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juho.risku
Apr 9, 2011, 2:40 PM
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Registered: Feb 11, 2009
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It might be kind of late for this season, but thought that you might be interested of my experiences on different kinds of ice screws. Just finished an article about them. The article is available at: http://www.climbingextreme.com/...t-kind-of-screws/880
The main thing though is that the ice screw selection is not perhaps as straight forward as I used to think, i.e. some work on hard ice, some weight less, some save moves. What do you think? What kind of screws are the best, why and in what conditions? Any further opinions would be highly appreciated. :-)
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moose_droppings
Apr 9, 2011, 6:15 PM
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Registered: Jun 7, 2005
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juho.risku wrote: It might be kind of late for this season, but thought that you might be interested of my experiences on different kinds of ice screws. Just finished an article about them. The article is available at: http://www.climbingextreme.com/...t-kind-of-screws/880 The main thing though is that the ice screw selection is not perhaps as straight forward as I used to think, i.e. some work on hard ice, some weight less, some save moves. What do you think? What kind of screws are the best, why and in what conditions? Any further opinions would be highly appreciated. :-)
Thanks for the report. It will be interesting to me to hear what the seasoned players will add.
I've only been in the ice game for a few years now. In my short experience, I appreciate sharp screws that will hold there edge of any kind.
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julio412
Apr 11, 2011, 6:22 AM
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One thing I've done over the years while traveling, is collect ice screws for whatever particular country I was in.
So, in turn,I've had a chance to try out a good variety of screws.
And even though Ice can be narrowed down to two basic types; Water Ice and Alpine Ice, Scottish Ice is different from Russian Ice which is different from Italian Ice which is different from French Ice which is different from North American Ice.
That being said; my preferences are Grivels for Water ice, and Russian,Camp, Salewa BIG BORE Titanium for Alpine ice.
Even though the Titaniums are slower to place, I believe the larger bore provides greater holding power in softer more airy Alpine Ice.
Haven't had a chance to try out the E-climb screws.
Mario
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juho.risku
Apr 11, 2011, 7:59 AM
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I kind of figured that differences between the screw performance might be related to locations they're made at (i.e. weather + ice conditions there).
Do you have pictures of screws in your collection? I would be intersted of seeing few excotic ones + examples of different types you might have?
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gunkiemike
Apr 12, 2011, 12:29 AM
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IMO the temperature of the ice (which may NOT be the same as the air temp) is more important that what country it is in. Most any screw can be placed in -2 C water ice, but at -15 or -20 C you'd better have something SHARP, with really aggressive teeth. One slightly burred (dull) tooth and you can spin the screw on the surface for a minute or two without it getting started. So my preferences are Grivels and the newest BDs. Older BDs were really not competitive. Petzls' hanger was annoying as it spins off-center. Omegas had serious quality control and plating issues early on but their gold hanger screws were very good (alas, no longer available)
But any screw that is dull is CRAP.
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juho.risku
Apr 12, 2011, 1:50 AM
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Well, the temperature was one of the principal things I had in mind while talkind about the location. Personally I'm usually climbing in conditions that are well below -10, usually -15 and quite often even -25. That's (-20 and more) is what I call hard ice.
The country was more about the typical conditions. And what you get as a result of "typical" conditons.
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julio412
Apr 12, 2011, 7:16 AM
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Yes, you're absolutely right; I was just mentioning countries that manufactured screws, how they perform in that respective country ,that I had climbed in.
The Spanish ( Faders) manufacured for awhile a very large diameter Aluminum screw( about 2") that was a royal pain in the ass to place.
Sottish ice tends to be a little softer (coastal) if you can find it, so the Mountain Technology screws tend to be hard to place in boiler plate Norwegian,Canadian,Coloradan, Chinese ice.
I kind of remember Chouinard mentioning how crampons were different according to what side of the Alps you were on.I've never climbed in either Germany or Austria,but overall they make decent screws as well.
My collection isn't anything special, but I'll try to get a photo up by the weekend.
It's all in good fun.
Mario
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