It is not UIAA approved, and is not suitable for technical ice climbing, but after some use, I have concluded that this is a terrific axe for snow and low angle glacier travel.<\/p>\n
I bought this axe in anticipation of a trip to the Bugaboos. \u00a0Approaches and descents in the Bugs generally require travel over glacial terrain. \u00a0An axe is needed for self arrest, balance, step cutting, and easy climbing. \u00a0Having an ice axe that is as light as possible is a benefit because when you’re rock climbing, the axe is just dead weight.<\/p>\n After some use and testing in the Bugaboos, and on snow slopes closer to home, here are my thoughts on the TiCa axe.<\/p>\n It’t not for long, steep, technical climbing. \u00a0This seems obvious, but I figured I would state it up front. \u00a0The axe doesn’t have enough heft to swing all day on steep ice. \u00a0If you’re climbing something steep enough to require front pointing and it continues for more than 10 or 20 meters, you will probably be better served with a real ice axe. \u00a0I wouldn’t want to use the TiCa Ice Tool on water ice either, other than just the occasional patch of water ice. \u00a0It’s just too light to have enough momentum to sink the pick into hard water ice very efficiently.<\/p>\n You’re not going to have an easy time using the TiCa to climb out of a deep, overhanging crevasse. \u00a0However, you really aren’t going to be able to climb out of a deep, overhanging crevasse with only one tool, no matter how technical that tool is. \u00a0If you’re only carrying a single ice axe, you’re going to need to rely on prussiks to self-rescue anyway, regardless of what sort of axe you’ve got.<\/p>\n It’s not safety rated by the UIAA. \u00a0That means that I can’t really trust it for boot\/axe belays or as an anchor when used in a T-Slot.<\/p>\n What it is good for:<\/strong><\/p>\n It cuts steps. \u00a0Before I had the chance to test it out, I wondered if the TiCa axe would be any good at cutting steps. \u00a0It’s so light that I worried that the axe would not have enough heft to chop steps. \u00a0As it turns out, it does a pretty good job. \u00a0Even though it is feather light, all of the weight is concentrated in the head, so the swing weight is pretty good. \u00a0I cut steps in hard glacial ice in the Bugaboos without any problems, using both the adze and the pick. \u00a0If you need to cut steps to get you across a patch of steep, icy ground, the TiCa works well.<\/p>\n The pick is functional for upward progress and for self arrest. \u00a0I used the TiCa axe for climbing out of a bergshund, and it worked fine. \u00a0I played around with it on steep glacier ice, and it works fine. \u00a0It’s not a technical tool, and as I wrote above, I wouldn’t use the TiCa for long bouts of climbing AI3 or water ice, but for occasional use on steeper ground, it will work. \u00a0There is no hand rest, and I didn’t use a leash, but the titanium spike on the bottom sticks out a little bit, and this gives you a sufficient grip on the shaft for pulling. \u00a0The titanium pick bites into ice adequately for decent security using piolet ancre<\/em>\u00a0technique.<\/p>\n Note that the pick is shipped from the factory un-sharpened. \u00a0I sharpened it with a file to give it better bite on ice. \u00a0If you want to use the TiCa for anything other than self arrest, I would recommend that you sharpen the pick.<\/p>\n![\"axe-2\"](\"http:\/\/larsonweb.com\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2014\/10\/axe-2-1024x735.jpg\")
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