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Shafts

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Shafts in mountaineering are quit different than shafts used in technical ice climbing. Like in hiking, a shaft in mountaineering is a long stick looking object resembling a hiking stick. These are used in mountaineering for maintaining balance when walking through loose gravel or scree (loose granular dirt) and as anchors when hiking through snow. Many times when hiking through snow the shaft is used to probe around for pockets, and loose snow. The mountaineering shaft is typically not used for anything more aggressive than anchoring. The length of the shaft prohibits anything else.

A bent shaft is used for more aggressive climbing on steep glacier faces and frozen columns. You will not usually find someone using a bent shaft when bagging a peak unless the route forces you to encounter some mega-steep sections that are frozen. The bent shaft has three specific uses: to protect your knuckles from banging the ice over and over, to give you a natural swing while climbing, and to help your shaft have clearance when swinging up over ice bulges.

Though bent shafts are used to protect your knuckles it will not always be so if the bent shaft doesn’t match your swing. Be sure to test out the tool first, make sure it has a nice ergonomic swing that feels natural. The bent shaft is specific to the climber not all climbers can use the same tool and get the same results.

Like anything else there are loads of bent shafts to choose from. Some bent shafts have two bends and some are even shaped like an ‘S’. There are even some straight shaft technical tools, which, some experts say, are a good choice for the mountaineer who wants a tool that will help out on the mountain and on the ice columns.

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