3 ms·

> I managed to stop myself with an ice axe self-arrest, saved by having used my free time in the past to watch alpinism videos with self-arrest tutorials. Wow.

> I managed to stop myself with an ice axe self-arrest, saved by having used my free time in the past to watch alpinism videos with self-arrest tutorials. Wow. I took Sierra Club Basic Mountaineering class, and we learned self-arrest three ways: head down facing down, facing up, and head up facing up. The class was cancelled later when someone stuck the ice ax into their stomach and sued, and insurance rates skyrocketed. And this guy learned it by watching a video.

deleted 3y ago
[deleted]
yakkomajuri 3y ago
Hey! Author here. Felt this one in particular needed a reply. I've since actually gotten a bit into alpinism and done a proper course. My instructor (a super experienced British guy in the Alps) refused to teach self-arrests to beginners because he said the risks were greater than the potential benefits. He said a lot of people get hurt practicing it (as you've noted) and so he preferred to really drill down on precautions and crevasse rescue techniques etc. As for the story, I need to note the slope wasn't too steep, but being unable to brake would maybe have sent me down the crevasse (unclear how wide it was, we stepped over it on the way there and it seemed it may have been narrow). I also doubt my technique was perfect, but I just remembered to not just try to have the axe over my head somewhere but rather push my body/shoulder into it with the axe placed more diagonally. I'm certain it was not beautiful nor perfect but at least enough in that situation.
- AlbertCory 3y ago
  In our case, it was in the San Gabriel mountains near LA. The snow was so wet we had to wear rain suits to be slippery enough to slide down. Was it safe? Obviously not. But 1000's of people did it before anyone got badly hurt.
yolo3000 3y ago
My story, I was descending a mountain in early spring with 2 friends. I had an ice axe in my hand for balance, although I had never learned self arrest. As we're descending, my friends took the 'winter route', which was a rocky ridge going down. I took the summer route which was 100m away, just because it was smoother. It was wet grass and some patches of snow. I slipped, fell on my back and started sliding, had trouble turning because of my backpack. You really catch speed, I couldn't stop, I was approaching rocks. Somehow I turn on my belly, and instinctively I stick the axe in the ground. You're supposed to hold the top of the axe with one hand close to your chest, but I kept both hands on the handle, and I stoped, I was lucky
MrDresden 3y ago
Part of my Icelandic search and rescue qualification program involved staying in a mountain cabin over a weekend with a few others, where we spent our days "throwing" ourselves down the icy steeps of the mountain and training ice axe self-arrests. Of course there was no danger, but I get the sense other cultures would perhaps not go straight to that kind of hands on training.

deleted 3y ago

[deleted]

yakkomajuri 3y ago

Hey! Author here. Felt this one in particular needed a reply. I've since actually gotten a bit into alpinism and done a proper course. My instructor (a super experienced British guy in the Alps) refused to teach self-arrests to beginners because he said the risks were greater than the potential benefits. He said a lot of people get hurt practicing it (as you've noted) and so he preferred to really drill down on precautions and crevasse rescue techniques etc. As for the story, I need to note the slope wasn't too steep, but being unable to brake would maybe have sent me down the crevasse (unclear how wide it was, we stepped over it on the way there and it seemed it may have been narrow). I also doubt my technique was perfect, but I just remembered to not just try to have the axe over my head somewhere but rather push my body/shoulder into it with the axe placed more diagonally. I'm certain it was not beautiful nor perfect but at least enough in that situation.

AlbertCory 3y ago
In our case, it was in the San Gabriel mountains near LA. The snow was so wet we had to wear rain suits to be slippery enough to slide down. Was it safe? Obviously not. But 1000's of people did it before anyone got badly hurt.

yolo3000 3y ago

My story, I was descending a mountain in early spring with 2 friends. I had an ice axe in my hand for balance, although I had never learned self arrest. As we're descending, my friends took the 'winter route', which was a rocky ridge going down. I took the summer route which was 100m away, just because it was smoother. It was wet grass and some patches of snow. I slipped, fell on my back and started sliding, had trouble turning because of my backpack. You really catch speed, I couldn't stop, I was approaching rocks. Somehow I turn on my belly, and instinctively I stick the axe in the ground. You're supposed to hold the top of the axe with one hand close to your chest, but I kept both hands on the handle, and I stoped, I was lucky

MrDresden 3y ago

Part of my Icelandic search and rescue qualification program involved staying in a mountain cabin over a weekend with a few others, where we spent our days "throwing" ourselves down the icy steeps of the mountain and training ice axe self-arrests. Of course there was no danger, but I get the sense other cultures would perhaps not go straight to that kind of hands on training.