By Xanthe Smith, 15 August 2021
Here's something a bit more lyrical for the heels, a creative description of an ice-axe:
1
Before you lift the item, it draws you in, with a daring exterior and well-constructed appeal.
It is combination of Wood and iron that knit together into hardlines. It has a sturdiness that makes you want to lift and strike it against the nearest object in a test of its strength, and your own.
Once held in the hand, this object carries a heaviness that rests in your shoulder and a sharp chill that cools the palm.
That unfriendly exterior is walked back by a beautiful length of chord that secures the item to the wrist, and the way it warms to the holder after a few minutes.
It doesn’t carry much of a scent, but it certainly gives off vintage air – and on sight alone, it looks as though it hasn’t been properly used in decades.
I can vividly imagine its use being accompanied by the crunch of snow and the clip of iron again ice.
2
The object is most comparable to a link, a meeting of elements meeting of elements human, and other, built to steady its user in an environment that unmoors.
This object is grounding as the bowline is to belay, clip to helmet and boot to the rocky surface.
As you move to the extremities of the item the requirements of the environment establish themselves. It has a distinctive peak, with a saddle of cast iron welded to cut, dig, clear, and stop.
At the opposite end is a vanishing point, jagged as the ridge, lethal as a spear aimed to mark.
There are stories inlaid into the object’s wooden handle, the length of bronze weathered and scarred by decades of use.
These cuts and bruises speak to impulsivity and discretion – how many close calls has it assisted in, only to return intact from every near miss.
Who has it accompanied, an ally in the ascent and defender on the downhill.
3
Wood and iron knit together into hard lines, sturdy and well-worn, making you want to lift the ice-axe and strike it against the nearest surface to test both its strength, and your own.
The ice-axe bears a balanced head, which is bookended by an adze at one end and a pick at the other.
Once held in the hand, the tool carries a heaviness that rests in your shoulder, and has a sharp chill that cools that palm.
The iron adze found at the head of axe resembles a shovel and serves a similar purpose. When traversing over steeper sections of ice, it can be swept back on forth across the frosty ground to create footholds.
While this specific sweeping looks cool, the more common use for the ice axe is akin to a walking pole.
As you plod around the backcountry, you can carry the axe it in your uphill hand and drive it into the ground with each stride for stability.
In this way, the axe has a grounding effect, akin to bowline and belay, clips to helmets and boot-soles to rocky surfaces.
Aside from being a walking companion, the pick has a more serious purpose - which when done correctly, can be lifesaving.
If you slip on the ice and begins to slide downhill, the ice-axe can be used to halt your fall in a trick known as self-arresting – this where you force the pick into the snow and brace the adze against your chest, creating enough friction to slow your slide, and if executed correctly, stop altogether.
There are stories inlaid into this axe's wooden handle, a beam of tan which has been weathered and scarred by decades of use. These battle scars speak to the impulsivity and discretion of the trampers it has accompanied, serving an ally in the ascent and defender on the downhill. It makes me wonder how many close calls the axe has aided in, returning intact from every near miss.