4 ms·

Black Diamond funded research into optimal ice screw placement a number of years ago. The great Alex Lowe had this to say about the report: "Good work on th

Black Diamond funded research into optimal ice screw placement a number of years ago. The great Alex Lowe had this to say about the report: "Good work on the screw research. Having read it and thought about the mechanics of pulls along the axis of the screw as opposed to loading such that shearing through the ice plays a role, it makes intuitive sense that a screw placed at a positive angle should indeed hold better, but only in ideal ice conditions - that's the big qualifier. Of course determining what constitutes "ideal ice conditions" is the art and essence of placing ice gear. I felt you made this clear in your article. My personal conclusion from your tests is to place screws at a positive angle when I feel the ice is 'very solid'. Obviously some rather ill defined terms in that statement! 'Very solid' will remain an intuitive assessment." The chief researcher was Chris H. Harmston, you can find the full study write up here: http://www.needlesports.com/content/ice-screw-placement.aspx http://www.needlesports.com/content/ice-screw-placement.aspx

paulgerhardt 10y ago
Minor point of clarification: the author of this piece has terms for positive and negative angles switched with the authors of the Black Diamond report. Both conclusions are the same ('the part being inserted should be higher than the part not inserted when ice is hard as concrete') but reference it differently.
maxerickson 10y ago
You can use * on each side of the text for italic quotes. Good work on the screw research. Having read it and thought about the mechanics of pulls along the axis of the screw as opposed to loading such that shearing through the ice plays a role, it makes intuitive sense that a screw placed at a positive angle should indeed hold better, but only in ideal ice conditions - that's the big qualifier. Of course determining what constitutes "ideal ice conditions" is the art and essence of placing ice gear. I felt you made this clear in your article. My personal conclusion from your tests is to place screws at a positive angle when I feel the ice is 'very solid'. Obviously some rather ill defined terms in that statement! 'Very solid' will remain an intuitive assessment.

paulgerhardt 10y ago

Minor point of clarification: the author of this piece has terms for positive and negative angles switched with the authors of the Black Diamond report. Both conclusions are the same ('the part being inserted should be higher than the part not inserted when ice is hard as concrete') but reference it differently.

maxerickson 10y ago

You can use * on each side of the text for italic quotes. Good work on the screw research. Having read it and thought about the mechanics of pulls along the axis of the screw as opposed to loading such that shearing through the ice plays a role, it makes intuitive sense that a screw placed at a positive angle should indeed hold better, but only in ideal ice conditions - that's the big qualifier. Of course determining what constitutes "ideal ice conditions" is the art and essence of placing ice gear. I felt you made this clear in your article. My personal conclusion from your tests is to place screws at a positive angle when I feel the ice is 'very solid'. Obviously some rather ill defined terms in that statement! 'Very solid' will remain an intuitive assessment.