Essential Crampon & Ice Axe Techniques

Every 6000m peak we operate on — from Mera Peak to Ama Dablam — requires secure movement on snow and ice. These five skills are non-negotiable. Learn them at home, drill them until boring, and they will be there when you are tired, cold, and scared.

Crampon Techniques

Three techniques cover everything: flat-footing (all points engaged, for low-angle snow — your default), front-pointing (toes in, for the steep stuff like Island Peak's headwall), and hybrid (one flat, one front-point on traverses). Keep weight over your feet, avoid dragging points, and check straps and antibott plates before every outing.

Ice Axe Positions

Learn the three carries: walking (head in hand, spike down at your side), piolet traction (both hands, shaft across body on steep ground), and anchor/self-belay (shaft plunged vertically as a handhold). Size matters: 60–70cm for general use, 50cm for steeper technical terrain like Lobuche East.

Self-Arrest: Practice Both Ways

Self-arrest stops a slide and you must be able to do it from any fall position — head-first and feet-first, on both sides. Drill it on a safe snow slope until the roll-to-axe movement is reflex: get the pick in, weight over it, feet up. Practice at the start of every season, not the night before the mountain.

Rope Team Travel

On glaciers you move roped, 8–12 metres apart, rope kept snug, prusiks and a pulley on your harness. Know the crevasse rescue sequence (stop the fall → anchor → transfer → haul) before you need it. Glacier travel without these skills is gambling.

Drills Before You Go

Book a weekend alpine course or drill with a club: an hour each of flat-footing, front-pointing, self-arrest, and rope work, repeated monthly. Add ankle and calf work to your training — efficient cramponing lives in the lower leg.