or not you include my stone-age ice tools as "axes") but for snow shoes, poles are where it's at.  Otherwise, you're really going to want to be switching the axe from hand to hand as you switchback up a slope. No biggie if you only have a single axe, but a pain in the rear if you've got a pole and an axe.

If you really need the axe for self arrest, at that point in time the snowshoes should be in the backpack, and you should be wearing regular crampons.

Scott

P.S. The above is my not-so-humble opinion, nothing more. Take it with a shaker of salt.

True that. However if the same fall had happened with crampons and not knowing how to self arrest quickly he most likely would have ended up with a spiked calf and or a broken leg/ankle.

If you play with crampons it's definetely good to go with someone with some experience to show you the ropes.

Glad your ok bro!

-Eliot