Outdoor
A good self-rescue posture might look very elegant, but in practice, immediate execution is extremely crucial. What’s needed to stop a slide might be nothing more than a clumsy but quick control. Overly focusing on the elegance of the posture can slow down your actions, thereby increasing the speed of the slide to a point where even a perfect posture can no longer stop it.
When self-arrest fails, when a climber falls without the protection of self-arrest, or when a member of a roped team in glacier travel falls into a crevasse, the climber must perform a self-belay—using an ice axe to stop the slide. Self-belay is the only chance an unroped climber has to stop a fall. The lives of the climber and their teammates largely depend on their self-belay skills.
When self-arrest fails, when a climber falls without the protection of self-arrest, or when a member of a roped team in glacier travel falls into a crevasse, the climber must perform a self-belay—using an ice axe to stop the slide. Self-belay is the only chance an unroped climber has to stop a fall. Therefore, it is also the most important snow climbing skill to learn first.
The lives of the climber and their teammates largely depend on their self-belay skills. Every climber must master self-belay reliably and proficiently in various postures. Practice can be done on increasingly steep and hard snow (with safe landing zones) to determine each person’s limits.
1. One hand grips the head of the ice axe with the thumb on the shaft and the other fingers on the pick — this is the self-belay grip; the other hand holds the axe above the spike. Both hands should grip tightly.
2. Press the pick into the slope above shoulder level, with the axe handle diagonally across the front of the chest, held tightly against the opposite hip. If the axe handle is shorter, maintain the same posture, even if the spike doesn’t reach the opposite hip.
3. Press your chest and shoulders tightly against the axe handle, arch your spine slightly off the snow. Arching your back is crucial: it shifts the climber’s weight onto the pick and toes (or knees)—the points digging into the snow for control. The best way to form the arch is to focus on pulling the end of the axe handle; it's harder with a shorter handle. This pull creates the arch and shifts the weight toward the shoulder on the pick side. Note: Those unwilling to bury their chest and face in the snow may arch their backs too high.
4. Keep both legs straight and apart, toes dug into the snow (if wearing crampons, lift toes off the snow until almost coming to a complete stop).
5. Grip the ice axe tightly. Gripping the head of the axe will bring the pick close to the shoulder and neck. The other hand must stay near the end of the handle to prevent the spike from rotating around the thigh and causing serious injury. Especially on soft snow, straight and spread legs along with toes dug into the snow increase resistance and stability. On hard snow or ice with crampons, both feet must be lifted off the slope until speed decreases—this prevents the crampons from catching and throwing the climber backward. The knees can help maintain stability but won’t stop the slide on hard snow or ice, especially if wearing smooth wind pants.
Good self-rescue postures might look very elegant, but in practice, immediate execution is extremely crucial. What’s needed to stop a slide might be nothing more than a clumsy but quick control. Overly focusing on the elegance of the posture can slow down your actions, thereby increasing the speed of the slide to a point where even a perfect posture can no longer stop it.
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