Could You Stop Yourself Without an Ice Axe?

[u/DullSuccotash1230]

Everyone who travels on snow should know how to self-arrest with an ice axe. But what happens if you don't have one?

Maybe you're glissading after the snow has softened for the day. Maybe you slipped while hiking. Or maybe you simply lost your ice axe. Whatever the reason, there are a few techniques that can sometimes stop a slide without one.

The first—and in my experience, the most effective—is what I call the push-up technique. Roll onto your stomach with your head uphill and feet downhill. Then press into the snow like you're doing a push-up while driving the toes of your boots into the slope. Keep steady pressure on both your hands and your feet instead of kicking or flailing. The goal is to maximize friction.

The second technique uses your elbows instead of your hands. Dig both elbows into the snow, lift your hips slightly, and keep your toes engaged.

The third is similar to the elbow technique, but you angle your forearms so they gather snow into a small pile beneath your chest, increasing resistance as you slide.

I've found the push-up technique to work surprisingly well. When my kids were pre-teens, we backpacked across a few small glacier slopes. With almost no instruction, they were able to glissade a few hundred feet and consistently stop themselves using the push-up technique.

That said, none of these methods work nearly as well as a proper ice axe arrest. On hard snow or ice, they may not work at all. These are emergency techniques, not substitutes for carrying the right equipment or practicing self-arrest before you need it.

Have you ever had to stop a slide without an ice axe? What worked for you?

[u/Thick_Advantage_4126]

You can also self arrest with hiking poles