Ice axe size for flat glacier travel with skis.

Hello,

I am something of a newbie when it comes to mountaineering. I was looking at getting an ice axe to use for self arrest/anchoring and I was thinking that the Petzl Glacier would be a good choice. I was just trying to decide on the size, they range from 50 cm, 60 cm, 68 cm, and 75 cm. I am 6'4 so I wasn't sure if I should get a longer axe because of my height, or if I should get a shorter axe because it would weigh less and I would really only be using it briefly during a short relatively flat crevassed section of an icefield. I would be on skis, so I will always have my ski poles as well. 

If you are crossing a glacier on skis and have poles in your hands where do you plan have your ice axe? For those scenarios we are roped together and I have my short axe clipped to my harness. In some cases I have my longer axe between my shoulders and pack. That said all round a 60cm axe is a good length for mountaineering, even for someone your height. I might consider a 68cm if you are going to use it for strictly glacier travel with no plans for anything steeper in the future.

I'd say get the shortest/lightest one if ski mountaineering is your primary use. (Although, I'd recommend against the ultralight aluminum axes, as they don't work that great in actual practice - when you really need an axe, you'll appreciate having one that actually works). Longer axes are often used as "walking canes" by mountaineers walking up low angle slogs, but that has little to do w/ safety, it's more of a convenience.  You can use a ski pole in one hand and a short axe in the other to achieve the same purpose. On steeper terrain, where the axe becomes necessary (especially for self belay, which is a more valuable skill than self arrest IMO) shaft length becomes a liability. You don't need the axe for pow, and a long axe on steeper firm terrain sucks, because the shaft doesn't penetrate and you gotta keep it on the high side.  For ski mountaineering, your axe will likely stay on your pack more than 90% of the time, so the extra length/weight is also constant liability. 

Gregory Wendt wrote: only be using it briefly during a short relatively flat crevassed section of an icefield. I would be on skis, so I will always have my ski poles as well. 

Perhaps you don't need to carry an ice axe at all?

Whippet? 

Whippet is mainly for arresting a sliding fall for skiing on steep-isn terrain. If member of ski party punches down into a hidden crevasse on flat terrain, having a whippet is not going to help that member to arrest -- that one is going down into the crack (hopefully with their fall arrested by the rope before they hit something protruding, or get tightly _wedged_ between the narrowing falls of the crack.

So I'd think the main purpose of an ice axe is to help construct a rescue / extraction apparatus. Or perhaps for the fallen skier to temporarily anchor themselves into a wall of the crevasse while the party up on the surface constructs the extraction apparatus. Out on the surface the ice axe could be an anchor in itself, or a tool for digging down thru the surface snow to get to some sound older glacier ice which could hold an ice screw.

So a whippet is not going to be so helpful, but a single ice axe for the party is useful. If the fallen skier was carrying the party's only ice axe, that makes it trickier (but perhaps could lower a rope down to which they could attach the ice axe). If the party has two ice axes, then it's rather likely at least one will be immediately available on the surface.

I'm not seeing how it's worth it for every member of a skiing party to be carrying their own ice axe (or whippet) on a flat glacier.

Ken

Erroneous Publicus wrote: I'd say get the shortest/lightest one if ski mountaineering is your primary use.  Longer axes are often used as "walking canes" by mountaineers walking up low angle slogs, but that has little to do w/ safety, it's more of a convenience.  

The use of an axe as a walking cane pretty much went out 40+ years ago. And even then, a practical length was about a meter long +/-.  Nowadays axe length is more a function of slope steepness (I dimly recall a discussion of this in the earliest Chouinard catalogs) and intended use on technical terrain.

Thank you for all the advice.

You are correct that not every time member would need to carry an axe, but I'd like to get one for myself. Since it will stay on my pack the vast majority of the time, I might get the 50 cm. 

Get a 50cm.
You'll use your poles 99% of the time.  Longer axes are a real liability when skiing.   

And with the short axe you could use ski straps to attach it to your pole if you’re skiing in high-consequence terrain.