Excellent video. I like how he stresses you should keep your feet in the air always. All these years and editions, and Mountaineering The Freedom Of The Hills still shows climbers self-arresting with their feet dug in. Crazy advice. Where I'm from, if you're on snow with an ice axe, chances are you're wearing crampons. But even if you rarely wear crampons, don't get into the habit of digging your feet in; the one time you do wear crampons, it could kill you.
Quote from freedom of the hills 7th edition. "Keep your legs stiff and spread apart, toes digging in. If wearing crampons, dig in with knees and keep toes off the snow". As for the images, they show a person not wearing crampons. There is one image of a person performing a headfirst arrest in crampons, however the form is correct. I am a member of the Mountaineers (the group that wrote FOH). I was taught to keep my feet up with crampons and I have never heard different among the club.
Thank you very much for a very good lesson! Useful tutorial! Hope it will never will be used.. but incase of it will be.. it's going to save a big number of lives!
@dandan832 In that case, you're down to pretty much spreading your arms out and trying to get as much friction on the snow as possible - and hoping to hell you're not near an edge.
He did make one mistake though-- as soon as you are either stopped or practically stopped, you need to kick your toes in (especially if you have crampons) to stabilize. He is correct in not kicking them in while he is sliding, but once he is done sliding or very nearly there, he needs to kick his feet in aggressively as having only one contact point into the snow is ridiculous and dangerous
I will probably never hike in snowy mountains, but I'm fascinated by these videos.
Good to see Roger, excellent chap - really really knows his stuff.
Excellent video. I like how he stresses you should keep your feet in the air always. All these years and editions, and Mountaineering The Freedom Of The Hills still shows climbers self-arresting with their feet dug in. Crazy advice. Where I'm from, if you're on snow with an ice axe, chances are you're wearing crampons. But even if you rarely wear crampons, don't get into the habit of digging your feet in; the one time you do wear crampons, it could kill you.
Quote from freedom of the hills 7th edition. "Keep your legs stiff and spread apart, toes digging in. If wearing crampons, dig in with knees and keep toes off the snow". As for the images, they show a person not wearing crampons. There is one image of a person performing a headfirst arrest in crampons, however the form is correct. I am a member of the Mountaineers (the group that wrote FOH). I was taught to keep my feet up with crampons and I have never heard different among the club.
Thank you very much for a very good lesson! Useful tutorial! Hope it will never will be used.. but incase of it will be.. it's going to save a big number of lives!
Now THIS is a well appreciated posting! Something that needs practice for refresher frequently! Thank you Diane! :-)
@dandan832 In that case, you're down to pretty much spreading your arms out and trying to get as much friction on the snow as possible - and hoping to hell you're not near an edge.
awesome videos
Crampons dug in could kill you? Explain please, very curious.
They will dig into the snow and cause you to flip over backwards
He did make one mistake though-- as soon as you are either stopped or practically stopped, you need to kick your toes in (especially if you have crampons) to stabilize.
He is correct in not kicking them in while he is sliding, but once he is done sliding or very nearly there, he needs to kick his feet in aggressively as having only one contact point into the snow is ridiculous and dangerous
Okay
try 30-35.
youre screwed