Ice Climbing: 3. Alternate vs. Horizontal Placements
Ice Climbing • 1m 27s
In this video we review alternate vs. horizontal placement while ice climbing.
Alternate Placements - In a typical ice climbing scenario, the climber will be using two tools, and the placements of both your hands and feet will be staggered, which limits the number of swings or kicks to gain altitude. Each motion helps advance the climber.
Horizontal Placements - In scenarios where the ice fractures in a way that causes concern, or the climber feels less secure for some reason, they may choose to place each tool at roughly the same level, then move the feet. This is less efficient, but allows maximal points of contact with the ice when things feel less secure, and puts more equal weight on each tool if a foot were to blow out and the climber suddenly weighted the tools..
We hope you found this video helpful. Feel free to comment below with questions or thoughts!
Please remember, climbing is inherently dangerous. Climb at your own risk.
Up Next in Ice Climbing
-
Ice Climbing: 4. Eye Protection
In this video we discuss the wisdom of wearing eye protection when ice climbing.
Ice is a brittle substance. It will fracture and shatter with nearly every swing of your tool. Imagine rock climbing where little shards of rock splinter off every time you grab a hold.
It’s important to wear ...
-
Ice Climbing: 5. Wearing & Adjusting ...
In this video we look at how to adjust crampons for ice climbing.
When putting on crampons:
1. Have a seat, put up your foot, and make sure the front welt of your boot is free of any snow. Check that you have the right crampon for the right foot.
2. Adjust the frame size of the crampon...
-
Ice Climbing: 6. Mono-Point Crampons ...
In this video we look at two major types of ice climbing crampon styles: mono-point and dual-point.
Mono-point crampons - These have a single point at the front of of the crampon. These require less effort to get the placement deeper in the ice, since there is only one point to be pushed into ...
